Oregon Ducks men’s basketball (16-5, 5-5 Big Ten) hoped to get a much-needed bounce-back win following the losses at Minnesota (11-11, 3-8 Big Ten) and UCLA (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten). The previous two outings for the Ducks led to their first back-to-back losses of the season. They couldn’t snap the losing streak on Sunday, as they fell 77-71 at home.
“They knew how bad we needed this game,” head coach Dana Altman said to the press after the loss. “A lot of good looks. [They] just didn’t finish anything around the basket.”
This time, the challengers for Oregon were the Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-8, 3-7 Big Ten), coming off their overtime win over Illinois. That close win halted the six-game-losing streak for the Cornhuskers.
Slow offensive starts are becoming the identity of this year’s Oregon team. The inability to get the easy shots down has been killing the Ducks all season. Tough misses to start the game led to hesitation to take the rhythm shots they needed, in favor of contested panic shots later in the clock.
“The thing I’m most disappointed in — I just thought they outworked us, especially in the first half,” Altman said in his first statement addressing the media.
Jadrian Tracey entered the game off the bench and instantly gave Oregon the decisiveness it missed in the opening minutes with a strong drive and finish through contact to score just the sixth point for Oregon at the first media timeout.
Supreme Cook has continued to prove why he deserves meaningful minutes, bringing physicality against Nebraska on both ends of the floor. He showed he is the strongest player on the floor whenever he gets the opportunity to body a defender.
“I’ve got to take a hit,” Coach Altman said postgame. “I should’ve had Supreme out there a lot more.”
Despite momentary bursts of confidence for the Ducks, the Cornhuskers held strong throughout the first half and maintained control of their lead. Nebraska’s domination on a 9-0 run across a three-minute stretch extended its lead to 15 points.
Oregon came out of the 4:21 first-half media timeout with a fire lit under it. TJ Bamba’s aggressiveness and the defensive tenacity from Kwame Evans Jr. had the fans ready to blow the top off at Matthew Knight Arena, cutting Nebraska’s lead to just six points at halftime.
The Cornhusker’s Brice Williams was determined not to lose this game. Leading all scorers at halftime with 12 points, including a ferocious one-handed tomahawk slam with just 12 seconds remaining in the first half.
The second half started fast and physically. Nebraska held strong and kept its edge through the break, initiating contact near the hoop and finishing tough through defenders.
“Fifteen-point lead in the first half, they were flying around defensively, connected on the defensive end,” Altman said. “Our ball movement was not good. [We] missed a lot of easy shots.”
Brandon Angel settled into the second half quickly with a highlight-reel poster that will no doubt go down as the play of the game. The one-handed jam got the bench and the fans on their feet.
Oregon tried a multitude of different lineups during this game, hoping to get some offensive consistency going. The Ducks had a hard time moving without the ball. The offense wasn’t completely stagnant, but Oregon failed to give the ball-handlers options and couldn’t create off the ball.
Despite the struggles, the Ducks trailed by just eight points at the four-minute mark. They turned up the urgency trying to avoid another disappointing loss. It was clear Oregon needed to go and go fast. Bamba took that to heart with a steal for an Angel layup, followed by a Bamba layup and the foul.
Ultimately, the Nebraska Cornhuskers were able to pull out the win thanks to 28 points from Williams and an efficient 23 points from Juwan Gary. Nebraska was more decisive and confident in attacking the hoop and initiating contact which was the deciding factor in Sunday’s game. Oregon’s only lead of the game was held for 46 seconds after the first basket of the game. The Ducks kept fighting but couldn’t sneak away with it.
Angel and the rest of the Oregon offense fought down to the wire but couldn’t avoid a third straight loss to unranked opponents.
Oregon will look to bounce back on Wednesday, Feb. 5 in Ann Arbor, facing off against Michigan (16-5, 8-2 Big Ten) in a highly anticipated battle where Oregon will look to get back in the win category.