Early on, it became clear that the brand of basketball chosen by each squad Tuesday night was big on big.

Washington’s first 14 points came from the paint and Oregon’s lauded size provided by starters Nate Bittle and Brandon Angel appeared a non-factor by the Huskies. Big men Great Osobor and Wilhelm Breidenbach scored 15 of the first 17 Washington points halfway through the first. 

Breidenbach’s day slowed down due to foul trouble, while Osobor carved out a team-leading 20 points, which included four trips to the free throw line. 

On the opposite end, Washington’s bigs posed an entirely different threat, and one the Ducks struggled with so far this season. Oregon’s losses usually came with losing a physical battle against the opposing frontcourt. 

Bittle and Angel kept teams on their toes with an elite pick-and-roll game that, with the added bonus of three-point shooting, proved to be a key to Ducks’ wins. The Huskies’ tandem of big men place each of Oregon’s big duo on islands where they would need to win a physical battle just to set a screen.

Oregon’s stout defense shored itself up as the first progressed, especially with the added strength of Supreme Cook down the stretch of the half. Cook took the pressure off Bittle for a short time and owned the tough assignment of guarding Osobor. 

“It’s about depth, and depth is one of our greatest strengths,” Angel said. “On a night like this, Nate and Jackson [Shelstad] didn’t have their A-game compared to what they had, but we try to pick them up.” 

The 34-32 Duck lead at halftime reflected both the reliance on interior scoring and Oregon’s resurgence against a lower-caliber opponent. 

And almost as soon as it got going, Angel added a strong bucket in the paint to get the Ducks started. Washington struggled to move the ball through the inside offensively to begin the second half, but the Huskies saw their only success from outside during this stretch. 

However, once Washington lost the interior battle, the rest of the offense fell away as well. On the other side, once Oregon started pulling the ball back and exclusively moving it around the arc, the Huskies fought back into the contest and took a small lead midway through the second. 

Three physical post spins from Cook brought him an and-one, a couple more FTs and an easy bucket on consecutive possessions. Cook’s run of dominant interior offense gave the Ducks the lead back.

“Supreme’s a monster, he’s one of the strongest players I’ve played with. The physicality he brings can definitely change a game. He buried people in the post and definitely imposed his will in the paint,” Angel said. “We knew we were getting buckets when we dumped him the ball in the paint.” 

In a contest where Oregon needed to get big in order to ensure victory, the Ducks outrebounded 37-24 and outscored the Huskies 42-38 in the paint. 

Even when Bittle picked up his fourth foul with six-and-a-half minutes remaining, Cook was there to pick up the slack yet again. 

Cook played for four-straight minutes, after which Bittle found himself and his Ducks up seven — the game was tied when Bittle tallied his fourth foul.

The impact of not only the starting big men, but Cook off the bench pushed Oregon past its cross-state rivals and gave the Ducks a much needed win. If Cook hadn’t dominated in his 11 minute stint on court, Washington’s frontcourt could have made the contest too physical. 

“[Cook] was the difference in the game. Supreme gave us something inside that we hadn’t had, he wanted the ball in there. I thought he did a tremendous job,” head coach Dana Altman said. 

But it didn’t and Oregon found a way to secure victory — 82-71.

With just nine seconds remaining, Oregon women’s basketball (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten) led the Iowa Hawkeyes (12-7, 2-6 Big Ten) by one point. Iowa had the ball with the chance to win the game on the final shot. 

Less than an hour previous, the Ducks fell behind by 15 points with little to no route back into the contest. But here they were with a chance to close out the game with a strong defensive possession. 

That’s exactly what happened. Iowa’s shot attempt flew far to the right and Oregon held on to win 50-49 behind Phillipina Kyei’s eight second half points and team-leading 12 total. 

The Hawkeyes hoped to put an end to their four-game skid on Sunday afternoon, while the Ducks looked to make it four wins out of their last five. 

Oregon struggled to establish a presence in the paint on either end during the first quarter and fell behind early because of this. Iowa scored the game’s first 11 points. 

“We looked like we were sleep-walking in the first half, a little sluggish,” head coach Kelly Graves said.

Halfway through the first, Oregon still hadn’t scored a point. The Ducks failed to feed the ball inside and shots missed their mark, leaving little to no option in terms of scoring. 

“We were very low energy, we weren’t communicating. We were spastic on offense,” Deja Kelly said. 

The Ducks scored their first bucket two minutes later via an Alexis Whitfield three, but the crowd fell silent on the next possession as Iowa also sunk its first triple of the contest.

Oregon’s scoring smoothed out the rest of its game, but the Ducks still fell behind 17-7 after the opening frame. 

Iowa opened the second quarter with a deep three and the shots continued to rain in for the Hawkeyes. The 10-point lead quickly blossomed to 15, which spelled trouble for the Ducks. 

In the three minutes following an 8-0 Ducks run, Oregon didn’t score a single point and allowed Iowa to build its lead back up to double-digits. The Ducks struggled to close-out on shooters and rebound — Iowa outrebounded Oregon 23-13 in the first half and 40-26 in the entire game. 

“[Rebounding has] been one of our weaknesses…and I think we’ve been outrebounded by every opponent in conference play, we ultimately have to do a better job there,” Graves said.

The Hawkeyes took a 32-22 lead at half with no sign of slowing down.

A back-and-forth third quarter killed the Hawkeyes’ momentum, however, and slowly fueled Oregon’s quest for a win. The Ducks appeared much more comfortable with the ball as the second half progressed. 

Oregon scored the final four points in the third, including a APhillipina Kyei hook-shot as time expired, which dropped Iowa’s lead to just six. 

“It shows we have fight, that we’re competitive and that we don’t go down easily. The biggest adjustment was our defense. I think us picking up our intensity and our effort on that end allowed us to get out and run and get the shots we wanted,” Kelly said. 

Kyei scored the next four points and pulled Oregon within two. Kyei became crucial in the Ducks’ late comeback effort, as she also helped fuel a nine-minute scoring drought from Iowa’s offense. 

“What we are doing well is turning teams over. They’re getting extra shots on the boards, but they’re getting fewer shots because we are turning teams over,” Graves said. “They went 18 minutes when they only scored nine points in that second half, that’s getting it done.”

Oregon tied it up with just over six minutes to play, and Elisa Mevius popped the roof off the arena with a three to give the Ducks their first lead of the contest. On the other end, Iowa failed to replicate its first half offense and gave Oregon opportunities to go on quick scoring runs. 

“We were really locked in in that fourth quarter, we all knew how much it meant. Everyone was sacrificing their bodies,” Kelly said. 

The Ducks led by as much as five, but that seemed to trigger Iowa’s shot-making ability once again. That left Oregon ahead by just one point as the game entered the final minute. Leading up to that, Iowa held the Ducks scoreless for two-and-a-half minutes. 

But Oregon did enough and pulled out a gutsy home win in a contest where it seemed incredibly bleak at times. The Ducks emerged victorious 50-49 and now move on to another home contest against the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday at 6 p.m.

In a contest where offense became incredibly hard to find, the importance of playing disciplined proved the difference. 

That’s where the No. 17 Purdue Boilermakers (15-4, 7-1 Big Ten) prevailed over the No. 13 Oregon Ducks (15-3, 4-3 Big Ten). Purdue maintained the advantage in forcing turnovers (16-12), getting rebounds (37-32) and shot almost twice the amount of free throws that Oregon did (30-17). 

Oregon shot 36% and Purdue shot 34% for the game, and the abysmal performance bled into the energy and effort that the Ducks showed on Saturday. 

“The shot selection was awful. Really disappointed in myself not getting the guys to execute what we wanted,” head coach Dana Altman said. 

The Boilermakers rode a six-game winning streak, and only lost one conference game leading up to their blockbuster matchup in Eugene. The Ducks carried their own three-game run of excellence, and won each of those by fewer than five points. 

From the jump, Matthew Knight Arena shook from the noise of its sell-out crowd. A tough Brandon Angel and-one and a Jackson Shelstad pull from the logo started the scoring for Oregon and kept the crowd frenzied early-on. 

The Boilermakers fought back with a 6-0 run and fierce defense — often forcing the Ducks to play out of corner traps and from far behind the arc. Purdue held Oregon scoreless for the almost five minutes that the run encapsulated. 

“They’re physical and they don’t get out of position. We saw the double teams coming into the post, but they get off and to the ball as well as anybody,” Altman said. “They do a lot of good things defensively, they’re all tuned in and take care of their assignments.”

That run was only broken by free throws, and the Ducks had to wait an extra two minutes for the field goal drought to break via an Angel layup. Nate Bittle walked down a quick three on the next possession to tie the game at 14 halfway through the opening frame. 

Purdue’s trademark 3-point shooting failed to appear in the first half, and shockingly never recovered, as the Boilermakers totaled 16.7% from beyond the arc — 2-12. 

“I thought our activity defensively was pretty good. You hold them, one of the top-10 offenses in the country to 33% and 16% and they got to the free throw line too much…you should put yourself in position, it’s just offensively we made way too many mistakes,” Altman said. 

The Boilermakers cleaned up their interior offense as the first came to a close, which kept Purdue in front as halftime neared. A Purdue scoring drought for the final three minutes allowed Oregon to jump in front by halftime, and a 24-second violation on the final possession gave the Ducks a 31-30 lead at the break. 

Oregon’s offensive struggles bled into the second half, as the Ducks only scored two points in the opening eight minutes of the period, which equated to a Purdue scoring run of 11-0 and a seven-and-a-half minute scoreless drought. 

“At halftime, we were doing a great job getting over screens, over pick-and-rolls and in the second half, it slowed up a little bit. We just gotta be able to play 40 minutes of team defense,” Bittle said. 

That streak was broken as Jadrian Tracey finally got a triple to fall for Oregon, which seemed to spark the energy the team needed to tackle Purdue’s lead. Neither team produced enough offense to take the reins of the contest. 

With that, came Oregon’s 16 turnovers and confusion on each offensive possession. Even with the lack of firepower, the Ducks found a way to stick around and keep the game within striking distance. 

“We held them to 65 and if we hold a team to 65, we gotta win games. Below 70 that’s our saying,” Bittle said.

However, the lack of offense proved to be terminal for Oregon. The Boilermakers slowed down the game and killed any momentum the Ducks tried to build in front of a sell-out home crowd. 

Oregon tried to muster a comeback down 10 with about 90 seconds to go, but Purdue’s experience added to the insurmountability of its lead. Even with Bittle rattling in a couple from deep, Oregon had no way back. 

Purdue closed this one out and took the victory 65-58. 

Oregon returns to its home court to take on the Washington Huskies at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night.

The No. 15 Oregon Ducks (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) pounced on the Penn State Nittany Lions (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) early, but a strong second half performance from the home team made the contest competitive. 

After going down as much as nine points late in the game, Oregon pulled out another victory from a losing position behind Jackson Shelstad’s 17 points on 7-10 shooting, coupled with eight assists.

Six Ducks scored in double digits, as the strong team effort fueled a second half comeback to notch the Ducks’ seventh Quad 1 win of the season, which is now tied for the most in Division I. 

The Ducks entered Sunday’s matinee after a gritty comeback win over Ohio State on Thursday night, which was Oregon’s second-straight win. The Nittany Lions were pummeled by Illinois on Wednesday, which marked Penn State’s second-straight loss. 

Each squad struggled initially to implement its offense, but the Ducks jumped out to an early lead after four minutes, aided by 3-pointers from Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad. 

Oregon shot a 37% clip from beyond the arc on Sunday, three of which came from Shelstad. 

Oregon ran many of its early offensive sets through Shelstad, but the Ducks encountered issues as soon as the Penn State defense keyed in its focus on the sophomore guard. That’s when it’s fortunate to have an option off the bench as solid as Keeshawn Barthelemy. 

Barthelemy’s ability to run point guard effectively allows Shelstad to play off the ball more and find open shots. A small-ball lineup featuring the two guards and TJ Bamba broke open a 10 point lead for the Ducks in the latter part of the first. 

Bamba’s six straight points fueled a 9-0 Oregon run, which ballooned the lead to 14. 

Oregon remained in front by a safe margin the rest of the half, which was due to the balanced team scoring. There were four players that scored more than eight points in the first — Shelstad, Bamba, Bittle and Barthelemy. 

A quick 7-0 run in the last two minutes of the first brought the lead down to seven before the half ended 41-34.

The Nittany Lions opened up the second in a 2-3 zone, which forced the Ducks to settle for bad shots. The strong defense allowed the cushion for Penn State to chip into Oregon’s lead.

PSU tied the game at 49 almost halfway through the second half after a 7-0 run behind the offense of Nick Kern, who helped lead the way for the Nittany Lions with 19 points. 

Penn State scored on the ensuing possession and took a two point lead for its first of the half. During that stretch, the Ducks went scoreless for almost three minutes until Shelstad retook the lead with a perfect heave from basically half court. 

The squads traded the lead as the second progressed, but Oregon’s offense started going quiet as Penn State ramped up its attack. The Nittany Lions shot just 36% in the first half, but the 56% shooting in the second half allowed Penn State to grow its lead to as much as nine. 

The Ducks played much quicker and more decisively on offense once the clock struck five minutes and they had some chipping in to do themselves. 

Oregon forced the game back inside rather than settling for quick-fire threes, but the Ducks needed to start firing efficiently from deep to close the gap in the short amount of time they had. 

A contested bomb from Freddie Dillone V, which marked his fourth three of the game, seemed like a dagger with just over three minutes to go. Dillone led the game with 21 points. 

Threes from Barthelemy and Jadrian Tracey followed by a nifty Kwame Evans Jr. post move tied the game at 76 and made the final two minutes a nail-biter. 

With just under a minute to go, Shelstad knocked down an athletic jump fade from the right block to break the deadlock and take a two-point lead. The Oregon bench erupted, as the Ducks once again figured out a way to come from behind and find themselves ahead as the contest drew to a close. 

Oregon forced a missed layup on the other end, which spelled the end of it for the Nittany Lions. A fadeaway three with two seconds remaining made it interesting as time expired, but the Ducks secured the victory 82-81. 

Oregon gets six days off and welcomes the No. 20 Purdue Boilermakers next Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena.

The No. 12 Ducks (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten) put themselves in a position that has been all too familiar so far this season. 

Oregon trailed the USC Trojans (5-4, 0-1 Big Ten) 30-23 at halftime, which became the fourth time this season that head coach Dana Altman’s squad were behind at the break — each time the Ducks pulled through. 

Wednesday night in Los Angeles would be no different. Oregon found a way to beat the Trojans 68-60 after a drastic second half turnaround that included 21 points from Jackson Shelstad. 

The glaring difference between the two halves was the amount of trips the Ducks took to the free throw line. Oregon shot four foul shots in the first half and 20 in the second, which can be placed under the umbrella of problems rooted in coming out flat. 

USC practically led the whole way during the opening frame on Wednesday night. After Oregon opened with a 2-0 lead, USC came back with a bucket of its own, but that’s where the former Pac-12 rivals left it for the first four minutes of the contest. 

Stout defense and dismal offense characterized the period. Oregon shot 34% from the field and 30% from deep while the Trojans matched it with 38% shooting and coupled it with 25% from beyond the arc. 

USC’s 30 points came from just four players as well, with two scoring a measly two points each. Trojan guards Desmond Claude and Chibuzo Agbo scored 26 of those points with 12 and 14, respectively. Agbo scored four more points in the contest and fouled out late in the second half, while Claude remained consistent with his scoring. 

Towards the end of the first, Oregon found life. The input of Keeshawn Barthelemy, per usual, sparked both Oregon’s offense and defense. Barthelemy was the only Duck to score in double-digits, as he scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half. 

Coming out in the second half, Oregon showed a significantly different fire. The team started guarding more aggressively, passing more precisely and making more of its shots. A large part of the catalyst for that was the persistence in getting to the free throw line. 

Oregon remained behind for most of the beginning of the second half, but as the game went on the Ducks’ tough defense gave the offense enough of a cushion to get into rhythm. USC took an impressive run to a 10 point lead with just over 15 minutes to play, and that’s when the rhythm started. 

Oregon shot 41.4% in the second half, which was largely due to the excellence at point guard by Shelstad. 

Shelstad’s ability to drive on larger guards collapsed the USC defense due to his ability to take and make some of the toughest layups imaginable. When taking that shot wasn’t the best option, he could find Barthelemy outside for a three from deep. Barthelemy shot 2-2 from deep in the closing frame, each time from a drive-and-kick opportunity from Shelstad. 

The second of which tied the game at 55. Less than 40 seconds later, Shelstad hit one from the logo, and the Ducks took a lead they would not give up for the last four minutes of the game. 

That was Shelstad’s 21st of his game-leading 24 points — 12 of which came on his 14 free throw attempts. 

Shelstad and Barthelemy proved the keys to the game for a Ducks’ win. TJ Bamba finished with an abysmal six points on 2-13 shooting and season leader in points Nate Bittle tallied just five of his own — given, he only took five shots. 

Wednesday’s was a guard-dominated game, and the persistence of Oregon’s backcourt in getting to the rim and creating free throws proved to push Altman’s squad over the edge. USC failed to play 40 minutes of consistent basketball, which cost it a chance at an important ranked win. 

The Ducks move on to the other Southern California conference foe, but this time at home on Sunday afternoon when Oregon takes on the UCLA Bruins at 3 p.m. in Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks are No. 1, but that isn’t the most important thing. The Ducks are 11-0. 

Oregon football has been one of the most successful programs in the country for the majority of the last two decades, so why do these heights seem so new?

That’s because Oregon hasn’t been this perfect in 14 years — remember Darron Thomas?

Yes, the only team comparable to the current crop of Ducks is that one, the same team that appeared in the school’s first BCS National Championship, but unfortunately could not overcome the Auburn University Tigers led by that year’s Heisman Cam Newton. 

The Chip Kelly Ducks featured two AP All-Americans, the first of which, Cliff Harris, returned four punts for touchdowns in that season while also snagging six interceptions and making an appearance on the AP Second-team All-American team as a cornerback. 

Harris was one of two weapons at coach Kelly’s disposal that the 2024 squad simply cannot match. 

The other needs little introduction, as he is an icon throughout Eugene — known to all as just “LaMike.”

LaMichael James was the man these Ducks ran behind, and he finished third in Heisman Trophy voting in 2010 — something current quarterback Dillon Gabriel hopes to match. But James’ impact on this team and program has lasted long after his tenure at Oregon, which is a testament to how beloved he is by Ducks’ fans everywhere. 

There’s a reason we’ve all seen that same highlight reel, and to be honest, we’ve all watched it before a big exam or intramural game. James’ impact goes well beyond what he did on the field, and the College Football Hall of Famer made waves nationally in 2010. 

That’s something Oregon doesn’t have in 2024 — an all-encompassing, unstoppable phenom. 

The Ducks more than make up for it, however, with the team’s collective identity. What’s so important about this season’s iteration of Oregon football — and what’s helped the team stay so perfect so far — is the team’s connectedness and collective identity. 

If you’ve ever listened to head coach Dan Lanning speak, you’ve probably heard. There’s a reason the weekly “Ducks vs Them” videos make waves across the Oregon football ecosystem. Phrases such as “Forget Everyone But Us” and “1-0 every week” get thrown around about as much as that football, which is part of the culture cultivated by Lanning — the fact that there is no player larger than the team or its collective goals. 

One can argue that the 2010 Ducks were the “LaMike” show, but nothing of the sort can be said this season. Lanning’s message this whole season has been about rejecting the spotlight and highlight reel type plays in favor of hard work and ensuring success. 

Lanning’s identity as a hard-nosed defensive coach has bled into his team in the same way that Kelly’s flashy offensive mentality bled into his national runner-up Ducks. Boiled down, I think that ends up being the major difference. 

The most successful defenses do it with 11 solid, motivated players, but an electric offense can be easily fueled by one LaMike, which is where the 2010 team fell short. 

What seems to be the driving force behind this season’s push for perfection and national glory is something that was missing last time the Ducks made it this far — the team-first, hard work-oriented culture defined by coach Lanning.

That is what I believe has put Oregon in its best opportunity to win a national title in the school’s history.

It was another come from behind victory for the Ducks, and this one was about as messy as the others. 

Oregon (5-0) led for just over five minutes in Tuesday afternoon’s contest against the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies (4-2), but head coach Dana Altman’s squad got it done yet again after facing a large deficit. 

Thanks to a 12-1 run in the final three minutes, and the fact that the Ducks held the Aggies scoreless for the final two minutes ensured victory in a battle at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. 

In the first half, Oregon’s offense appeared outmatched in the face of Texas A&M’s experienced defense. The Ducks shot a measly 31% in the first half, which was coupled with 22% shooting from beyond the arc. 

The Ducks’ defense held strong throughout, however. Oregon stepped up especially well when it came to star Aggie guard Wade Taylor IV, who entered the game averaging 14 points in the four games preceding Tuesday. Taylor was silent in the opening frame, as the Ducks held him to five points on 2-7 shooting. 

Taylor’s woes would continue for the rest of the game, and the senior guard tallied 15 points, going 4-16 from the field and 2-10 from three, which are his worst shooting splits of the season by a significant margin. 

The success of Oregon’s defense allowed the Ducks to stay in the game and keep close behind the Aggies. Texas A&M matched a 5-0 Oregon run with an 8-0 spurt of its own, which helped the higher-ranked Aggies maintain their lead. 

The first half ended 32-29 after Oregon made just one of its last eight shot attempts and A&M went scoreless for the last three-and-a-half minutes. 

The Aggies seemed to take control as the second half started, which culminated in a 10 point lead with nine minutes to go in the game. 

The Ducks responded with an emphatic 14-0 run, which included just one three-pointer from Brandon Angel. Angel collected an efficient 16 points on 5-6 shooting and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. 

That run put the Ducks up five, and even after a back-and-forth battle towards the conclusion of the contest, Oregon held onto the lead and only gave it back once afterwards. 

The Ducks shot 61% from the field in the second half, which fueled their defense to hold the Aggies to just 27% shooting in that same stretch. Oregon outscored Texas A&M 24-10 in the paint in the closing frame of the game, which proved to be the dagger for the Aggies. 

That and the 31-20 free throw attempt margin Oregon obtained through its aggressive offensive play thrust the Ducks over the Aggies on Tuesday. That aggressiveness shined in TJ Bamba’s team-leading 18 points, which included a 10-12 afternoon from the line. 

Jackson Shelstad’s second timely late game floater in the last six days proved the final dagger in the Texas A&M coffin and was the cherry on top of a 16 point night for the sophomore guard. 

Oregon’s work in Vegas is far from finished, however, as the Ducks take on the San Diego State University Aztecs at 1:00 p.m. PST in the same arena. 

The largest storyline looming over the Oregon men’s basketball season is the replacement of key leaders such as center N’Faly Dante and guard Jermaine Couisnard. 

The Ducks, for the first time in a while, have a big question mark regarding the team’s identity. Defensively, head coach Dana Altman’s patented zone remains, but on offense, the inside-out, post-reliant style won’t find much success without Dante.

This opened up the opportunity that a player as talented as Kwame Evans Jr. needed. 

Evans, nearly seven feet tall, provides a much different profile for Oregon’s frontcourt due to his ability to stretch the floor. He can shoot, he can drive and he can work in the post, but Evans shines on defense. 

“[Trying to be] defensive minded, trying to guard the best players, rebound, hit my shots and just play hard all the time. Energy,” Evans said about his own abilities. “Being in positions I am ready to be at, and if the team needs help, I’m there.” 

His long wingspan proved to be a problem for opposing teams last year, as Evans was used to guard almost every position in 2023-24. As a freshman, Evans received starter minutes, and his role gradually increased as the season progressed due to the Ducks’ injury issues.

Evans made the most of that opportunity, as he finished second in the Pac-12 and 16th in the whole nation with his defensive box plus/minus of 5.0 — DBPM is a way to measure a player’s impact on the defensive end by estimating the difference between having the player on the court versus off. 

Similarly, Evans posted a defensive rating of 100.7 — ninth in the Pac-12 — which estimates how many points he would allow per 100 possessions. 

However it’s looked at, Evans is a tremendously effective defender, which is something he credits Dante with aiding him in. 

“[Dante] endured anyone coming in the lane, just being there all the time to oppose the other team getting in the lane. Just being physical and pushing them out of the lane, so I definitely took lessons from that,” Evans said. 

Dante also passed on another role to Evans, and it’s one that the sophomore forward understands due to being one of just eight players that were on the roster last season — he was one of five that appeared in the rotation frequently. 

“[The passing of the torch] came from Dante and them knowing I’ve been here before, while there’s a whole bunch of new guys and not a lot of returners, but just being the guy to help the new guys out learning the plays, teach them how things should be, so that’s really helpful,” Evans said. 

So far this season, aside from his 23 point performance in the opener against UC Riverside, Evans has struggled to stay consistent. 

The rough start came to a head in the Ducks’ most recent win, an overtime thriller against Portland University, where Evans totaled just 15 minutes after a subpar first half and failing to register significant playing time in the second and overtime. 

It’s only been three games, and Evans can only go up from here. As he settles into his new role, the efficient, lockdown Evans from last season should return. After all, he is a former McDonald’s All-American — the only one Oregon boasts. 

The Ducks know what they need from Evans as a player and leader. He just has to put it together as the young season moves forward, which is a primary factor that led Oregon to its March Madness appearance — patience.

Although Oregon (5-0) fell behind as much as 12 points on Thursday night in Corvallis, Nate Bittle’s 23 point 14 rebound performance fueled the Ducks to a gutsy comeback win against their rival Beavers (4-1). 

“We were down 12 with 13:45 to go, we were in bad shape, but I’m really pleased with the way the guys picked up the defense, we had some steals. Our defensive activity got better,” head coach Dana Altman said. 

The earliest meeting — season-wise — between the Ducks and the Beavers in this sport’s history could not have had a much better lead-in. Both squads entered the rivalry matchup carrying undefeated, 4-0 records, but only one team could take the game tonight. One thing remained evident, however, which was that this game was the biggest on the calendar so far for both schools. 

The Beavers jumped out to a hot start, as the home team shot to an 8-0 run in just the first five minutes of the contest. Of the first 12 Oregon State points, eight were scored by Michael Rataj, who finished with 20 points. 

That run had Gill Coliseum rocking early on, but Oregon responded with a 6-0 run of its own to get back into the contest. 

Oregon struggled to maintain a firm presence in the game during the opening half due to Oregon State’s efficient three point shooting — 3-5 in the first 10 minutes — and the Beavers ability to out rebound the Ducks.  

The Ducks kept fighting back within five points, but every time they would get close, the offense stagnated. Oregon State’s command of the paint defensively killed Oregon’s offense, as the Ducks were forced to settle for contested threes without the ability to sniff the interior. 

This dominance culminated in a 9-0 Oregon State run towards the end of the half, which was aided by an Oregon scoreless streak of almost three minutes. The Beavers switched into zone at this point, which quickly led to buckets inside from both Keeshawn Barthelemy and Kwame Evans Jr. 

The Ducks strung that into a 6-0 run, but a Rataj and-one killed that momentum, and a halftime buzzer-beater tip-in moved all that momentum to Oregon State

Oregon lost the rebounding battle in the first half 20-13, which helped put the Beavers ahead 47-37 to start the second half. 

“They got everything they wanted in the first half. They shot almost 50 percent and scored 47 points,” Altman said. “We made so many defensive mistakes, doubling off the wrong guys, just no discipline defensively. It was an embarrassing half of defense.” 

The second began similarly as the first, as the Beavers dominated defensively and generated enough offense to leave Oregon in the dust. 

Unlike the first half, the contest saw a significantly less amount of runs from either side. A substantial run from the Ducks would have given them a route back on Thursday night, but that seemed to never come. 

“The last 13:45, we were a different team,” Altman said. 

Until the Beavers switched back into their zone. A Brandon Angel layup and Jadrian Tracey three chipped the lead to just six. 

The lead was then cut to just two by a Jackson Shelstad corner triple off a turnover and Bittle came back down the court to tie it with a N’Faly Dante-esque post hook.  

“I can play inside, outside, but my shot hasn’t been falling lately, so I got to go inside, that’s where I’ve been scoring. My teammates trust me and throw me the ball,” Bittle said. 

It became anyone’s game with just over six minutes to play after Oregon’s 7-0 run. Another Shelstad three took the lead after holding it for just 58 seconds in the first half. 

That run was coupled with the fact that OSU didn’t sink a field goal for over five minutes, but the few free throws it had kept the Beavers in the game. It was Shelstad’s time to shine, however, as he made his third straight attempt from beyond the arc for his 13th of 15 points. 

Shelstad struck again with a tough floater while up one to give the Ducks a three point lead with 25 seconds remaining. The Beavers would have one more opportunity to salvage what once looked like a definite victory for the home team. 

“That’s trusting all the work I’ve put in. I wasn’t really thinking about making or missing, I was trusting my work and getting to my spot. It felt good coming off my hands and I wasn’t surprised when it went in, those are shots I work on everyday,” Shelstad said. 

Rataj missed a three as time expired, and the Ducks secured a gutsy, 3-point win — 78-75. 

Oregon heads to Las Vegas to take on Texas A&M in the Players Era invitational on Tuesday.

“Are you not entertained?”

A phrase borrowed from the classic, Oscar-winning film “Gladiator,” but it started to mean a lot more than that to the Ducks.

While the secondary dominates Big Ten offense after Big Ten offense, a fun celebration makes it all the more interesting. The usage of the “thumbs down,” an homage to the widely-renowned celebration of the Ducks’ star cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, is spreading like wildfire through the program and the university.

“I want to take credit for [the celebration], but we watched the Gladiator movie this past week, and that was kinda the motto. In the Gladiator movie, they do the thumbs down to execute them, or whatever. That was the team motto last week, so everyone was doing that, it’s just ironic that it’s my celebration,” Muhammad said.

Muhammad’s “box down” caught on before the season even began, which was due to his excellence at the position last season at Washington. Muhammad was a crucial part of the Washington squad that made it all the way to the National Championship, which the Huskies lost against Michigan. 

It was in Muhammad’s 2024 rematch against the Wolverines when the celebration really went viral.

Heading into Oregon’s roadtrip against the defending national champions, the Michigan Wolverines, head coach Dan Lanning wanted to stress the importance of silencing The Big House and its cavalcade of noise created by over 110,000 raucous fans. 

“We talked about eliminating the crowd in this game. The warriors are the ones who fight the battle, and they’re the ones who control the atmosphere, not the spectators. I thought we did an elite job of that,” Lanning said after the contest. 

Elite job would be a tremendous understatement. Oregon trounced Michigan 38-17 at the beginning of the month, which was largely due to the team’s ability to score early to silence the crowd. The Ducks scored on four of the five drives they had in the first half and set the tone early that the crowd was to be a non-factor for the No. 1 team in the nation. 

What made the moment that much more special were the constant reminders of the iconic film they had watched that week. 

Each week, the team’s videography department produces a cinematic recap titled “Ducks vs Them” which chronicles the team’s preparation ahead of gameday. The main factor explained in the Michigan week’s preparation was the team’s play on “Gladiator.”

In the team’s “motivation meeting,” Lanning walked the Ducks through the lessons that Ridley Scott’s masterpiece taught them. The most important one was about the “man in the arena.”

“I’m gonna remind you at some point in this game, I’m gonna tell you to look up at the stands at some point in this game, and you’re gonna start to see it empty out,” Lanning said to his group before the game through the cinematic recap. “We’ve made the decision before we even stepped on the field, all day, it’s thumbs down, it’s no mercy.”

That’s exactly what the Ducks’ head coach did. Late in the fourth quarter, with the game practically put to bed, Lanning called a timeout with the sole intention of showing his team the emptying out of The Big House. 

“Are you not entertained?” Lanning asked his team. 

The thumbs down celebration has even stretched itself to other departments in Oregon’s abundant athletics sector. Muhammad’s cousin, Amina, is a starting forward for Oregon’s women’s basketball team. 

Muhammad instantly became a leader in Kelly Graves’ squad, as she is a junior who spent her first two seasons playing down in Austin with the University of Texas Longhorns. The fun part is that she followed in her cousin’s footsteps and adopted his iconic celebration in her own way. 

Amina Muhammad is a tenacious defender just like her cousin, which has shown in the Ducks’ first four wins — Muhammad has averaged just under two steals a game since arriving in Eugene. 

Muhammad can often be seen throwing thumbs down after strong defensive plays of her own, which proves the universal manner of the message behind it. Jabbar Muhammad’s celebration made waves even before it was adopted under the “Gladiator” umbrella, as the secondary had been seen throwing its thumbs down all throughout the early portion of the season. Given what Muhammad has said about his defensive backfield, that should be expected. 

“All the extra time we spend together. A lot of us are in our last years, and this is it for us, so we put everything we have into it,” Muhammad said. 

This group is locked into being the best unit in their position in the country, which inevitably helped fuel the Ducks’ push to the top of the AP Poll for its fifth consecutive week. 

The celebration is more of a microcosm of the bonds built between the players on this team. 

“We see each other off the field, it’s probably the most connected secondary I’ve ever been a part of, and that’s just a testament to everything we do off the field,” Muhammad said.

Execute and finish. 

It showed up in Lanning’s slideshow presentation that week, which described the thumbs down mentality as “finish everything.” 

That’s exactly what the Ducks and Muhammad have used to become and remain the No. 1 team in the country for five weeks running. Given how the team has prepared so far, it’s safe to say that the Ducks will continue to execute at the highest level and finish off everything, leaving nothing but downed opponents in their wake.