Ducks didn't play well, and SC shot lights out, but there were points where it really didn't feel like the game was being officiated evenly. I'm not one of those guys that constantly whines about refs, but it just seemed noticeably different to me. SC was reaching in relentlessly, bumping guys going over the back with no calls, and the Ducks were getting called for ticky tack stuff. It wasn't an issue from a free throw perspective, just seemed like SC was allowed to play more aggressive defense and that impacted the Ducks offense a bit. The Kepnang over the back call was especially puzzling to me. I will add the caveat, that I wasn't able to tune in until 2/3 of the way into the first half, so I didn't catch the ugly start.

They have to move on now pretty quickly as the Bay Area trip always gives them issues, especially Stanford.

ZERO rebounds for Lawson and Kepnang in 31 combined minutes. That CAN’T happen in ANY game EVER for the front line. Hoped Richardson would be more effective, but he is really only a leadership token at this point. He is the point guard, but he is one dimensional now, and not a scoring threat. Thank goodness Williams is back, he and Figueroa were the only players picking up the terrible offense. This did not look like a late season Altman coached team.

I can't remember an Altman coached team getting beat like that this late in the season. My biggest takeaways:

The entire team looked tired and frustrated, especially Duarte. Several times he got caught playing Ole' defense. When that USC player blew past him for a dunk, that was not like him to not be able to move his feet to try and recover.

Richardson is clearly still not 100%

As someone pointed out above, Kepnang and Lawson HAVE to get some rebounds. That is just crazy.

It was pretty obvious that Oregon was going to lose the battle on the boards, so they were going to need to limit turnovers and make shots. Oregon was +6 in TO margin, so did their job there. They actually shot it okay and outscored USC in the second half. I didn't think defense would be the problem, but it was flat out terrible last night. I think that is probably a result of playing 3 games in 6 days.

I think people are sleeping on USC a little bit. When they are disciplined, making shots, and playing defense, they are a very good team. I think they are capable of making a final 4 run.

Honestly, I don't see this loss as a big deal. It is a Q1 loss away from home and didn't hurt our NET or seeding (according to Lunardi, we are still a 9 seed). This might be a good wakeup call that they are going to need to play defense and rebound on every possession if they are going to want to win games in March.

Yikes

Yeah the rebounding issues was the biggest reason for the loss in my opinion. Just could not make a number of plays right around the basket, missed layups and responds.

I do love the energy Kepang is bringing, but he seems to be jacking himself up too much so to get rebounds (weird thing to say). That, or he's got hands of stone...

You're right about Kepnag. He and Lawson need to combine their energy and effort to create a perfect medium. Though if I had to choose, I'd rather go with the guy playing too hard than the guy not playing hard enough.

Lawson needs to get stronger. He wins the Mase Funa award for player that didn't seem to work out during quarantine.

Big Frank..I think his hands are actually going to be alright once he settles down a little bit. Was fun seeing him battle the kid that cold be the #1 overall pick. Athletically, he could hang with him, but he needs to learn how to use his size a bit better and just play a little calmer.

It will be great for him to go against Nate Bittle next year.