SACRAMENTO — Survive and advance, one game at a time. The No. 3 seed Oregon Ducks defeated the No. 12 Iona Gaels 93-77 at the Golden1 Center on Friday to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Ducks were heavily favored entering the game despite the loss of forward Chris Boucher. In his absence, transfer forward Kavell Bigby-Williams and freshman Keith Smith will need to perform well off the bench if the Ducks want to make another NCAA Tournament run.
In game one, there was a lot of good, and some bad, from both of them.
Bigby-Williams played 15 minutes off the bench. In total, he finished the game with four points, six rebounds, but also four personal fouls. Solid numbers for his new role of grabbing rebounds and protecting the rim.
“Six rebounds in 14 minutes was very good. You can tell he’s a good rebounder,” head coach Dana Altman said. “I thought he did his job today. He did get a couple of fouls, but I thought he was contesting the shot pretty good.”
He was the first player off the bench for Oregon because starting forward Jordan Bell got two early fouls. In his first five minutes of NCAA Tournament action, Bigby-Williams grabbed two rebound and attempted four free throws — making two.
“I went out there and felt comfortable in the NCAA Tournament, and I feel like moving forward I can bring a lot more,” Bigby-Williams said.
He didn’t record a block in the game, but at 6-11, his length forced Iona to alter their shots around the rim and thus forced misses. There were times he was caught out of position, which led to several fouls.
But overall, Bigby-Williams looked more comfortable against Iona than he did against Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship Game. A promising sign for the Ducks.
“I think [Bigby-Williams] did really good. I think [Bigby-Williams], if he just plays his role and does what he does best, then he’s one of the best players on the team,” Bell said.
Smith played a smaller role in the game, but an important one nonetheless. His impact didn’t show on the stat sheet, but his defense and his energy are what Oregon needs.
“It was real fun,” Smith said. “It was fun to get out there and get my feet wet. It’s just basketball at the end of the day.”
Ironically, a failed dunk attempt calmed some of his nerves. Smith stole the ball, drove down the floor, went up for the dunk and lost the ball. Whether the ball was stripped or whether it slipped, it was obvious he was hesitant about whether he wanted to dunk the ball or lay it up. All in all, it was awkward.
“After that, I just kind of laughed it off, and after that you just keep playing and you have fun,” Smith said.
Bigby-Williams had a ‘new-guy’ moment as well. Dylan Ennis drove to the basketball, drew the foul and, as the ball was on the rim and about to go in, Bigby-Williams touched it for offensive goaltending. No and-one for Ennis.
“If this wasn’t his first NCAA game I would’ve been more mad, but I let him go with that one,” Ennis said. “You can’t be too mad, I would rather see him being super aggressive than too passive.”
Bigby-Williams and Smith getting playing time, and playing well, is vital for Oregon. The Ducks need them to perform well, especially against tougher competition. The loss of Boucher hurts, but these two can stop the bleeding if they play well.
In the first game, so far, so good.
“I don’t know how many minutes I’ll get, but I’m just going to go out there and play as hard as I can,” Bigby-Williams said.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917
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