“There is no easy solution to this,” Head Coach Dana Altman said after the Ducks dropped their second straight conference game, this time 72-62 against Ohio State. “We’re going to have to work our tails off.”

Back from the east coast after a hard-fought battle against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights that ended in an overtime loss, the Oregon Ducks (8-8) were back at Matthew Knight Arena Thursday night to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes (11-4).

The first half kicked off without a lot of offense. Oregon opened up the scoring with two points from Takai Simpkins and the Buckeyes followed up with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Ohio State later added two more from a shot that found its way in off the backboard. 

The Ducks, after initially opening up the scoring for the game, did not score for over three and a half minutes. Seeing enough missed shots, poor decisions and lack of ball movement, head coach Dana Altman called a timeout.  

Out of that timeout, the Ducks forced a turnover in their paint, got the ball up court to Wei Lin, who broke the over four minute scoreless drought for Oregon with a layup. Ohio State answered that with another three, putting their lead back up to six. 

“We had some open threes that our guys were confident in shooting,” Altman said on the slow offennsive start. “Had some good looks, we went inside a number of times early and we didn’t get the calls.

The Ducks managed to keep the offensive-minded Buckeyes in check, only allowing the Buckeyes largest lead to be six points. The Ducks forced turnovers, blocked shots and drew more fouls than what they were giving up in the first half. 

Ohio State managed to extend its lead up to nine with a three from Gabe Cupps. Though he drew a flagrant foul on the three, the Buckeyes still maintained their biggest lead of the night, up 17-11. The Ducks started to break down defensively; Oregon was getting pushed around in the paint and allowing for the Buckeyes to move the ball freely, allowing Ohio State to increase its lead to nine.

“I thought for the most part defensively, the first half, and at times the second half, we were pretty sharp,” Altman said. “But the rebounding changed the game there to start the second half.”

Simpkins and Lin were the leading scorers for the Ducks, both going into the half with eight. Oregon managed to get its percentage from the field up to 26.5% and their three point percentage up to 13.3% by the end of the first. 

“We had early opportunities inside and we weren’t successful,” Altman said. “We just had a hard time finishing inside or out.”

Though there was an uptick in shooting, the Ducks still had little luck on offense and broke down defensively, so the Ducks went into the half only trailing the Buckeyes 34-29. 

The second half began the same way that the first half ended: shaky offense and less than adequate defense. Kwame Evans Jr. hit the only Oregon three early on, followed by a breakaway for Simpkins going for two. The Ducks were right back in the game early, shaving the Buckeye lead down to two. 

Again, for the second time early in the second half, what looked to be a turning point for the Ducks proved a mirage for fans. The Ducks failed to capitalize on another opportunity to take the lead and Ohio State regained their lead almost as quickly as before, sending the Ducks into an eight point deficit. 

“We just had some really bad offensive possessions,” Altman said about how the team was unable to take over the lead. “We had a couple shots, a couple turnovers, possessions we had to have.”

Halfway through the second half the Buckeyes continued to build on their lead. The Buckeyes went on a streak of nine unanswered points in just over two minutes, a streak that gave them a 16-point lead, their largest of the game up until that point. 

The Ducks were not performing to their standard, but center Nate Bittle, a key part of the Oregon offense, was having the toughest time on the court.Before the game finished, he had three turnovers, four personal fouls, was 1-13 from the field, 0-4 from three and only had four points. 

“We’re dependent on Nate,” Coach Altman said, discussing the overall poor offense throughout the game.  

Ohio State secured a 24 point lead with seven and a half minutes left in the game, running away with the game. The remaining fight that Oregon put up was not enough. Though they chipped away at the Buckeye lead, the Ducks ended the game only having the lead once during the first minute and 22-seconds of the game.

Another game that was all too familiar to fans this year: Lackluster offense, poor defense and the inability to secure the basketball. The Ducks dropped their second straight conference game and their fourth on the season. 

“Three of them (turnovers) were frustration,” Altman said. “I think our guys were just frustrated, trying to make something happen and obviously it didn’t work.”

The Ducks will look to break this two game skid in Lincoln, Nebraska on Jan. 13 against the No. 10 Nebraska. The next Ducks home game is also against a ranked opponent, No. 2 Michigan.