43 days. 

It had been 43 days since Oregon men’s basketball (9-16, 2-12 Big Ten) won a game. A 10-game skid, the longest losing streak in the modern era for the Ducks, finally ended Saturday with a comprehensive victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions (11-15, 2-13 Big Ten)

Behind tremendously positive offensive production from Nate Bittle (22 points, 7 rebounds) and Takai Simpkins (22 points on 4/5 3-point shooting), Oregon played an uncharacteristically clean game. 

The Ducks shot 50% from the field, 52% on 3-pointers and 84% from the free-throw line en route to a 83-72 win. 

“Our ball movement was definitely better,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We finished some shots, a lot more threes than we’ve been hitting, but it was out of good ball movement.”

Both the Ducks and Nittany Lions struggled to put points on the board early, as each offense missed a plethora of opportunities in the opening five minutes of the contest. Each team started the game 2/7 from the field and neither showed much promise they’d improve their percentages as the contest progressed. 

Penn State created most of the action in the first half, forcing six Oregon fouls and pressuring its ball handlers as soon as they crossed half court. 

Two consecutive 3-pointers from Dezdrick Lindsay gave the Ducks a narrow lead halfway through the first, but neither attempt appeared to be within the gameplan — they were just fortunate the shots went in. 

The next possession saw Oregon turn the ball over on a shot-clock violation, which seemed more on par with the flow of the game for the home team. The Nittany Lions attacked the paint effectively enough on offense that they kept the Ducks at bay, but Oregon stayed hot from beyond the arc. 

First, it was Nate Bittle after one of the only possessions where the Ducks moved the ball well, then Bittle again with a hand in his face and finally Jamari Phillips converted in transition to take a four-point lead late in the first half. 

Once Bittle got going, his interior presence became an issue for Penn State’s defense, which had thrived on limiting his options in the post. The 9-2 run gave Oregon a foundation for its 38-32 lead at the break. 

“Nate made some really good passes out of the post when they doubled. He knew the double was coming and I thought he did a good job there…I thought he made really good reads,” Altman said. 

Lindsay’s spark off the bench also proved to be a focal point of the Ducks’ offense, as he provided 10 points on 4/6 shooting and 2/4 from deep. Oregon employed the 3-pointer effectively during the opening frame to the tune of 7/17. 

While Lindsay’s scoring trailed off in the second, Oregon continued to fire away from deep. 

The Ducks made their first two triples of the half, both by Takai Simpkins, which allowed them to exert control and hold the lead. Simpkins’ 20-point explosion in the second half on 4/5 shooting from deep gave the Ducks the extra lift they needed to see the game to a close. 

“I was getting to the line a lot today, just taking what the defense gave me,” Simpkins said. “If they didn’t put a hand up, I shot it, and if they played too close, I just went downhill.”

At that point, each team slowed the game down significantly and tried to score in the paint rather than rely on shooting as each team did in the first half. But that only made the 3-pointers each team hit much louder. 

Simpkins added another and after Wei Lin’s pull-up transition bucket found nothing but net, Oregon held a nine-point lead over a Nittany Lion offense that struggled mightily to put points on the board in the second. 

A 10-2 run halfway through the latter half brought the Ducks into their first double-digit lead of the game, and they did a solid job of keeping Penn State at arms length for the rest of the way. It also helped that Oregon did a much better job getting to the free-throw line in the second half, as it shot 18-21. 

For the first time in a month-and-a-half, Oregon came out victorious in a basketball game. It didn’t matter that it happened against another Big Ten bottom-feeder —the win was enough to fuel the Ducks for the contests to come. 

“There’s one thing about having a bad record, there’s another thing about throwing the towel in. Those are two different dynamics,” Altman said. 

Oregon returns to action Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m., when it will welcome the Minnesota Golden Gophers to Matthew Knight Arena, looking to make it two wins in a row.