Coming off the successful yet stressful road trip to Columbus and University Park, the No. 13 Oregon Ducks turn their focus to the No. 17 Purdue Boilermakers. It was the first ranked matchup for Purdue since its 18-point loss to the now-ranked No. 1 Auburn Tigers.
While the Ducks managed to win their prior three quad-one games, hosting Maryland and defeating Ohio State and Penn State on the road, the team’s last ranked matchup facing now-No. 19 Illinois delivered an unfavorable outcome.
Purdue and All-Conference guard Braden Smith looked to push the tempo early and create confusion among the Ducks’ defenders. The Boilermakers forced the ball down low to Trey Kaufman-Renn who couldn’t get one to fall. He started the game 0-for-6 from the floor then took a hard fall from the flagrant foul against Nate Bittle, all in the first five minutes of play.
Oregon’s defense emphasized protecting the paint and taking advantage of its physicality, forcing the Boilermakers into tough shots and attacking the ball handler.
“I’m not even trying to block shots, to be honest,” Bittle said following the game. “I’m really just there trying to wall up and make it a tougher shot for them guys.”
Purdue rolled out a physical two-three zone which the Ducks met with quick efficient ball movement and strong decisive moves to the rim. Purdue, which is perennially identified as a strong defensive team, started out physically and kept that theme throughout the game.
Bittle continues to be the fuel of this experienced Oregon team, bouncing back after the flagrant foul via a huge block then coming down one possession later with a deep 3-pointer at the 10:31 mark in the first half.
Jackson Shelstad continued his hot shooting streak with another killer crossover and deep triple to finish the highlight. He used his twitchy stop-and-go ability to his advantage, one of the premier qualities he boasts as the Ducks lead guard.
TJ Bamba put on a defensive clinic boasting three first-half steals including a toe-tap catch reminiscent of Oregon football’s Evan Stewart and a timeout call to secure possession for Oregon.
Oregon’s big men Bittle and Kwame Evans Jr. with show-stopping blocks on back-to-back possessions, followed immediately by another excellent play by Bamba to throw the ball off the shooter to give the Ducks possession.
The last few minutes of the first half gave the Ducks a little more trouble, especially on the offensive front, Oregon went on a three-minute scoring drought before Bittle’s two free throws at the 57-second mark.
The first half ended with a score of 31-30 and with Oregon leading. The Ducks’ first half was electric on the defensive end, but they had yet to find any consistent way to attack this Purdue defense. While the Boilermakers are no stranger to playing in big games at big stadiums, Matthew Knight Arena posed as an undeniable factor in this game.
As the Ducks started the second half slowly, the fans in Matthew Knight Arena did their best to get Oregon fired up. The defensive tenacity was showing despite a series of calls, including two whistles involving Jadrian Tracey which sent him to the bench early in the second half.
“We created some turnovers, and we got some points off their turnovers,” head coach Dana Altman said. “Like I said, I thought defensively we played really hard.”
The offensive struggles only grew for Oregon in the second half, seeing no field goals through the first eight minutes of the half. The Ducks could not get the lid off the rim until Tracey returned to the game and nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner, giving Oregon a much-needed spark.
Despite the Ducks’ eight-minute scoring drought, they managed to keep the deficit to just six. When the offense picked up with a Brandon Angel layup and a Shelstad corner triple, the Ducks just needed to keep up their defensive consistency.
Approaching the final five minutes of the game, the fans tried to give Oregon the crowd support it needed to close out this game. Just past the four-minute mark Shelstad stole the ball and shot down the court to cut the lead down to four at the other end.
Purdue’s star guard Smith continued to control the game, drilling a 15-foot fadeaway to increase the Boilermakers’ lead to eight points with just 2:33 remaining in regulation. Smith took the blow from a Tracey flagrant foul and hit both free throws to increase the lead to 10.
The last minute and the half of the game brought some excitement, Bittle made back-to-back 3-pointers and Shelstad stole an inbound that gifted him two foul shots. Suddenly the lead was cut down to four with 49.9 seconds left on the clock. Ultimately, the Ducks came up short by seven points and it ended with a final score of 65-58.
“The second half, we just, we didn’t get enough shots,” Altman said in his post-game presser.
As the Ducks focused on what went wrong Saturday afternoon, it ultimately came down to poor offensive execution, forcing shots and playing sloppily. The defensive side of the ball was as near perfect as a fan could ask for, with Bittle boasting six blocks.
“We held them to 65, and if we hold a team to 65, we got to win games,” Bittle said. “Below 70 that’s our saying.”
The Ducks will look to bounce back against their next opponent, their rival Washington, who is making the trip down to Eugene on Tuesday, Jan. 21, tipping off at 8:00 p.m.