The 2015-16 NCAA men’s college basketball season has been out of character in the current era of players leaving for the NBA after their freshman seasons (commonly referred to as “one-and-dones”). This season, an unusually high number of seniors have emerged as top players in the nation.

Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, North Carolina’s Brice Johnson, Iowa State’s Georges Niang and Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine account for half of the 10 players named as semifinalists for the Naismith Award, given annually to the best player in the NCAA.

The same trend is true of most highly-ranked teams. With the exception of No. 1 Kansas, each team ranked in the top five of the AP Poll has at least two seniors averaging 20 minutes or more per game this season:

1. Kansas – Perry Ellis
2. Michigan State – Matt Costello, Bryn Forbes, Valentine
3. Villanova – Ryan Arcidiacono, Daniel Ochefu
4. Virginia – Malcolm Brogdon, Anthony Gill
5. Xavier – Remy Abell, James Farr

The rise of seniors in college basketball this season is rare in an era where many players have no intention of staying in college any longer than they’re required to. Since 2006, when the NBA no longer allowed players to leap straight from high school to the league, 68 players have left college after their freshman seasons to turn pro, according to the Washington Post. But, results are mixed for one-and-done players in the NBA, and this season’s large class of seniors could foreshadow years to come.

Several seniors have played key roles for the Ducks this season. Dwayne Benjamin, Chris Boucher and Elgin Cook are all averaging at least 20 minutes per game. Fellow senior Dylan Ennis, who transferred from Villanova in the offseason, likely would’ve joined them had he not suffered a season-ending left foot injury in January.

However, few seniors appear to be top prospects in the NBA Draft. LSU freshman Ben Simmons remains the likely number one pick and Duke freshman Brandon Ingram could go No. 2.

But recent rule changes could cause a decline in the one-and-done trend. The NCAA Division I committee agreed in January to extend the deadline from early April to late May for players to remove their names from the NBA Draft. In addition, players will be allowed to participate in the NBA Draft Combine and tryout with one NBA team per year without losing NCAA eligibility.

These rule changes, effective for the upcoming NBA Draft, will allow players more flexibility in returning to school. If, for instance, a player has a bad showing during the pre-draft process, he can go back to college for another season and try again the next year.

Moving forward, however, the likelihood of seniors headlining college basketball programs at this season’s rate is unlikely.

But at the very least, the 2015-16 season has been unpredictable with so many experienced players, and should make for an interesting NCAA tournament.

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

Much has been made of the recent attendance at men’s basketball in Matthew Knight Arena.

Just last season, the Ducks advanced to the Pac-12 Championship Game and made an NCAA Tournament appearance for the third straight year – a feat no Oregon coach had accomplished before Dana Altman. But success on the court was inconsistent with fan interest: The 2014-15 season marked the team’s lowest attendance numbers in 23 years, according to The Oregonian.

Whether low attendance numbers were a result of a lack of enthusiasm among fans, high ticket prices or the team’s tainted image in the aftermath of a 2014 sexual assault scandal, it was a noticeable issue based on the success on the court in 2015. A clear disconnect between the fans and the team existed.

This season, however, has been different.

Home attendance numbers increased by an average of more than 1,000 fans per game. Attendance in all but one game (on Super Bowl Sunday) surpassed 2015’s attendance numbers. The Ducks also played rivals Oregon State and Washington before sellout crowds of 12,364.

In part, this attendance spike was a result of Oregon slashing season ticket prices, some by as much as $500. Also, there was reason for excitement with returning players Jordan Bell, Dwayne Benjamin, Casey Benson, Dillon Brooks and Elgin Cook and the arrival of transfers Chris Boucher and Dylan Ennis and freshman Tyler Dorsey, the Ducks appeared like a team with a lot of potential.

Ennis said in October that “people should be excited about Oregon basketball this season.”

Judging by the attendance increase, Ennis’ statement held true at home games throughout the season.

The fan atmosphere impacted Oregon as well. The Ducks pushed their home winning streak to a school record – 25 consecutive games. They also posted a perfect 18-0 home record this season, which was the first undefeated home season since the 2001-02 team that reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s hard to go undefeated at home just because you got to keep your focus,” Altman said after the Ducks’ win over Washington on Senior Night. “You see it all across the country, there’s not that many people that have the opportunity to go undefeated at home.”

Winning at home is a necessity in college basketball, but going undefeated remains a rare feat. Although the Ducks have had few teams as talented as this season’s, Altman and his players have repeatedly acknowledged the extra boost the crowd provided.

“The crowd, the energy – a lot of people say it, but I really mean it,” Benjamin said. “When other teams make a run, [the fans] start to chant, the energy that they bring. You just don’t want to disappoint your home fans who are always there for you. We play so hard for them.”

No matter where they finish, the 2015-16 Ducks will go down as having one of the best regular seasons in program history. But beneath the surface of the team, it should be noted that fans, having appeared uninterested one a year ago, came back to Knight Arena in significant numbers.

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner 

Oregon men’s basketball withstood a late surge from UCLA at Pauley Pavillion to hold on for a 76-68 win.

With the win, the Ducks clinched at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title – their first since 2002.

Intent on improving upon their last road trip – a forgettable sweep in the Bay Area at the hands of Cal and Stanford – the Ducks got off to a slow start offensively, committing uncharacteristic turnovers and playing sloppy offensively. Oregon trailed 38-33 at the break.

But, the Bruins were unable to capitalize on Oregon’s 14 turnovers, committing 13 of their own, as well as losing the rebound battle, 40-28.

Four Ducks reached double figures, led by Tyler Dorsey’s 20 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Dillon Brooks added 15 points, Elgin Cook 14 points and Dwayne Benjamin 10 points.

Chris Boucher, who only played 16 minutes, recorded three blocks to reach 95 total for the season, breaking Jordan Bell’s record of 94 from last season.

Bryce Alford’s three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining trimmed the Ducks’ lead to 74-71, but Brooks responded on the next Oregon possession with a three of his own. Brooks then blocked Isaac Hamilton’s layup attempt and stole the ball from Alford to clinch the win.

An Oregon win on Saturday night at USC would guarantee the Ducks sole possession of first place in the conference. If Cal loses to Arizona on Thursday and Utah loses to Colorado on Saturday, the Ducks would clinch the title regardless of their outcome versus USC.

Oregon’s conference finale at USC is set to tip-off at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

The accolades continue to pour in for Oregon men’s golf sophomore Aaron Wise.

Wise was named Pac-12 men’s golfer of the month for February, in which he shot an average round score of 69.67. The Lake Elsinore, California native took home first place honors at the Amer Ari Invitational on Feb. 6, highlighted by a career-low eight-under 64 in the final round of the tournament.

19 tournaments into his collegiate career, Wise has already medaled four times, putting him in a tie with Daniel Miernicki for most in team history.

The monthly award comes just weeks after Wise became one of 25 golfers named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list, given annually to the top NCAA men’s golfer.

Wise was also named Pac-12 men’s golfer of the month in September. Stanford junior Maverick McNealy, who won the 2015 Pac-12 player of the year award, claimed the monthly recognition for October and November.

In addition to his sophomore campaign, Wise is currently ranked the No. 6 amateur golfer in the world. His win at Australian Master of the Amateurs at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in January came six months after winning the Pacific Coast Amateur at the Eugene Country Club in July against the likes of McNealy and other top-ranked amateurs.

The Ducks return to competition next week at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Nevada. The three-round tournament runs from March. 7-9.

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

Led by Zach Foushee and Edwin Yi, Oregon men’s golf finished in fourth place (+5) at the Southwestern Invitational in Thousand Oaks, California on Tuesday.

Foushee was the most consistent golfer for the Ducks in the two-day, three-round tournament. The senior shot one-over in each of the first two rounds on Monday and finished Tuesday’s third and final round one-under.

Yi, playing in Oregon’s lineup for the third time as a freshman, fired a career-low three-under 69 in the second round, and reached as high as sixth place in the individual leaderboard. Yi regressed on Tuesday, however, ending the tournament with a five-over third round scorecard.

Aaron Wise, currently ranked No. 7 by Golfweek, shook off a second round five-over scorecard to finish strong on Tuesday. Wise shot four-under in the third round, including eagles on the par-5 12th and 15th holes.

Brandon McIver (+6) and Sulman Raza (+11) also competed in Oregon’s lineup, while redshirt sophomore transfer Andrew Bonner (+13) played as an individual.

Oregon distanced itself from much of the field, finishing 11 strokes ahead of fifth-place Sam Houston State. But they never had a realistic chance of winning it all. USC (-26) dominated the tournament from the onset, going on to finish 20 strokes ahead of second-place Pepperdine (-6) and 25 ahead of third-place San Diego State (-1). USC’s Andrew Levitt (-8) and Jonah Texeira (-7) placed first and second respectively.

The Ducks have a relatively quick turnaround, as they travel to Las Vegas next week for the SH College Masters on March 7-9.

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

Competition is a common thread between siblings, especially when it comes to sports. For Jared and Jason Ross, identical twins and pitchers for Oregon’s club baseball team, the status quo is no different.

Such was the case last May when the Ducks advanced to the 2015 National Club Baseball Association championship game against Arizona State. Both Jared and Jason played significant roles in getting the Ducks to that point.

In team’s Northern Pacific Regional win over defending champion Utah State, Jared pitched a full nine innings with 13 strikeouts despite experiencing pain in his throwing arm.

At the NCBA World Series in Paducah, Kentucky, Jason had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning against Texas and also earned a save in a tight 7-6 win over Florida State.

Naturally, they both wanted to start the championship game.

Jason ultimately got the nod against Arizona State. The Ducks won the game 7-4 to clinch their first NCBA championship, and Jason took home MVP honors with a 2-0 world series record and 1.64 ERA. While competition consistently fuels the twins to outperform each other, Jared acknowledged that Jason earned the right to start. It’s the kind of team-first attitude that helped Oregon club baseball win the championship last May, and the same kind that the Ducks will need for a repeat title run in Jared and Jason’s senior season.

“There’s definitely competition between the two — you can see it,” said Mikey Finneran, an Oregon club baseball catcher from 2011-2015 and now assistant coach. “They always kind of want to outdo one another, but I don’t think it impedes on any kind of friendship.”

Jared and Jason started playing baseball when they were four. Both dabbled in different positions, but  Jared gravitated towards pitching. Jason played infield positions and pitched.

“[Jared] was always a really good pitcher,” Jason said. “I pitched, but I was always more of a thrower … It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I actually started getting really into [pitching] and worked really hard at it.” 

When the twins’ high school careers finished at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, California, they assumed their playing days were over.

But early into their first term at Oregon, Jason was playing quarterback in a flag football class when a club baseball player approached him.

“One of the guys in the class was like, ‘You have a pretty strong arm, do you play baseball?’ ” Jason said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I played in high school.’ He was on the club team and said, ‘You should try out.’”

Both Jason and Jared tried out shortly thereafter and made the team. But they joined a team that lacked the focus needed to reach the heights the team recently got to.

“I had a friend who tried out who said, ‘They just don’t take it seriously. They’re not really into it,’” Jared said. “They were kind of into it freshman year, but you had some older guys who still had that mentality.”

The team still won games, reaching as high as third in the NCBA rankings, but never advanced past regionals.

“We never had a lack of talent,” Jason said. “I think it was just each year, we got more and more serious.”

It culminated in 2015 when every starter besides Finneran was a junior. After dominating Lane Community College in late April — a major turning point according to the brothers — the Ducks snuck into regionals and hit their stride.

Jason started the first game of regionals against Utah State and pitched into the 10th inning, giving up only one run. Jared started the rematch, earning the win that moved the Ducks into the World Series. The team then outplayed Florida State, Texas and Iowa State, earning a spot in the championship game.

“We were both ready to go for the championship,” Jared said. “He wanted the ball, and I wanted it … with the season he was having, it had to be him in the last game and I was ready to come in and relieve.”

Now defending champions, Oregon enters the 2016 season ranked No. 1 in the NCBA. In what will almost surely be Jared and Jason’s last season of competitive baseball, their sights are set on returning to Kentucky and accomplishing the rare feat of winning the last game of their respective careers.

“It’s very rare if you actually think about it; how often do you win that last game?” Jared said. “If you go to playoffs and don’t win it all, you lose your last game and you’re done. I remember finishing as a senior in high school thinking I’m done with baseball and it was heartbreaking, but it would be so much easier to win that last game.”

Jason agrees.

“For us to win not only the last game of the season, but the last game of my career, it wouldn’t get better than that,” he said. 

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

Following a 91-81 home win against Oregon State on Saturday, Oregon men’s basketball moved up three spots to No. 13 in the latest AP Poll released Monday.

The Ducks slid to No. 16 last week after losing to both Cal and Stanford on the road. With Saturday’s convincing win, the Ducks got back on track and kept their undefeated home record intact with four games remaining in the regular season.

Oregon is the second-highest ranked of three Pac-12 teams in the top 25, trailing only No. 9 Arizona. Utah moved up to No. 22 after an eight-week absence from the poll.

Villanova maintained its No. 1 ranking with a 24-3 record on the season, followed by No. 2 Kansas, Oklahoma and Virginia in a tie for No. 3 and Xavier at No. 5.

Here is the top 25 in its entirety:

1. Villanova (45)

2. Kansas (20)

3. Oklahoma

3. Virginia

5. Xavier

6. Michigan St.

7. North Carolina

8. Iowa

9. Arizona

10. Maryland

11. Louisville

12. Miami

13. Oregon

14. West Virginia

15. Duke

16. Kentucky

17. Iowa St.

18. Indiana

19. Baylor

20. Purdue

21. Texas A&M

22. Utah

23. Notre Dame

24. SMU

25. Texas

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

Few minutes went by in Saturday’s Civil War game between Oregon and Oregon State in which the Ducks weren’t in control.

Before a sellout crowd of 12,364 at Matthew Knight Arena, Oregon cruised to a 91-81 victory over its in-state rival and moved back into a tie with Arizona for first place in the Pac-12.

Oregon State (15-10, 6-8 Pac-12) came into Saturday allowing 70.2 points per game, third best in the Pac-12. Oregon had struggled with Oregon State’s defense in each team’s Pac-12 opener on Jan. 3.

“We were ready, I think everybody was ready to play this game,” Chris Boucher said. “We knew (Oregon State) was the first game that we lost, so we wanted to come back against them and make them think they wouldn’t win this game.”

It was a stark contrast to that first Civil War matchup in Corvallis, where the Ducks played uninspired basketball en route to a 70-57 defeat.

On Saturday, however, the Ducks totaled 51 points at halftime. The Ducks’ offense routinely found open lanes against the Beavers’ 2-3 zone, and they finished the first half shooting 51 percent from the field.

“I thought our ball movement was pretty good,” head coach Dana Altman said. “I thought all the guys made the extra pass. I just don’t remember many bad shots that we took.”

Tyler Dorsey tied his career-high with 25 points, bouncing back from two subpar performances on the road. Dillon Brooks and Elgin Cook added 17 and 16 points respectively.

Perhaps the biggest surprise: Oregon made 29-of-33 free throws (89 percent), far exceeding its 69 percent average for the season.

Defensively, Oregon never allowed the Beavers to get into much of a rhythm. Gary Payton II was limited to 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Oregon State had just 28 points at halftime, before the Ducks let up in the second half.

Boucher set the tone on defense, forcing three steals and blocking three shots. All three of his steals came in transition, which helped the Ducks establish their press and score 10 fast-break points.

“When he’s active, he changes the game,” Altman said. “That’s the word we’ve been using with all of our guys – you’ve got to stay active. I thought our activity, in that first half in particular, we flew around pretty good.”

Oregon’s win erased a forgettable weekend in the Bay Area, where the Ducks lost to Cal and Stanford. Though the losses humbled the Ducks, Altman opted not to harp on them too much. Every team in the Pac-12 has struggled on the road at times this season, and the Ducks are no exception.

“We had a decent week of practice, I didn’t want to make a big deal about last weekend,” Altman said. “You see teams all over the country that don’t have all good outings. It’s a long season. I was very disappointed so I was hoping they would play focused and alert.”

Similar to the conference-opening loss at Oregon State, in which the Duck subsequently won eight of their next nine, last weekend’s road sweep served as another wake-up call for Oregon.

“It sucks that that had to our wake-up call, dropping two games,” Cook said. “We just don’t want that feeling again, we don’t want to lose any games and every game is just as important.”

Oregon’s win was also its 23^rd consecutive at home, tying the longest streak in team history. The Ducks have yet to lose at home this season. With two home games remaining, first on Wednesday against Washington State, the Ducks know what they have to do to keep their home winning streak intact.

“If we’re gonna win Wednesday night, we’ve gotta bring intensity. It’s pretty obvious when we haven’t been focused and really intense… Conversely when we are, it really shows too.”

Wednesday’s game against Washington State is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m.

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

– Construction on Oregon softball’s new home park, Jane Sanders Stadium, is nearly complete and athletic director Rob Mullens expects the stadium to be ready for the team’s home-opener against Stanford on March 24.

“Everything that we’ve heard puts us right on schedule … it’s a very tight timeline,” Mullens said. “We’ve got 100 folks here working today, hustling … but we are right on schedule for March 24.”

– New Oregon football offensive coordinator Matt Lubick will make $600,000 guaranteed per year, according to Ryan Thorburn of the Register-Guard. The revised two-year contract was made public last week by UO after Lubick signed. Lubick earned $362,416 as Oregon’s wide receivers coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in January.

– Oregon men’s basketball struggled offensively in last weekend’s road sweep at Cal and Stanford. The two losses were the Ducks’s second and third lowest scoring outputs on the road, respectively, in the Pac-12. Though the losses left much to be desired, the Ducks shouldn’t be overly concerned moving forward. Three of their last five Pac-12 games are at home, where the Ducks have won 22 in a row and have yet to lose this season.

– The Emerald caught up with recently-named Oregon baseball pitching coach Mitch Karraker, who took over for Dean Stiles on Jan. 12. Karraker, a former Oregon catcher, leads a formidable pitching staff going into the 2016 season.

– Oregon starting pitcher Matt Krook was one of 50 collegiate players named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list on Wednesday. Krook missed the entire 2015 season with an elbow injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery. The 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher figures to be a major part of the Ducks’ rotation for the upcoming season.

– Women’s basketball graduate managers Taelor Karr and Meghan Winters have been important to head coach Kelly Graves’s staff this season, writes The Emerald’s Jonathan Hawthorne. Karr and Winters both played at Gonzaga, where Graves was head coach from 2000-2014. As the Ducks sit on the cusp of making the NCAA Tournament, Karr and Winters have provided the team with valuable insight and personal experience.

“They can help these kids through this: what to expect and what’s coming next,” Graves said of the Ducks’ chase for an NCAA Tournament berth. “It’s great to have people like that on the staff, no doubt.”

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner

Oregon men’s basketball came back down to earth after losing to Cal and Stanford on the road last weekend.

The two losses were the Ducks’ second and third lowest scoring outputs on the road, respectively, in the Pac-12.

As a result, the Ducks’ scoring average dropped to 76.6 points per game, placing them fifth among Pac-12 teams.

With Joseph Young’s departure to the NBA, after last season the Ducks have compensated Young’s with increased offensive balance this season. Four players — Dillon Brooks, Elgin Cook, Tyler Dorsey and Chris Boucher — average more than 10 points per game, while Dwayne Benjamin averages eight off the bench.

Averaging a team-high 16 points per game, Brooks has emerged as Oregon’s most dangerous scoring threat. But his emergence shouldn’t come at the expense of the team’s balance. This isn’t to say that Brooks is at fault for Oregon’s stagnation on offense; it simply means the Ducks haven’t played with their typical balance in the last two games.

“I feel like right now we don’t know what we are doing on offense; we are being individuals,” Boucher said after Saturday’s 76-72 loss at Stanford. “We’re in first but we need to work together to fix this. Everything’s falling off, man.”

Glancing at a box score, it’s difficult to pinpoint where the Ducks erred on offense last weekend. With an average of 13 assists per game, the Ducks matched their average at Stanford and only fell two short against Cal. They didn’t turn the ball over at an alarming rate, either.

Oregon did, however, shoot 43 percent against Cal and Stanford and missed a combined 17 free throws in both contests. The Ducks also struggled to match the perimeter shooting of Cal and Stanford, who shot 57 and 69 percent from deep (respectively) against them.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of areas we need to work on,” head coach Dana Altman said after the Stanford loss. “And not just the defense and rebounding, which are the two biggest. But offensively we didn’t play very well either.”

While Oregon didn’t play well in either game, last weekend’s road sweep shouldn’t be considered alarming moving forward. The Bay Area trip is historically one of the Ducks’ toughest on their Pac-12 schedule. Going into the Cal-Stanford trip, Oregon had been swept in 11 of its last 15 tries.

The Ducks play their next three games in the comfortable surroundings of Matthew Knight Arena, where they’ve won 22 consecutive games and have yet to lose this season. The Ducks will then play their last two regular season games on the road against USC and UCLA, teams that Oregon has already beaten this season.

Nationally, the Ducks didn’t fall too far. The AP Poll moved Oregon from No. 11 to No. 16. ESPN college basketball analyst Joe Lunardi still has the Ducks as a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the highest-seeded team in the Pac-12.

But the losses did expose Oregon’s offensive shortcomings and its increasing reliance on Brooks to score. Without a balanced scoring attack, the Ducks’ offense has struggled to match opponents, particularly on the road.

Oregon now seeks revenge against Oregon State on Saturday, who held the Ducks to a season-low 57 points on Jan. 3. Oregon State only gives up 70 points per game, which is third best in the conference.

After the Ducks lost their Pac-12 opener to Oregon State, they won eight of their next nine games. Perhaps the Bay Area sweep will give Oregon a similar wake-up call.

Follow Will Denner on Twitter @Will_Denner