A game where the star-player produced his best performance of his career should not need overtime and many nail-biting moments. That game being against the last-place team in the conference, who had nothing to play for at this point in the season furthers that point. 

Rivalry games are different, however, and Sunday afternoon was no different. 

Nate Bittle waited until the regular season finale to produce a career-defining performance, and finished with a career-high 36 points — with 12 rebounds and two blocks — in a 80-73 victory over the Washington Huskies that appeared in doubt at times. 

Only three Ducks other than Bittle scored more than four points, as Oregon struggled to pull ahead against a Husky team that had lost its last five heading into Sunday afternoon. 

Oregon rode its six-game winning streak into Seattle on Sunday afternoon to take on the Big Ten bottom-feeding Washington Huskies. The Huskies lost their previous three games by a combined 73 points. 

The Ducks handled their rivals in Eugene in late January 82-71, and each team’s season finale followed a similar tune. 

The Ducks didn’t miss a single shot during the first five minutes of the contest. 

During that same stretch, Bittle scored nine of the first 13 Oregon points on 4/4 shooting and made his only try from deep at that point. His 21 first half points single-handedly put the Ducks ahead in the early-going. 

That was also the only three Oregon made in the first half. The Ducks stayed ahead largely due to their ability to get buckets inside. 

Oregon climbed out to a 10-point lead early in the first, but the lack of scoring on both sides prevented all attempts from breaking the game open. That included a four-minute long field goal drought, and for most of that stretch, Bittle was on the bench.

Washington collected enough offense to bring the Oregon lead down to three at the break — 36-33. 

The Huskies also forced eight Duck turnovers in the first half, which accounted for 13 points off turnovers. Oregon only tallied four in that category off of just five Washington giveaways. 

By the end of the game Washington led the turnover margin 13-7 and points off turnovers 21-6. 

The Ducks opened the second by settling for threes rather than finding buckets inside, which was the formula that worked in the first. As they settled into the half, however, the Ducks drove to the basket more and slowly took more and more life out of the Huskies. 

But Oregon continued to shoot itself in the foot with turnovers, and gave Washington its first lead of the afternoon after two-straight threes eight minutes into the second half. 

Bittle’s hot hand showed up yet again to put the Ducks back on top with a contested triple at the end of the shot clock. Keeshawn Barthelemy followed that up with his first three of the game, but Oregon went scoreless in the following two minutes. 

That ballooned to a five-minute field goal drought, which mirrored the struggles the Ducks had during a similar timeframe in the opening half. The drought was broken by another Barthelemty three, which came five-and-a-half minutes after his previous triple. 

Washington stayed in the game by continuing to make shots and play aggressive defense. The focus on Bittle prevented any offensive outburst by Oregon. 

With a minute to go, Oregon turned to its star center, who missed an initial attempt, but tipped in his second try to give the Ducks another slim lead. The Huskies tied it up from the free-throw line on the next possession, which proved crucial, as Kwame Evans Jr. missed both of his potential go-head free throws. 

Washington missed the game-winner on the other end, and the contest moved into overtime. 

By the end of regulation, Bittle scored 35 points and his teammates scored a combined 33, but the Ducks still had an opportunity to win the game.

The extra period followed the script that regulation did. Neither team mustered up enough offense to pull away by the end. Washington didn’t score until halfway through overtime, but by that point, Oregon scored five of its own. 

The Ducks slowed down the game significantly and found easy shots inside to close out their last regular season victory of the year. 

Oregon needed the extra five minutes to finish off its rival Washington, but the Ducks got it done in the end 80-73. 

Oregon returns to action Thursday afternoon in Indianapolis against the Indiana Hoosiers in the second-round of the Big Ten tournament. 

The post Oregon needs overtime to finish off Washington 80-73 appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Oregon men’s basketball (21-8, 10-8 Big Ten) and the USC Trojans (14-15, 6-12 Big Ten) were  only separated by five points at the end of the first half. The Ducks shot poorly from three (14%) while USC’s offense often found its spots. 

It never seemed like a 21-point beatdown was even possible. 

However, Oregon exploded in the latter stages of the contest behind Keeshawn Barthelemy’s 14 second half points, which totaled to a team-leading 20. 

“I was in the zone, my teammates were looking for me,” Barthelemy said. 

The Duck’s defense proved as much of a catalyst, as they forced 16 turnovers, and totaled 20 stocks on the day (steals and blocks combined).

Five of those came by way of Nate Bittle, Oregon’s primary presence in the paint. Bittle added 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocks. 

“Nate was phenomenal. In the second half he owned the paint, blocked five shots. He did a great job,” head coach Dana Altman said. 

The two sides entered Saturday afternoon’s contest with drastically different stories. The Trojans entered off a four-game skid while the Ducks came in riding a four-game winning streak. 

The mismatch between the Trojans’ Rashaun Agee and Bittle became the point of emphasis in the opening five minutes as Agee scored 10 of the first 12 USC points. 

Agee led all scorers with 29, while also adding 14 boards and six blocks. 

His ability to shoot cleared out the paint and allowed USC cutters into that open space. The Trojans hit their first three tries from deep en route to an 11-point lead. 

“I didn’t like our shot selection and definitely didn’t like our activity defensively,” Altman said. “We didn’t talk, gave up open threes and didn’t get any hands on any passes.”

As the half continued, Bittle gave way for more dynamic defenders in Supreme Cook and Kwame Evans Jr. The defense shored itself up and the offense followed. 

“Fortunately, we got a couple baskets to get us going a little bit. Got some stops there and we tied it,” Altman said. “We got ourselves back in the game real quick.”

A 9-0 Oregon run halfway through the opening frame brought the game to a 17-17 deadlock. 

Oregon showed every possible sign of being able to stretch a lead, especially through its defense, but the 1-7 clip from beyond the arc in the first made that much more difficult. That improved to 37% by the game’s conclusion. 

Once the defense gained confidence, Bittle found himself more free to make an impact on offense. His eight first half points and Jackson Shelstad’s nine proved the catalyst for Oregon. Shelstad finished with 19 points and four assists. 

USC’s offense sputtered as the opening period came to a close, as the Trojans endured multiple two-and-a-half minute scoring droughts, which allowed Oregon to take a 39-34 lead at the break. 

Oregon appeared to have gotten over its three-point woes, as Keeshawn Barthelemy knocked down the first basket of the second half with an elbow triple. Shelstad followed that up with a speedy layup, and the Ducks took a 10-point lead early in the half.

They were able to keep it that way. 

“Defensively, we were really locked in. They didn’t shoot a high percentage in the second half, credit to Nate, he challenged a lot of shots. We did a lot better on the board and offensively we were moving the ball more, hitting open shots,” Shelstad said. 

The Ducks’ three-point shooting improved, and it felt as if every time the Trojans cut into the lead, Oregon would hit from deep. With about nine minutes to go, Barthelemy sank a dagger triple to extend the margin to 11.

Evans eventually brought that up to 14 with an emphatic and-one and Barthelemy made it 20 with two-straight triples. That capped off a 13-0 Oregon run which effectively ended the contest. 

That was an electric stretch of play that included three Oregon blocks (two-straight from Bittle and one from Evans), a TJ Bamba steal and two Barthelemy threes that brought the crowd to its feet. 

“It was amazing seeing the crowd today. They were behind us when we went on a run, and it was as loud as I’ve heard it all season. Everybody just made shots and big plays,” Shelstad said. 

The Ducks always had that ability to stretch a lead over a lackluster Trojan defense, they just needed to do it. 

Oregon rounded out the contest and took an 82-61 win. 

The Ducks return to Matthew Knight for senior day on Tuesday night against the Indiana Hoosiers. 

The post Explosive second half fuels Oregon to 82-61 blowout over USC appeared first on Daily Emerald.

No. 11 Oregon (7-2) used its extremely-hot offense to open the series against the Columbia Lions (1-3) 20-11. 

“We played an errorless game. We gave up some runs, but got a lot more runs,” head coach Mark Wazikowski said. 

The Ducks were helped by a never-ending cavalcade of hits, especially Dominic Hellman’s eight RBIs on two grand slams. Grayson Grinsell dealt 5.1 innings with six earned and seven hits, but secured his first win of the season. 

The Lions’ offense kept them in it as the game progressed, but Columbia failed to hold Oregon’s offense, as the Ducks tallied a boatload of efficient runs. 

Columbia traveled to Eugene after dropping its first series of the season 2-1, but each of the two losses were decided by two runs or less. 

The Ducks, riding the red-hot bats of Maddox Molony and Burke-Lee Mabeus, entered the series against Columbia after taking the last three of a four-game slugfest against the University of Rhode Island. 

Mabeus posted an incredible 4-5 day with three RBIs while Molony struggled and went 1-5. 

“[Coach Wazikowski] pulled me aside, just saying to ‘really trust your talent that you have and stay through the middle.’ I was just trying to be as relaxed as I can and put good swings on balls,” Mabeus said. 

Oregon’s ace Grinsell opened the game by fanning two and allowing just one hit in the opening frame. Columbia’s Alex Sotiropoulos answered with a 1-2-3 first inning with a strikeout on just 10 pitches.

Grinsell struggled to punch out batters, and surrendered the game’s first two runs after a Jack Kail blast to right center drove in a runner on first. In just the second inning, Oregon faced a 3-0 deficit. 

Ben Fishel pulled a weak Grinsell breaking ball to deep left field for a double, which scored a runner from second. The inning could have turned much more sour if not for an athletic grab by Jeffery Heard at the wall. 

The Ducks’ first two hits came from their first two batters in the second. They didn’t waste any time scoring their first run, as Mabeus drilled a double off the wall and brought in Anson Aroz from third. Oregon tied the game up and subsequently blew the game wide open. 

Hellman tore the cover off the ball in his first offering at the plate and sent a grand slam off the left field scoreboard. 7-3 Ducks in a matter of minutes. 

That stretch chased Sotiropoulos after 2.0 IP with six hits and seven earned runs, and he received the loss. 

“We hadn’t been super clean with our [offensive] execution and I thought today was probably our cleanest day for execution,” Wazikowski said. 

The bottom of the third saw another run driven in as Oregon secured a firm grip on the contest. 

Heard opened up the fourth by putting one deep into the parking lot behind right field. Five more were added in the frame — three coming from a Mabeus RBI double. 

Another explosion brought the Ducks ahead by nine with no signs of a Lions’ comeback after another clean inning from Grinsell and the defense. 

In Grinsell’s last efforts of the contest, the Lions found a way to generate some offense, as Columbia scored its fifth run off Oregon’s starter. The first batter that reliever Ryan Featherston faced crushed a two-run homer to left and brought the Lions within six. 

Oregon responded to Columbia’s offensive fire with two runs of its own to prove that the Lions were completely outclassed in Friday’s series opener. In each inning that Columbia scored, Oregon responded with at least two runs in the ensuing frame. 

But Columbia wouldn’t go down easily. A four-run seventh inning forced multiple mound visits and only ended after Featherston gave way to Jaxon Jordan, who sat down the last batter to end the Lions’ rally. 

“Jaxon came in and was fantastic again. It’s his second outing of the year where he’s been outstanding. It was good to see,” Wazikowski said. 

Another response was warranted for Oregon, and it came once again from the bat of Hellman. On the first pitch of the at-bat, with the bases loaded, Hellman knocked his second grand slam of the game to put the Ducks up eight runs in the bottom of the seventh. 

“I feel like when my direction is going through the middle, I can see the pitches a lot better and recognize spin and recognize when I’m on time to a fastball, and that’s exactly what I did,” Hellman said.

Hellman recorded the first multi-grand slam game in Ducks’ history as Oregon took the series opener in emphatic fashion.

Another run was added in the eighth, as the Ducks took a 20-11 win. First pitch for the first game is set for 11:05 a.m.

The post Dominic Hellman’s two grand slams lift No. 11 Oregon over Columbia 20-11 appeared first on Daily Emerald.

There’s a specific narrative that accompanies each Oregon athletic squad. 

The Ducks, without fail, take the court or field wearing the finest uniforms Nike has to offer. Whether that be the classic white and green, the new-era black and yellow or a wacky combination of all four, Oregon always finds a way to look cooler than its competitors. 

No. 11 Oregon baseball started its season 3-1 on Opening Weekend, and three of those games featured different jerseys. Many teams cannot boast that ability to change wardrobe so easily, and that’s not all this team has to offer. 

Here’s my comprehensive ranking of each of the uniforms the Ducks will wear this season:

5. Gray Jerseys 

Worn last year, but not yet so far this season, Oregon’s gray jerseys take the bottom spot on this list. These feature a charcoal gray jersey and pants with yellow accents and black lettering. These are last for one major reason: Oregon never needed a fifth color. Everything in the Ducks’ uniform arsenal works well enough that it shouldn’t warrant the use of a completely unrelated hue. Gray jerseys feature in many of Oregon’s sports, but never sit quite right with me. 

4. Green Jerseys 

Simple and classic, but doesn’t display the flashiness and pizzazz of an average Oregon fit. The greens are the primary home uniforms of the Ducks and generally include the use of white pants. However, these are the second-best home uniforms — we will talk about the others later. “Legacy Green” is the primary colorway for most of Oregon’s athletic teams, but again doesn’t display any modicum of flashiness. It feels wrong to knock something for being too generic even though it works, but throats get cut when jerseys are ranked. 

3. White Pinstripes

To say that these aren’t the best white jerseys speaks volumes to what will come next in this list. The jersey and pants match, white with green pinstripes throughout. Pinstripes, in my opinion, are the cleanest look that a baseball team can put out. Every team that does it, does it in their own unique way, and the Ducks are no exception. The green pinstripes aren’t matched by many others, and stand out in a way that Oregon is meant to. 

2. Black Jerseys

It’s not an Oregon team without a neat black and yellow colorway. Baseball might be the squad that does it best. The black base provides the perfect background for the in-your-face yellow used by Oregon athletics. The yellow Oregon displayed across the chest along with the accents and bright yellow “O” on the black hat. Everything about this uniform screams flashiness and everything that Oregon’s most avid haters loathe: style. 

1. White Throwbacks

Probably the simplest of the five recurring colors for the Ducks, the throwbacks are everything that works about each of the others. The soft green accents accompanied by the cream-colored base for the jerseys make for the perfect callback to baseball’s glory days. Oregon, in a rare move from the Ducks, look straight out of the 1950s, but in the best way. The thin green writing across the jersey works both as a creative way to display the brand and a throwback to some of the first uniforms used in the sport. While it is nothing that tends to characterize Oregon’s sports teams, these throwbacks make for a different, but refreshing look for the Ducks. In an era where many of Oregon’s teams wear the same, flashy uniforms, making a throwback work should be much more difficult than these Ducks make it. 

The post Lazarus: Ranking Oregon baseball’s uniforms appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Oregon men’s basketball (19-8, 8-8 Big Ten) picked up its third-straight win in a nail biting, 80-78 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes (14-12, 5-10 Big Ten). Behind 38 points in the paint and a dominating performance on the boards, the Ducks outmuscled the Hawkeyes. 

Nate Bittle’s 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks embodied that physical mentality perfectly and fueled Oregon’s win. 

The Hawkeyes won just one of their last five coming into Wednesday, while the Ducks rebounded from a five-game losing streak with victories in their last two contests. 

Iowa’s top scorer, Payton Sandfort, started out hot and made his first three shots, which scored eight of the first 15 Hawkeye points. Sandfort led his team in scoring with 25 points, and not far behind him was his backcourt mate Josh Dix with 19. 

There was nothing to split the two squads halfway through the first half as each team showed flashes of efficient offense. Bittle became the focal point for the Ducks on that end, as Iowa didn’t have anyone to match his height. 

Oregon failed to contain the Hawkeyes’ mid-range shooting, which accounted for 10 of the first 22 Iowa points. Once the Ducks started getting stops, however, they were able to work on building the lead. 

The Ducks didn’t connect on shots from beyond the arc, but their ability to force the action inside continued to cause problems for the Hawkeyes. 

Bittle hit six of his seven shots in the first half, which was good for 14 points. Oregon also outrebounded Iowa 16-12 in the opening frame, which ballooned to 36-27 by the end of the contest. 

While the game against Rutgers could be characterized by the Ducks’ 3-point shooting, Wednesday’s contest became the opposite. Oregon scored 26 of its 45 points in the first half inside the paint. 

The interior offense was efficient enough that Oregon took a 45-37 lead into the break. 

Iowa opened the second by scoring the first five points of the half, which gave the Hawkeyes needed momentum as they attempted to cut into the Oregon lead. Two-straight Brandon Angel buckets inside brought it back to neutral, however. 

The Ducks gave up a 7-0 run afterward, which included five-straight from Sandfort which tied the contest at 49 early in the second half. 

Oregon made just two of its first 11 shots in the second, which also contributed to the run and allowed Iowa to take its first lead since it was 1-0, as Sandfort converted a 3-pointer. 

Two-straight makes from Keeshawn Barthelemy and TJ Bamba quickly brought the Oregon lead back up to five. After Barthelemy missed his next one, two-straight from Ra’Heim Moss and Jadrian Tracey bolstered the lead again. 

Everyone who played for the Ducks hit a field goal except the team’s leading-scorer for the season, Jackson Shelstad. Aside from three free throws, Shelstad proved a non-factor on offense throughout the majority of the game. 

The second half gave way to a much slower pace of play, which benefited the Hawkeyes, who relished the opportunities to be patient and find open shots. 

Iowa also switched into a 2-3 zone, which hurt Oregon’s interior offense and forced it to settle for contested jump shots. 

After a five minute stretch where the Hawkeyes outscored the Ducks 13-4, Oregon surrendered the lead yet again, but another timely triple gave it right back. 

The last three minutes became a back-and-forth battle after that, and the Ducks, who struggled to score in the paint in the second, forced the ball inside. 

Even after not making a field goal for the final two-and-a-half minutes, Oregon thought the contest was wrapped up when it started the free throw battle and went up four. However, an Iowa layup and crucial turnover by Shelstad gave the Hawkeyes an opportunity to take the last shot down two.

Iowa squandered its opportunity to take a shock win, as Bittle made a crucial block on a Dix three and secured a 80-78 win for the Ducks. 

Oregon continues its road trip when it takes on the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers in Madison on Saturday. 

The post Oregon tops Iowa 80-78 for third-straight win appeared first on Daily Emerald.

Oregon men’s basketball (18-8, 7-8 Big Ten) found efficient shooting and consistent defense in a must-win home game against a subpar opponent. Jackson Shelstad’s 19 points and Nate Bittle’s 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks fueled a tremendous second half performance and a 75-57 Oregon win. 

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-14, 5-10 Big Ten), toting its backcourt duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, looked to capitalize on a struggling Oregon team that dropped five of its previous six. 

The Scarlet Knights showed early that they intended to use their stars for an advantage, as Harper began the game by guarding Oregon point guard and efficient scorer Jackson Shelstad from full court. 

The two had their hands full, however, and combined for 9-27 shooting and 21 points. It was evident the Ducks were content allowing everyone else to score, but not Harper or Bailey. 

“I think our guys were locked in on the scouting report and really focused defensively. It was a team effort defensively just to be able to stop [Bailey and Harper],” assistant coach Tony Stubblefield said. 

TJ Bamba can take a lot of credit for that, as Oregon’s senior guard faced each numerous times in a 1-on-1 matchup, but rarely faltered. Bamba also added 11 points. 

“TJ has proven that he can be a really good defender, I thought he did a good job on Bailey today,” Stubblefield said. “From a defensive standpoint, I think that helps him on the offensive end and provides energy for our team.”

In some sort of anomaly, Oregon actually made its first three of the game — a deep pull from Keeshawn Barthelemy got the Ducks on the board. 

While Rutgers’ lack of size hurt its ability to defend the ball going inside, a double-edged sword emerged quickly. The Knights used their big guards to force Oregon’s playmakers to make decisions and settle for shots. 

The first five minutes only saw 16 combined points, split between the two squads. 

In that same stretch, Harper and Bailey combined for two of their own. The Ducks contained the stars like planned, but couldn’t account for the other three at any given time. 

Just as Oregon played one of its first holistic defensive possessions of the game, Harper knocked down a deep 3-pointer. A stop on defense gave Harper an open floater that he niftily converted to give the Knights a seven-point lead. 

While the Ducks sank fewer than half of their shots in the first half, their 6-10 mark from beyond the arc allowed Oregon to score efficiently enough to bide its time until the Knights cracked. 

The 3-point percentage fell slightly as the game progressed to 59%, which is still an incredible number for the Ducks.  

“I think we were sharing the ball and getting good looks. The last two games, we’ve been sharing the ball a lot better,” Shelstad said. 

Oregon took its first lead of the game at 28-27 with six minutes remaining in the first. The Ducks relinquished the advantage just once before the half ended and entered the break leading 38-33. 

Rutgers’ 56% from the field in the first allowed them to stay in a game where its stars struggled to hit their shots. The second half unfolded much differently and included multiple three-minute scoring droughts from the Knights. 

Oregon opened the second with the same tone, as Bittle rose to meet Bailey and send back his dunk attempt on the first possession of the half. 

“[My teammates know] that if they do get beat to the rim that I’m there to help them,” Bittle said. “Even when I’m not blocking shots…people have a hard time getting shots over the top of my hands. It just changes shots and gives my teammates a lot of confidence to get up and guard.” 

Bittle also converted the Ducks’ first three points of the half on a contested triple. 

Oregon showed that it was able to maintain a lead, evidenced by five-straight points from Shelstad right after Rutgers cut within two. The Knights had been on a 5-0 run before Shelstad converted on a step-back-three in the face of a defender and a mid-range bucket under the same circumstances. 

The efficient scoring, and Rutgers’ lack thereof, allowed the Ducks to start pulling away from the Knights as they continued hitting threes. Oregon took its first double-digit lead halfway through the half and never looked back.

The Ducks got up as much as 19 after a 13-2 run and four Rutgers turnovers in that period. Oregon shot efficiently and kept hunkering down defensively, which saw it coast to a 75-57 victory. 

Oregon travels to Iowa City for a Wednesday night matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes. 

The post Efficient shooting fuels Oregon to 75-57 win over Rutgers appeared first on Daily Emerald.

The narrative surrounding Oregon men’s basketball, which recently stood amongst the nations top-10, quickly became negative after a five-game losing streak dropped the Ducks completely out of the rankings. 

Negative would be an understatement. The Ducks came into Tuesday night’s contest against the Northwestern Wildcats panicked. 

Oregon’s “live by the three, die by the three” mentality carried it through the early portion of the season, but killed the Ducks once conference play started. Against Northwestern, to the satisfaction of head coach Dana Altman, Oregon lived. 

The Ducks shot 41% from deep in the first half, which led them to a 39-25 lead, and finished the night at 38%. 

In each of the Ducks’ five losses heading into the game, the opponent scored over 77 points. Northwestern’s slow start was the only thing that prevented the Wildcats from eclipsing that mark, as Oregon’s defense surrendered 50 points on 61% shooting in the second half. 

“I want the guys to be excited about the win and excited about the first half,” Altman said. “But also, I want them to learn that we gotta get better in that second half. That’s two second halves in a row where we’ve given up 50 points.”

Even a career-high 26 points from Jackson Shelstad couldn’t put the Ducks ahead by any safe margin on Tuesday night.

Keeshawn Barthelemy added 19 and Nate Bittle tallied 14 of his own, but Oregon still never felt comfortable in this game. 

Why? 

The answer: two five-minute field goal droughts and — if not for a foul-heavy officiating crew — the Ducks would not have enough opportunity to stay ahead. That’s a quarter of the game where Oregon didn’t hit a shot, and many of those possessions ended on a missed, contested 3-point attempt. 

“We were getting really good inside out threes at the beginning of the game. I can’t remember a lot of [the misses], but I know we shot some at the end of the shot clock, forced threes or off-the-dribble ones,” Shelstad said. 

Even while routinely up by double-digits on Tuesday night, Oregon continued to drive-and-kick to find shots from outside. Shelstad curled around the arc and hit his first triple of the second half to put the Ducks up 13. 

Then Oregon’s offense went quiet, especially from deep. The Ducks started the contest 4-5 on threes, but finished the game 8-21. 

Shooting 24 free throws — and making 21 of them — in any half of basketball will garner success. Those metrics also proved a catalyst to the Ducks maintaining a lead in all but two minutes in the contest. 

Northwestern cut the lead to just five with five minutes to play, but Barthelemy came roaring back with Oregon’s first triple in almost eight minutes to potentially shoot a dagger in any hope the Wildcats had at staging a comeback. 

However, the subpar production allowed Northwestern to claw back into the contest, proving just how much fortunes can change over the course of a game. 

Oregon didn’t make a field goal for the final five minutes of the game, but the early scoring provided enough cushion against a short-handed Northwestern squad. After a positive step forward offensively in the first half, the Ducks regressed back to what they had been during the losing streak. 

“I want them to be confident and aggressive, but they also gotta be smart. That ball gets stuck and the defense can set,” Altman said. “Our ball movement is just not good enough, it’s gotta get better.”

Bad shots, tired defense and lack of ball movement can kill any team’s chances at winning, but the Ducks luckily did enough to pull out a win. It’s just unfortunate to think of January’s top-10 Ducks, who would scoff at a home matchup against a conference bottom-feeder without its top playmaker. 

Now, Oregon has to deal with two of the country’s rising stars in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, as the Ducks welcome the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday afternoon. 

The post Saved by the free throw appeared first on Daily Emerald.

In a contest that needed to be a resounding homecoming for the No. 16 Oregon Ducks (16-6, 5-6 Big Ten), the Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-8, 4-7 Big Ten) played spoiler. The Cornhuskers flaunted their slow-moving offense, which only needed an early lead to stifle the Ducks’ efforts. 

In a 77-71 victory, Nebraska led for the final 39 minutes and Oregon never found a way back into the game. The Ducks dropped their third-straight game despite 16 points from Jackson Shelstad and 15 from Brandon Angel. 

“They simply played harder than us,” head coach Dana Altman said. 

The Ducks entered Sunday afternoon as losers of their last two matchups, both against unranked teams. However, each of those losses came away from home, so Oregon’s return to Eugene appeared to come at an important time. 

Oregon made one change in its starting lineup as guard Keeshawn Barthelemy started in place of forward Jadrian Tracey. It was an attempt from head coach Dana Altman to replicate the small-ball group that saw success throughout Oregon’s road trip struggles. 

The Ducks’ offensive woes continued to begin the game, however. Oregon made one of its first six shots while the Cornhuskers hit enough of their own to take an early 7-2 lead. 

That lead stretched itself to 14-6, at which point Nebraska had taken just under half the amount of shots Oregon did, but more than doubled the Ducks’ score. 

Oregon rode a six-point run and cut that lead to two, but a Nebraska explosion started by way of Brice Williams’ 12 first-half points. Williams, the subject of heavy interest from NBA scouts, finished with 28.

“When they took that 15-point lead [in the first half], they were flying around and playing more connected than we were,” Altman said.

Oregon started full-court pressing as the first half drew to a close, and forcing the Cornhuskers to speed up their offense stifled Nebraska’s momentum. The press gave way to a resounding 11-2 run from the Ducks to finish the half. 

The Huskers took a 34-28 lead at the break, but the shooting percentages didn’t match that. Oregon shot 32% from the field in the opening frame, while Nebraska found much more success at 52%. 

The second half didn’t fare much better for either team, as the Ducks ended up shooting 40% and Nebraska shot 51%. 

“Had a lot of good looks, just didn’t finish well around the basket. Obviously, we didn’t shoot the three well again. The thing I’m most disappointed in is that they outworked us,” Altman said. 

Oregon stayed in the press to begin the second half, but didn’t effectively cut into Nebraska’s lead. The offense was just efficient enough to constantly get back within six or seven, but the Huskers’ methodical pace prevented anything beyond that. 

A Kwame Evans Jr. free throw cut it to five, but in the five minutes after, Oregon didn’t hit a field goal. Four free throws from Brandon Angel made the deficit more manageable. 

Nebraska’s offense stagnated just in time for a Shelstad three, which had the crowd feeling like Oregon was not done just yet. 

The lack of scoring overall slowed the game down and gave Oregon fewer opportunities to cut into the lead. That being said, the Ducks passed up on each one of those chances and shot 5-20 from beyond the arc. 

“I wanted them to be aggressive, but you still got to be smart. I think 20 is a good number for us,” Altman said. 

Nebraska shut down the interior, which forced Oregon into more of those shots and compounded the issue, as the Ducks love to settle for contested shots. 

Once the clock hit two minutes remaining, the deficit proved slightly too ambitious for the Ducks, who could not buy a bucket from deep on Sunday afternoon. 

The Cornhuskers’ slow offense became the perfect vessel to close out this game and silence the Ducks at home. What once appeared to be a much-needed homecoming for Oregon became a cynical reminder of everything this team will need to be if it wants to move forward through the postseason. 

Oregon travels to Michigan for a two-game road trip against the two state schools starting in Ann Arbor on Wednesday night.

The No. 16 Oregon Ducks (16-5, 5-5 Big Ten) have not won games where it failed to shoot threes efficiently, and Thursday night’s 78-52 loss against the UCLA Bruins (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten) followed that script. 

The Ducks endured two stretches — one in each half — over five and a half minutes where they didn’t score a field goal in the lowest scoring game for Oregon this season.  

Oregon also shot 4-23 from deep while the Bruins trounced that with their 11-23 clip. It didn’t help that Oregon’s usual stout defense — averaging 70.3 points against per game heading into Thursday — failed to answer. 

The Ducks still stumbled into this matchup as losers of two of their last three contests. The Bruins aimed to continue their four-game winning streak.

The first five minutes included a boatload of scoring, mostly from the Bruins, as they took an early five point lead heading into the first TV timeout. 

Nate Bittle opened his game early, scoring six points in that stretch, but was outdone by UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr., who posted seven. Bittle finished with 13 and Dailey closed his tab at a game-leading 21. 

Given UCLA’s size, Oregon experimented with smaller lineups, which caused issues for the Bruins’ defense. The Ducks hit their first three as Bittle connected from deep in the first offensive possession with the small lineup. 

Keeshawn Barthelemy followed that up with a stop on defense and a triple of his own to cut the UCLA lead to three. 

The Ducks struggled to close out shooters in the first half, as the Bruins hit five of their 13 attempts from deep. Further, UCLA shot 55% in the opening frame, which the Ducks couldn’t match at 35%. 

A lot of that was due to Oregon not being able to defend Dailey using an off-ball screen to curl up to the elbow and hit an easy jumper. Oregon also failed to score for over six minutes while the Bruins relished in a 9-0 run. 

UCLA made its last four shots to end the half and took a dominant 40-26 lead heading into the break. 

The Ducks, as is customary when they go down by any significant margin this season, responded. 

Oregon made six of its first seven shots of the half, which was enough to cut the UCLA lead to 10.  TJ Bamba’s effective work in the paint shined, as he scored the last four of a 10-3 Oregon run at the beginning of the second. 

The Ducks couldn’t score as efficiently as the Bruins, which removed Oregon’s most effective shooter Jackson Shelstad who didn’t tally a single point. Shelstad only took two shots. 

An almost six-minute field goal drought and a 12-4 UCLA run allowed the Bruins to pull ahead by 18 halfway through the second. 

Oregon never recovered after that, UCLA continued to pour on offense and the Bruins took a resounding victory 78-52. The Ducks failed to get their revenge from the heartbreaking loss back in early December. 

Oregon returns home to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday afternoon. 

The post No. 16 Oregon drops second-straight 78-52 at UCLA appeared first on Daily Emerald.

It’s difficult to win when the leading scorer and rebounder posts a zero point, four rebound statline, and his frontcourt matchup tallies 31 of his own. 

Unfortunately for Oregon, Nate Bittle struggled in his worst performance so far this season, and Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia electrified the Gopher faithful with his offensive explosion. 

Even as three Ducks added at least 15 points, ineffective defense and timid rebounding prevented Oregon from overcoming Minnesota. 

No. 15 Oregon (16-4, 5-4 Big Ten) flew into Minneapolis riding a dominant win over Washington, while Minnesota (11-9, 3-6 Big Ten), bouncing back from its slow start, won its previous two games. 

The Golden Gophers started the contest off hot, scoring 15 points in the opening five minutes. In that stretch, Minnesota made six out of its first nine shots and all three of its tries from beyond the arc. 

The Ducks’ offense took longer to get going. 

On defense, Oregon failed to close out on shooters and gave the Gophers plenty of opportunities in the paint. Minnesota’s go-to producer on offense got in rhythm early. 

Garcia scored 14 of his 31 points in the opening 20 minutes. 

Oregon caught fire in the latter part of the first, and a 10-1 run brought what was once an 18-point deficit back to single digits. The offensive turnaround coincided with a significant uptick in defensive intensity. 

After that lead, the Ducks outscored the Gophers 30-18, which made it a 44-38 game at the break. 

Brandon Angel led the Ducks in scoring in the first with an efficient 15 points on 4-5 shooting. Angel made just one more shot the rest of the way and finished the game with 18. 

Jadrian Tracey knocked down a three to begin the second half, which then blossomed into an 8-0 run, and gave Oregon its first lead of the game. The Gophers responded to the Ducks’ run with an 8-0 stretch of their own. 

After each team went silent for several minutes, the offenses started exploding again. Oregon started earning trips to the free throw line, but the lack of consistency from either team dropped the defensive intensity. 

Oregon struggled to move the ball effectively and settled for bad shots. Minnesota outrebounded the Ducks 35-26, and didn’t allow a field goal for over six minutes. 

The rebounding margin also included a 10-4 difference on the offensive boards, and the Ducks didn’t score a single second-chance point. The Gophers tallied 11 on Saturday afternoon. 

Oregon was forced to rely on free throws to keep itself in the contest, but with just three minutes to go, that appeared to become a deadly strategy. 

Jackson Shelstad, who dutifully added 15 points, ended the drought with his second three, but Garcia countered with an effortless post spin to bring the Gopher lead back to six with two minutes remaining.

Keeshawn Barthelemy missed a crucial try from deep down four, which forced the Ducks into an intentional foul situation. Shelstad’s and-one brought Oregon out of that, and he promptly gave the Ducks another possession with a drawn charge in the backcourt. 

A TJ Bamba offensive foul and more uninspired defense ended Oregon’s hopes of winning. Minnesota closed out the contest and secured a 77-69 upset, and the home crowd stormed the court. 

The Ducks continue on the road Thursday night against the UCLA Bruins who won the first matchup between the two in Eugene.