By Max Ragel

EUGENE, Ore - The Oregon Ducks men's basketball team (19-11) defeated the Utah Utes (18-12) in their final game of the regular season before heading to Las Vegas, Nevada for the final Pac-12 tournament.

The Ducks opened the game strong, jumping out to a 15-5 point lead five minutes in. Utah quickly responded to make the game a back and forth affair with ten points being the largest lead on either side. Oregon really cooled off from three following their hot start. Utah capitalized on Oregon's mistakes, taking control of the game by hitting six threes. The hot shooting led the Utes to a 37-32 point halftime lead.

Both teams came out firing to start the second half of play. Utah maintained a steady lead thanks to costly Oregon turnovers that killed their momentum. Oregon put that behind them and pulled away in the final nine minutes. A Jermaine Couisnard lob to N'Faly Dante that ended with an-and-one dunk, electrified the crowd at Matthew Knight Arena, sparking a run that would push the Duck’s lead to as much as seven. Utah rallied late to give themselves a chance to win with an open corner three at the buzzer. The ball rimmed out and the crowd exploded as the Ducks held on to win their final game of the regular season.

Duck’s senior big man N'Faly Dante came through in what could have been his last game in Eugene. After a slow start in the first half Dante showed up when this team needed it most. His and-one dunk with nine minutes left stole all the momentum and sealed the final lead change. He went 7-7 from the field with 14 points in the second half and received all the praise from his head coach post-game. Dante will continue to be a huge piece for this team if they want any shot at an NCAA tournament appearance.

Oregon has now clinched the four seed in the Pac-12 tournament and will receive a bye to the quarterfinal round. They will play the winner of the five seed versus 12 seed which right now looks to be UCLA versus Oregon State. Many analysts have Oregon outside of the NCAA tournament bubble, meaning this team will need to play their best ball of the year in order to give themselves a chance at an automatic bid with a PAC-12 tournament championship. Their quarterfinal game is set for March 14th at 2:30 PM PST.