The Oregon men’s basketball team played perhaps its most important game of the year on Saturday, Feb. 24. Hosting the No. 16 USC Trojans, the team had its chance to not only keep tournament hopes alive, but to garner momentum in classic Dana Altman late-season fashion.

The team fell short, 70-69, to the visiting Trojans. And instead of a gust of wind in the sails, the loss served as another reminder of one of the team’s most glaring weaknesses: its 3-point shooting. With loads of talent on the roster, but spotty, inconsistent results from the field, it can be difficult to get a read on this team.

Oregon was outshot 50% to 26% by USC. Starting point guard Will Richardson tallied just 2 points — 12 below his average. The team’s strongest shooter converted zero of his field goal attempts, in stark contrast to his 45% season percentage.

“Just one of those nights, we didn’t shoot it very well,” Altman said following the team’s loss to USC. “Our guards, we’ve kind of depended on them all year to be scoring threats, and they didn’t shoot it well tonight.”

For the Ducks, it was far from a first. The team shot 19% from 3 in its 24 point loss to Arizona State on Feb. 19, 18% in its upset loss to Cal on Feb. 12 and 21% in the early-season defeat to BYU.

“I didn’t like our shot selection,” Altman said after the team’s 32-point loss to BYU. “Yeah, we missed some good ones, but after you take four or five bad ones it’s hard to get any rhythm.”

The Ducks rank 110th nationally in field goal percentage, 208th in 3-point shooting percentage and 284th in free throw percentage.

As low as the floor has been, the team has had its share of sky-scraping highs. It was Oregon’s shooting that put it over the top in its back-to-back wins over UCLA and USC in mid-January. The team was proficient down low and defensively but added strong performances from the field in order to hurdle two then-top-five programs in a matter of days.

In the two games, Oregon shot 42% and 50% from the field, respectively. Against then-No. 5 USC, the Ducks shot 47% from 3. Richardson had 28 points, going 5-for-8 from 3.

But 10 days after the pair of wins in Southern California, the Ducks were outshot by Colorado, falling 82-78 and ending a six-game win streak.

This team doesn’t lack shooting talent. Instead, it’s a matter of inconsistency that continues to hold back its aspirations.

Richardson (39%), Devion Harmon (36.7%) and Eric Williams Jr. (34.7%) all rank within the conference’s top-25 3-point shooters. N’Faly Dante leads the conference in field goal percentage (66.7%). The Ducks rank third in the conference in field goal percentage (45.2%) and sixth in 3-point scoring (33.4%).

The Ducks’ difficulties from the field have seemed to strike right when they appear to gain momentum. In the clutch moments, the vital must-wins, just as they’re beginning to take off, they run out of offensive fuel, unable to get off the ground.

It’s that offensive sluggishness that sank Oregon’s NCAA Tournament chances and have them slated to face Utah State in the first round of the NIT.