Oregon men’s basketball (8-16, 1-12 Big Ten) just can’t catch a break.
The Ducks set themselves up with a fantastic chance to snap their long-winded losing streak in a nail-biting loss to No. 13 Purdue, but failed to do so against one of the nation’s best. On Monday night, the Ducks traveled 113 miles south to face the Indiana Hoosiers (17-8, 8-6 Big Ten), aiming to prevent the skid from getting into double-digits.
Lamar Wilkerson had other plans, however, and dominated the Oregon’s defense for 41 points on 13-20 shooting and 6-12 on 3-pointers. The Ducks could do nothing but watch as their losing streak moved to 10 games after their poor second half defense gave the Hoosiers a 92-74 win.
Neither team shot well to begin the contest, as they combined for just 10 total points in the opening five minutes, which benefitted the Ducks, who haven’t had much offense to generate; they jumped out to 6-4 lead.
Oregon opened the game in a 2-3 zone, which intentionally planned to force Indiana to beat it from beyond the arc. While the Ducks switched in and out of this set throughout the game, the Hoosiers’ offense stagnated early and allowed Oregon to stay ahead as the half progressed.
The Hoosiers weren’t effective on threes, but they drew six Oregon team fouls in the first 10 minutes, so they outshot the Ducks from the free throw line 9-6 in the first half. Indiana made 8/9 while Oregon struggled at 3/6.
Given Nate Bittle’s return from injury, Oregon also held the height advantage in the game, which led to him leading the game in rebounds with eight total for the game. He also co-led the team with 15 points, but it came on 3/14 shooting.
By the end of the first, Indiana’s stars started scoring, especially Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries, who scored 16 and seven, respectively, in the opening frame. Wilkerson started the game 0/5 from the field but in the time after that, he made his next nine shots before missing about seven minutes into the second half.
Bittle only scored four points in the first on 1/6 shooting, and that only highlighted the lack of shot creating ability the Ducks had at their disposal. That deficiency became exacerbated by Drew Carter, Wei Lin and Kwame Evans Jr., all potential shot creators, falling into foul trouble before halftime.
Lin’s production, nine points on 4/7 shooting in the first half, left head coach Dana Altman with no choice but to leave the sophomore guard in the game in order to preserve some offense and stay in the game.
That strategy proved successful, as Lin didn’t pick up another foul in the half and the Ducks only trailed 36-30 at the break.
Indiana opened up the second with a lot more intention on offense; the Hoosiers cut a lot harder, hustled more and it led to open shots. DeVries quickly tallied five points, and gave his team a 12-point lead with a pull-up 3-pointer and extended that to 14 with an excellent drive and dish to Sam Alexis.
Alexis, tasked with the matchup of Bittle, didn’t balk at any challenge and added a crucial 16 points on perfect 8/8 shooting. He became an interior threat for a team that didn’t thrive in the paint, which only opened the perimeter up more for IU’s shooters.
The Hoosiers also moved the ball well, assisting on 22 of their 30 made field goals, and made their first eight shots of the second, which broke the game wide open. Oregon cut the lead to 10 just two minutes later, but that’s as close as it would get for the rest of the contest.
The Ducks couldn’t contain Wilkerson as the half went on, and the Hoosiers shot 18-22 (82%) in the latter half, which was due to Indiana’s patient offense and ability to hit open jumpers. Oregon got back within 12, but a Wilkerson-led 10-3 run about halfway through the second put IU up 20 and dispelled any hope for a comeback from the Ducks.
For Oregon, this sight was a little bit too familiar. Yet again, the offense failed to show up against a strong defense and the defense bided its time until the opposing team’s star, on Monday night it was Wilkerson, got their offense going.
Oregon takes the losing-streak back home and takes on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Feb. 14 at 12:00 p.m. PST.
