When it absolutely couldn’t afford to, Oregon collapsed.
With a 24-0 first-half run from Cal (11-15, 4-11 Pac-12) serving as the primary culprit, Oregon (16-8, 9-4 Pac-12) suffered its worst and most demoralizing home loss in several seasons. The Ducks entered the afternoon with little-to-no room for error in the season’s final weeks. Saturday’s 78-64 loss all but crushes their aspirations for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“They did everything necessary to win the game, and we sure didn’t,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “The guys know that’s a bad loss.”
The poor habits Oregon has fought so hard to break in recent weeks returned Saturday afternoon.
The offense reverted to its old self in its matinee matchup: selfish isolation-heavy basketball, rushed shots and erratic shooting from both the 3-point and free throw lines. The result: a crippling loss to the conference bottom-feeding Golden Bears.
Will Richardson scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Ducks, but his valiant effort couldn’t make up for their abhorred performance. He was the only Oregon player to make a second-half field goal until a De’Vion Harmon layup with 5:53 to go.
“I was really disappointed in our ball movement,” Altman said. “I think we had four assists at the first TV timeout, and I think we had one assist in the next 20 minutes… We tried some things, and nothing was successful. We threw it inside a few times and that didn’t work. Our guys were just standing around.”
With their No. 2 scorer and top rebounder Andre Kelly sidelined, the Golden Bears relied heavily upon senior guard Jordan Shepard. The oft inefficient Shepard (37% on the season) led all scorers with a career-high 33 (9-of-15, 13-of-15 on free throws). Shepard hit 2-of-3 3’s, each coming at critical junctures amidst the Ducks’ efforts to claw back.
Leading 12-5 with just under 16 minutes to go in the first half, Oregon underwent its worst shooting stretch of the season. Cal rattled off a 24-0 run over the game’s next 9 minutes, forcing four turnovers while holding the Ducks to 0-of-10 from the field.
Oregon never regained the lead.
“It was a flat effort,” Altman said. “We came out and gave them easy baskets to start the game. They got rolling and we could never get it stopped.”
Trailing 29-12, it wasn’t until a Rivaldo Soares layup at the 6:59 mark of the first half that Oregon stopped the bleeding.
But even once they regained their footing, Cal outscored the Ducks 9-8 and led 38-22 by halftime.
With 20 minutes standing between the Ducks and the potential downfall of their postseason hopes, Oregon never brought the game back within single digits.
The Ducks shot 38% from the field and hit 5-of-27 3’s. They missed eight free throws, a handful of which came on the front-end of 1-and-1 opportunities.
“We’ve got to put this one behind us,” Altman said. “I’d like to harp on a few things but we can’t. We’ve got to come in tomorrow and get ready… It’s a bad loss, we do have opportunities. I told them that.”
Oregon’s loss is a dagger for its postseason resume. The Ducks look ahead to Monday night when the Washington State Cougars come to Eugene for a 6 p.m. PST matchup, with a string of three straight ranked matchups in tow.
