Don Smalley

Oregon seems to have the defense down right from the start, but it took the Ducks a good 15 minutes to find an offensive rhythm.

Once they did, it spelled out an exhibition victory over Grand Canyon University 82-75.

The Ducks showed themselves to be a much more physical team than they have been in previous years. Oregon swatted away 13 shots.

Newcomer Tony Woods made his presence felt on the inside with 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks. EJ Singler also netted 16 points and pulled down five rebounds.

Although the Ducks were able to get the win, Oregon still has a long way to go, according to Head Coach Dana Altman.

"I am disappointed. I thought we would be further along," he said. "We didn't have the defensive intensity that I would have liked to see. We didn't talk defensively. I am disappointed in myself. I don't have the team in shape and they aren't ready to compete. I am disappointed in them a little bit, but I am more disappointed in myself. I haven't done my job and we have a long ways to go."

The start of the game was a rough one for the Ducks to say the least.

Oregon missed its first seven shots of the first half and shot just 26.5 percent from the field. Despite those poor numbers, the Ducks kept themselves in the game by hitting 21-of-27 from the free throw line.

It was from the charity stripe where Oregon won the game. The Ducks made 33-of-45 from the line, capitalizing on their superior height down low.

The Duck defense turned the game into a block party in the first half as Oregon rejected seven would-be shots from the Antelopes.

Oregon went into the locker room up 39-32 at halftime.

The shot accuracy improved slightly as the Ducks ended up shooting 35 percent (23-of-66) from the field.

But Oregon was dismal from the outside, hitting for just 3-of-19 (16 percent) from three-point range.

"We need to learn to recognize what a good shot is and what a quick shot is," Altman said. 'We took some better threes in the second half, but we still have a lot of work to do."

Defensively it was more of the same in the second half as the blocks just kept coming.

Tyrone Nared led the Ducks with blocks with five and he also led the team with 11 rebounds.

High-touted freshman Jabari Brown made his Duck debut and he showed flashes of brilliance in the second half, but the first game minutes for Brown wouldn't be considered his best.

He did score 10 in his 21 minutes of play, but the Oakland, Calif. native was 2-of-12 from the field with six turnovers. Brown was able to get to the line thanks to a quick first step and a willingness to drive the hole.

Garrett Sim, who will see a lot of time at the point guard position, scored just three (Oregon's first trey of the game), but he dished out eight assists.

The score was closer than the game actually was.

Oregon held an 80-65 lead late, but to the Antelopes' credit, they never stopped playing. They ended the game on a 10-2 run.

"We know what we did; we know we didn't play up to what we think we can," Singler said. "We have a lot to work on and that starts in practice. We have a lot of changes we need to make and people need to step up and I need to step up leadership wise."

Grand Canyon was led by Jerome Garrison and his 17 points. The Antelopes had three other player in double figures with Kyle Speed (14), Justin Foreman (12) and Chris Johnson (11).

The Antelopes definitely came to play early on as they held a 26-17 lead on Oregon with 6:31 left in the first half. But the Ducks ended the half on a 22-6 run.

The Ducks will play one more exhibition game Sunday when they host Lewis and Clark for a 3 pm tip.

Oregon starts the season for real Nov. 11 when it travels to Nashville to take on No. 10 Vanderbilt.