Heading into the Players Era Festival this week in Las Vegas, Oregon men’s basketball (4-0) didn’t sound like a team about to play in a tournament it won almost exactly a year ago. 

“We’ve made a little bit of progress, but I don’t know if it’s enough,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We are behind where we need to be, especially with our offense; ball movement and that just not near where it needs to be.”

Altman referred to the Ducks’ opening stretch of the season where, although undefeated, they’ve performed below expectations and left a lot of room for less talented basketball teams to stick around in games. 

A lot can be attributed to Oregon’s dysfunctional offseason, which included a multi-month injury to star point guard Jackson Shelstad and the late additions of backup center Ege Demir and guard Wei Lin. Both the international transfers came in just about two months ago, so they haven’t gotten fully adjusted to running the offense, but are still relied upon to play important minutes. 

The Ducks have scored 74.3 points per game, which ranks 282nd in the country, and may end up failing to cut it this week in Las Vegas. 

To start the competition, Oregon opens up play against the No. 22 Auburn University Tigers (4-1), who have been a perennial powerhouse over the last decade under head coach Bruce Pearl. Pearl retired in the offseason, which gave way for his son, Steven, to take over the program. The new coach Pearl hasn’t missed a beat, and aside from a competitive loss to the national No. 1 University of Houston Cougars, the Tigers haven’t lost and look like a contender yet again. 

“Their athleticism (sticks out),” Altman said. “I had an opportunity to watch the Houston game and their athleticism against a very fast, very physical team really stuck out.”

Auburn is led by sophomore point guard Tahaad Pettiford, who leads the team in assists through five games with 3.4 and also adds 10.8 points a night.

“(Pettiford) goes. He takes a lot of shots, he’s very aggressive,” Altman said. “We’ll have a lot of guys matched up with him defensively, so it’ll be a challenge.”

The Tigers will be without leading scorer and rebounder Keyshawn Hall, who averaged 23.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, but is currently sidelined with a foot injury. His absence gives Oregon an advantage on the interior, which is where center Nate Bittle has been able to create the majority of the offense. 

Bittle leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 18.8 and 9.8, respectively and his dominance in the paint can open up scoring on the perimeter. 

“If we throw it inside to the post then kick it out, our (shooting) percentages are much higher,” Altman said. “Those are obviously the shots we want to hit.”

Playing Auburn without Hall can possibly give Oregon the edge in that matchup and begin to turn some of the momentum towards the Ducks. 

Other than the Tigers, Oregon will take on the San Diego State University Aztecs (2-1) on Tuesday night, who have also been a constant tournament team under the masterful tutelage of head coach Brian Dutcher. 

Just like the matchup against Auburn, the Ducks will need to bring their best game, which has been missing from the Ducks’ wins so far this season. Oregon winning both of those games seems impossible given how each team has played so far, but the Ducks shocked the college basketball world by winning in Vegas last season, so it’s within possibility.

Oregon opens play at the Players Era Festival Monday Nov. 24 at 5:00 p.m. PST.