The No. 15 Oregon Ducks (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) pounced on the Penn State Nittany Lions (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) early, but a strong second half performance from the home team made the contest competitive. 

After going down as much as nine points late in the game, Oregon pulled out another victory from a losing position behind Jackson Shelstad’s 17 points on 7-10 shooting, coupled with eight assists.

Six Ducks scored in double digits, as the strong team effort fueled a second half comeback to notch the Ducks’ seventh Quad 1 win of the season, which is now tied for the most in Division I. 

The Ducks entered Sunday’s matinee after a gritty comeback win over Ohio State on Thursday night, which was Oregon’s second-straight win. The Nittany Lions were pummeled by Illinois on Wednesday, which marked Penn State’s second-straight loss. 

Each squad struggled initially to implement its offense, but the Ducks jumped out to an early lead after four minutes, aided by 3-pointers from Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad. 

Oregon shot a 37% clip from beyond the arc on Sunday, three of which came from Shelstad. 

Oregon ran many of its early offensive sets through Shelstad, but the Ducks encountered issues as soon as the Penn State defense keyed in its focus on the sophomore guard. That’s when it’s fortunate to have an option off the bench as solid as Keeshawn Barthelemy. 

Barthelemy’s ability to run point guard effectively allows Shelstad to play off the ball more and find open shots. A small-ball lineup featuring the two guards and TJ Bamba broke open a 10 point lead for the Ducks in the latter part of the first. 

Bamba’s six straight points fueled a 9-0 Oregon run, which ballooned the lead to 14. 

Oregon remained in front by a safe margin the rest of the half, which was due to the balanced team scoring. There were four players that scored more than eight points in the first — Shelstad, Bamba, Bittle and Barthelemy. 

A quick 7-0 run in the last two minutes of the first brought the lead down to seven before the half ended 41-34.

The Nittany Lions opened up the second in a 2-3 zone, which forced the Ducks to settle for bad shots. The strong defense allowed the cushion for Penn State to chip into Oregon’s lead.

PSU tied the game at 49 almost halfway through the second half after a 7-0 run behind the offense of Nick Kern, who helped lead the way for the Nittany Lions with 19 points. 

Penn State scored on the ensuing possession and took a two point lead for its first of the half. During that stretch, the Ducks went scoreless for almost three minutes until Shelstad retook the lead with a perfect heave from basically half court. 

The squads traded the lead as the second progressed, but Oregon’s offense started going quiet as Penn State ramped up its attack. The Nittany Lions shot just 36% in the first half, but the 56% shooting in the second half allowed Penn State to grow its lead to as much as nine. 

The Ducks played much quicker and more decisively on offense once the clock struck five minutes and they had some chipping in to do themselves. 

Oregon forced the game back inside rather than settling for quick-fire threes, but the Ducks needed to start firing efficiently from deep to close the gap in the short amount of time they had. 

A contested bomb from Freddie Dillone V, which marked his fourth three of the game, seemed like a dagger with just over three minutes to go. Dillone led the game with 21 points. 

Threes from Barthelemy and Jadrian Tracey followed by a nifty Kwame Evans Jr. post move tied the game at 76 and made the final two minutes a nail-biter. 

With just under a minute to go, Shelstad knocked down an athletic jump fade from the right block to break the deadlock and take a two-point lead. The Oregon bench erupted, as the Ducks once again figured out a way to come from behind and find themselves ahead as the contest drew to a close. 

Oregon forced a missed layup on the other end, which spelled the end of it for the Nittany Lions. A fadeaway three with two seconds remaining made it interesting as time expired, but the Ducks secured the victory 82-81. 

Oregon gets six days off and welcomes the No. 20 Purdue Boilermakers next Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena.