EUGENE — As a resume builder, this won't stick at the top of the page like a high-end software engineering job at Google.

For the Oregon men's basketball team, Saturday's 60-38 victory over Nebraska was more like an internship at a startup in a friend's basement.

It was, nonetheless, a victory the Ducks knew they had to have as they try to build momentum — and a worthy resume — toward the program's first NCAA tournament berth since 2008.

And while coach Dana Altman lamented the lack of momentum in Oregon's offense during a lethargic, grind-it-out game, a loss to a rebuilding Nebraska team would've done far more damage to Oregon's postseason march than the win will help that cause.

Oregon improved to 9-1 with its fourth consecutive win. The three previous victories were against the likes of Texas-San Antonio, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Idaho State, with the Ducks' next three games against UTEP, Houston Baptist and Nevada.

Altman had acknowledged all week that Nebraska was the Ducks' last chance for a sort of statement victory before Pac-12 play begins on Jan. 6.

"We knew that was a really important game," said UO senior Arsalan Kazemi, who finished with 10 points, 17 rebounds and four steals. "Nebraska is a really good team and we were practicing really hard the past couple days. We practiced harder than the way we came out today; we should've been way more aggressive."

The Cornhuskers (6-3) never really challenged the Ducks, but Oregon wasn't able to pull away until the final five minutes. The Ducks missed their first 11 shots from 3-point range, and Altman said he was frustrated at the lack of ball movement against Nebraska sagging zone defense.

The early result for the Ducks was a 28-17 halftime lead and plenty of glazed-over eyeballs among the 6,102 at Matthew Knight Arena.

"I was disappointed in the energy," Altman said of his team. "... We're an offensive built on ball movement. We have some guys who can get it off the dribble, but we're much better off the pass. ... We have a long ways to go."

The good news for the Ducks, besides the victory, was the continued offensive improvement of senior center Tony Woods, who finished with a game-high 14 points on 7 of 11, including four dunks.

"It's just been rolling for me," said Woods, who also had two blocks. "It's been going well and I'm playing with confidence."

Kazemi, in his first month in a UO uniform, continues to look like Oregon's best all-around player. Woods joked that he is jealous off all the rebounds Kazemi is getting, and Altman said the transfer from Rice is "really unbelievable" when he's going after a rebound.

There were plenty of rebounding opportunities early with Nebraska shooting just 8 of 22 in the first half. The Ducks weren't much better, hitting 11 of 26 shots in the first half and finishing 2 of 13 on 3-point attempts.

Senior E.J. Singler finally sank the Ducks' first 3-pointer in front of the UO bench with 7:17 left in the game. That stretched Oregon's lead to 45-30 and started an 18-8 surge to finish it for the Ducks.

Nebraska shot just 30.6 percent from the field (15 for 49), and each team had 16 turnovers.

-- Adam Jude