Oregon men’s basketball (18-8, 7-8 Big Ten) found efficient shooting and consistent defense in a must-win home game against a subpar opponent. Jackson Shelstad’s 19 points and Nate Bittle’s 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks fueled a tremendous second half performance and a 75-57 Oregon win. 

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-14, 5-10 Big Ten), toting its backcourt duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, looked to capitalize on a struggling Oregon team that dropped five of its previous six. 

The Scarlet Knights showed early that they intended to use their stars for an advantage, as Harper began the game by guarding Oregon point guard and efficient scorer Jackson Shelstad from full court. 

The two had their hands full, however, and combined for 9-27 shooting and 21 points. It was evident the Ducks were content allowing everyone else to score, but not Harper or Bailey. 

“I think our guys were locked in on the scouting report and really focused defensively. It was a team effort defensively just to be able to stop [Bailey and Harper],” assistant coach Tony Stubblefield said. 

TJ Bamba can take a lot of credit for that, as Oregon’s senior guard faced each numerous times in a 1-on-1 matchup, but rarely faltered. Bamba also added 11 points. 

“TJ has proven that he can be a really good defender, I thought he did a good job on Bailey today,” Stubblefield said. “From a defensive standpoint, I think that helps him on the offensive end and provides energy for our team.”

In some sort of anomaly, Oregon actually made its first three of the game — a deep pull from Keeshawn Barthelemy got the Ducks on the board. 

While Rutgers’ lack of size hurt its ability to defend the ball going inside, a double-edged sword emerged quickly. The Knights used their big guards to force Oregon’s playmakers to make decisions and settle for shots. 

The first five minutes only saw 16 combined points, split between the two squads. 

In that same stretch, Harper and Bailey combined for two of their own. The Ducks contained the stars like planned, but couldn’t account for the other three at any given time. 

Just as Oregon played one of its first holistic defensive possessions of the game, Harper knocked down a deep 3-pointer. A stop on defense gave Harper an open floater that he niftily converted to give the Knights a seven-point lead. 

While the Ducks sank fewer than half of their shots in the first half, their 6-10 mark from beyond the arc allowed Oregon to score efficiently enough to bide its time until the Knights cracked. 

The 3-point percentage fell slightly as the game progressed to 59%, which is still an incredible number for the Ducks.  

“I think we were sharing the ball and getting good looks. The last two games, we’ve been sharing the ball a lot better,” Shelstad said. 

Oregon took its first lead of the game at 28-27 with six minutes remaining in the first. The Ducks relinquished the advantage just once before the half ended and entered the break leading 38-33. 

Rutgers’ 56% from the field in the first allowed them to stay in a game where its stars struggled to hit their shots. The second half unfolded much differently and included multiple three-minute scoring droughts from the Knights. 

Oregon opened the second with the same tone, as Bittle rose to meet Bailey and send back his dunk attempt on the first possession of the half. 

“[My teammates know] that if they do get beat to the rim that I’m there to help them,” Bittle said. “Even when I’m not blocking shots…people have a hard time getting shots over the top of my hands. It just changes shots and gives my teammates a lot of confidence to get up and guard.” 

Bittle also converted the Ducks’ first three points of the half on a contested triple. 

Oregon showed that it was able to maintain a lead, evidenced by five-straight points from Shelstad right after Rutgers cut within two. The Knights had been on a 5-0 run before Shelstad converted on a step-back-three in the face of a defender and a mid-range bucket under the same circumstances. 

The efficient scoring, and Rutgers’ lack thereof, allowed the Ducks to start pulling away from the Knights as they continued hitting threes. Oregon took its first double-digit lead halfway through the half and never looked back.

The Ducks got up as much as 19 after a 13-2 run and four Rutgers turnovers in that period. Oregon shot efficiently and kept hunkering down defensively, which saw it coast to a 75-57 victory. 

Oregon travels to Iowa City for a Wednesday night matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes.