Out of the under-five media timeout, Jackson Shelstad was in an unconventional place: the bench. With 2:39 on the clock, Oregon nursed a 63-61 lead. The buzzer rang. Shelstad checked in.

One minute later, standing a few steps from where he checked in at midcourt, Oregon’s gem pulled the trigger. It was audacious. It was a prayer, one that went up as the shot clock went down.

It was in. Oregon led, 66-64, and wouldn’t trail again courtesy of the ensuing 10-0 run en route to its sixth-straight win.

“When he let it go,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said, “It was one of those — ‘Oh no…oh great’ shots.”

For Oregon (22-8, 11-8 Big Ten), wins have come from unexpected places this season. Yes, one night it’s Shelstad. The next, though, it might be Nate Bittle, or TJ Bamba or Keeshawn Barthelemy. Rarely have they all performed on the same night.

Against Indiana (18-12, 9-10 Big Ten), in its last home game of the season, it happened for Oregon. A 73-64 victory came from a night where four players scored double-digit points and yet Shelstad (17 points) still made the game-winning shot from logo distance. All that went through Barthelemy’s head when Shelstad let the shot go, he said, was “Get back.”

“He really practices,” Barthelemy said, “so there’s just a little extra something that — you can’t put your finger on it, but some people have it.”

Shelstad does, and now Oregon has its victory.

The Hoosiers entered riding high — a three-game winning streak that included victory over No. 13 Purdue.  

Oregon, meanwhile, rolled into Matthew Knight Arena with a Midwest win over No. 11 Wisconsin and a 21-point home blowout of USC in its back pocket. Head coach Dana Altman rolled out his favorite five through the smoke cannons — Shelstad, Bamba, Barthelemy, Brandon Angel and Bittle.

Bittle (14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four blocks) went to work right away, splashing an opening jumper before heading to the line to secure four of Oregon’s first six points of the game.

Not to be outdone, Hoosiers center Oumar Ballo (10 points, 12 rebounds) found plenty of time to spend in the paint with two arms above his head. But dealt the ball with his back to Bittle, Ballo felt it slip out of bounds. Oregon’s big man went down the other end and slipped his body past Ballo’s and laid it in.

The Indiana senior is one of two Hoosiers who have intimate experience at Matthew Knight Arena. Ballo, who transferred to the Midwest after three years at Arizona and one at Gonzaga, and Myles Rice (Washington State) both returned to Eugene in new colors.

“Rice was the Freshman of the Year in our league,” Altman said, “and Ballo was a handle at Arizona.” They’re familiar.

Their advantage, though, dwindled as everything began to come together for Oregon. 

Sophomore Kwame Evans Jr. (10 points, six rebounds) stepped through the paint with ease before diving for a loose ball with an effort that drew the loudest ovation yet from the Matthew Knight Arena crowd. 

Bittle sat on the bench while Supreme Cook took over his role as Ballo’s bodyguard, with no drop off. 

Shelstad began to toss up audacious efforts — and make them. 

Each has won the Ducks individual games. On Tuesday, they coalesced.

But despite all of its power, Oregon couldn’t pull away in the first half. A 1-9 shooting stretch midway through the period saw the Hoosiers draw closer.

Indiana continued to cut and slash until it took its lead, 31-30, with a 3-minute, 12-2 run. Over that stretch, Oregon shot 1-7 and didn’t score from the floor for over two minutes.

The power returned, and it was Evans, then, who stepped up with 1:19 on the clock to make a fast break 3-point shot and seal the Ducks’ 35-32 halftime lead.

“KJ, the last six, seven games…he’s been our X-factor…he’s just been so much more involved in the game. He’s added a dimension that we desperately needed,” Altman said after praising Evans’ recent rebounding streak.

Next, the difference began to come at the stripe. Indiana didn’t take its first free throw until the 3:31 mark in the first half, and made its first shot from the line with just 1:50 to play in the period.

Oregon, which only missed a free throw after making its first six, turned that front-rim shot into two points with an alert box-out from Ra’Heim Moss. After making just one of their last seven field goals to end the half, the Ducks shot 4-5 out of the break to hold onto their half.

Next, it was Bamba’s turn to step up. In his first year in Eugene, the Bronx native hasn’t been shy of confidence — he called himself “the best defender in the Big Ten” and “a dawg” after Oregon’s win over Washington on Jan. 22. After adding four points and a block in his first six second-half minutes, the Ducks owned a one-point, 53-52 lead.

“I just compete,” Bamba said. “To this day, I stand on my confidence, but I just feel like I could provide this team with that spark — that type of energy that people could feed off.”

It worked.

The last to step to the fore was the one who always does for Oregon. Jackson Shelstad has been the solution. He lost his handle on a drive with under four minutes to play. The Hoosiers took the gift and tied the game, 61-61. Oregon’s defense held, and only allowed more three points as it searched for its winner. It’s been in these spots before, Altman says, and that matters.

“Our guys had a confidence about them when they walked into the huddle,” he said. “Their heads weren’t down — we’ve been here before. This isn’t where we wanted to be, but this is where we’re at.”

Shelstad’s confidence, like Bamba’s, wasn’t to be shaken. From what felt like forever away from the basket, his shot went up. It arced. It spun.

Swish.

Oregon travels to Washington to play its final game of the regular season on March 9.