Bears Falter in Eugene, Lose 74-67

The Bears bench players drew the game close in the final minutes, but Oregon closed out Baylor as the starters returned with just 45 seconds remaining in the game.

Al Freeman sunk 4 three pointers to lead all scorers with 22 points. Johnathan Motley also cracked double-figures, scoring 17 points and flashing some nice offensive moves in the half court and in transition. Freeman also finished with 7 rebounds and only 1 turnover, a bright spot in a night filled with turnovers.

On the other side, the Oregon Ducks had 5 players reach double-digit points, led by Elgin Cook's 15 on 6-12 shooting.

Lester Medford had a rough night. He tallied 6 turnovers against just 1 assist. He often pressed too hard to break Oregon's pressure with the dribble. He, along with Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers, rode the bench for much of the final stretch as Ish Wainright and the bench reserves brought the game back within 3 points.

Those reserves -- Motley, Freeman, Jake Lindsey, and King McClure -- played gritty man defense and managed to stymie an Oregon offense that had been successful most of the game. Freeman's outside shooting and Motley's fluid inside play were in perfect complement. Those two combined for 15 of Baylor's final 20 points in the last 6:32 of the game.

Prince had a tough time finding his shot again tonight (this morning?), shooting a cold 3-14 from the floor and 3-7 from three.

Gathers scored 9 points but managed to grab only 4 rebounds. His performance, for whatever reason, was lackluster for most of the night.

Scott Drew made the decision in the second half to play primarily man-to-man defense after Oregon shredded the 1-3-1 zone in the first. I don't know that it was much more effective overall, but it seemed to inject a little life into the younger players and was good enough to get the Bears back into the game as the Ducks started to stretch out the clock.

Oregon is a good team. The resiliency shown by the young players was encouraging. If Gathers, Prince, and Medford can find themselves, Baylor could find themselves with a very deep roster.

via ESPN.com