In their two previous meetings with St. Mary's, the Ducks watched Patty Mills torch them for 37 points two years ago and 22 points a year ago.
Mills is now on the injured reserve list for the Portland Trail Blazers and he couldn't hurt the Ducks this season. Despite that, St. Mary's still found a way to defeat Oregon 81-76 at Mac Court in front of an announced crowd of 6,487.
Big man Omar Samhan led the Gaels with 22 points and guard Matthew Dellavedova added 21. St. Mary's improved to 7-1 on the season while Oregon fell to 4-4.
Malcolm Armstead led the Ducks with 14 points and E.J. Singler had a career-high 12 points.
There were some really good things (that Oregon did)," said Ernie Kent. "E.J. Singler played really smart. He was able to spread the floor."
Oregon wanted to spread the floor, but the Gaels wanted to cram the ball inside to their All-WCC center in Samhan and he was able to make hay against both Michael Dunigan and Jeremy Jacob.
"He's a 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) a game guy," Kent said. "We went at him early and did what we needed to do to get him in foul trouble."
Samhan drew his fourth foul with 7:22 remaining, but the big man never fouled out.
Oregon was able to score with their athleticism throughout the game as Singler made a few running lay-ins. Jamil Wilson attacked the goal early as did Garrett Sim. But both were shut out in the second half.
The Ducks started out slow as the Gaels exploded out the gates on an 11-2 run. After Kent called a timeout, Oregon's defensive intensity went up a notch. The home team went on an 11-1 run to take 13-12 lead.
The score went back and forth before Singler's lay-in gave the Ducks a 22-20 lead with 8:15 left until halftime. Oregon held the lead until St. Mary's Samhan converted a three-point play to give the Gaels a 50-49 with 13:38 left in the game.
Dunigan and Jacob were taking turns going at Samhan with mixed success. Both were able to get some baskets against Samhan, but the difference was outside shooting.
Oregon double-teamed Samhan, which allowed shooters to get open and the Gaels took advantage, hitting nine three-pointers. Meanwhile, the Ducks' long-ball attack was virtually non-existent. Oregon made only two from long range on just five attempts.
Much of their long ball attack was on the bench. Tajuan Porter missed this contest due to a sore ankle.
"I've been told the best thing to do is let it heal or else he'll be right back to where he is now," Kent said. "I won't know until Wednesday. If he's 95, 100 percent, maybe he goes."
Armstead was able to pick up some of the scoring slack as he attacked the Gaels' defense with a series of moves on the outside as well as the inside. All of his 14 points came in the second half.
Oregon was playing catch-up for the last 10 minutes of the game. St. Mary's held a six-point lead late into the contest. The Ducks managed to cut the lead to just two points on a pair of Armstead free throws with 2:18 left.
The Ducks played a good defensive possession and forced Dellavadova to shoot long three-pointer. Le Kendrick Longmire secured the rebound and Oregon had a chance to tie the game or maybe take the lead, but Armstead's jumper with 1:27 left was off and that would be the Ducks' last opportunity to win the game.
St. Mary's made all 10 of their free throws in the last minute. Oregon, meanwhile, shot just 12-of-21 from the charity stripe.
"We need more plays (and) get the crowd going," Singler said. "We can beat teams like this. We just came up a little bit short. We need to make more plays on the offensive end."
Oregon will get back in action Wednesday when the Ducks will host Mississippi Valley State for a 7 pm tipoff. The Delta Devils are just 1-6 on the season. Included in those six defeats is a 94-66 loss at Washington State and a 92-74 loss at Gonzaga.
