Oregon men’s basketball tends to be a microcosm of the grit and grind endured in a college basketball season. Accompanying that is the increased amount of travel experienced by Big Ten teams due to the conference’s expansion — it’s a borderline impossible mission to stay consistent the whole year.
Last season, Oregon exemplified the tough grind, as the Ducks started conference play on a lackluster run only to flip that on its head by March.
As the season got underway, however, it never appeared this would repeat itself, but, lo and behold, it did.
The Ducks entered their first season of Big Ten play undefeated.
While much of the Power Four can boast solid out-of-conference records before January hits, Oregon’s 8-0 record was astounding. The Ducks actually got conference play started in early December as they took a win down in Los Angeles against the USC Trojans, but fell at the buzzer to UCLA for their first loss of the season.
That being the only loss in the 2024 portion of this season meant something.
Wins against two real contenders in the nation’s best conference — the SEC — in Texas A&M University and University of Alabama put the Ducks on the country’s radar. Oregon ranked as high as the No. 9 slot on the AP top-25 poll in December, and were in the top-16 as recently as late January.
So, what happened?
One can point to certain games like the ones at home against Illinois and Purdue. Each of those contests, in their own ways, humbled Oregon as it looked to start a reign of terror over its new conference. The blue bloods of the Big Ten made sure to quiet that noise.
“I have no problem with our effort and our focus. Against Michigan and Michigan State, we played hard, we just weren’t good enough those two days to beat them,” head coach Dana Altman said.
That Purdue game became the beginning of a stretch where Oregon would lose six of seven, including a five-game skid. In those seven games, the Ducks scored more than 75 twice, with their only victory in the stretch coming 82-71 over Washington.
“Other than that one week, I thought our guys have tried. I haven’t been pleased with their focus at times or their execution offensively. But, for the most part, they’re trying to listen and trying to do what we want them to do,” Altman said.
That one week derailed the season so dramatically that it knocked the Ducks out of the top-25 and created a lot of questions regarding their hopes to return to March Madness.
However, the losing streak fired Oregon up for the final stretch of the season, especially the team’s two-way focal point, Nate Bittle.
Bittle scored in double-digits in two of the five losses — one game tallying 13 points and the other 16. The senior big man flipped that on its head by scoring in single-digits just once in the eight-game win streak.
“It’s March, everybody’s playing for their lives, and we just gotta come ready to play,” senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy said.
Barthelemy also mentioned that the energy in the locker room is “different” at this point in the season. That energy started to translate on the defensive end in a dramatic way.
The last time the Ducks turned the ball over more than their opponents was Jan. 30 in a 26-point loss at UCLA. In the five-game losing streak, Oregon allowed at least 77 points in each of the games.
In the eight games since then, the Ducks allowed that just once, and still won a nail-biter against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“We’re starting our sixth month (of the season) here and you hope the guys have enough to finish. You can get worn out, you can lose your focus, you can lose your intensity,” Altman said.
The opposite appears to be true; the Ducks’ intensity seemed to ramp up with each of the previous five wins.
“There’s a sense of urgency here, it’s our last month. It’s been a long season,” Altman said.
A similar sense of urgency propelled N’Faly Dante, Jermaine Couisnard and co. to a Pac-12 tournament win and an appearance in the March Madness Round-of-32. With the ability to receive production from players outside the top seven or eight players, which became the case last season.
“Definitely gotta have depth, and guys gotta be ready to go,” Altman said. “That’s why I am so happy that Mookie (Cook) and Jamari (Phillips) and those guys have stayed ready.”
Having reliable players to plug into any situation has helped the Ducks reduce the negative side effects of foul trouble and slight injury knocks. The team’s ability to throw in Supreme Cook to do some dirty work is valuable and boosts defensive versatility to keep Bittle healthy.
Barthelmy admitted Bittle is the team’s best defender, so keeping him healthy has been of utmost importance, especially given how much time he missed in 2023-24.
This most recent run of positive basketball has both Altman and the team confident as the Ducks enter the Big Ten Tournament. Oregon is a battle-tested team that rides a dangerous hot streak, and Altman believes there’s more to come.
“I think we’re really close to having better offensive possessions and our communication can get better defensively. I think we’re really close to having a good ball team,” Altman said.
