Things seemed to have turned a corner given the fact that, heading into Tuesday night, Oregon men’s basketball (11-19, 4-15 Big Ten) won three of its last five games. Plus, the Ducks faced off against an Illinois (23-7, 14-5 Big Ten) squad that had lost its last two games, so really, anything appeared to be possible ahead of their matchup. 

Unfortunately for head coach Dana Altman’s Ducks, their offense proved uninspired, their defense lacked energy and they found no answer for the No. 11 Illini. For Illinois, junior Andrej Stojakovic’s 21 points paved the way for an efficient, 40%, shooting night and a 80-54 drubbing. 

Reality hit hard for Oregon in Urbana-Champaign. 

The Ducks, surprisingly given Illinois being heavily favored pregame, scored the first six points of the night. All were layups and each came from a different player; first Sean Stewart, then Nate Bittle, then Kwame Evans Jr. on a tough score at the rim.

While the Illini settled into the game, Oregon found ways to use its ability to score in the paint and lead for the first six minutes of the half. The Ducks didn’t turn the ball over a ton (four giveaways in the first), which helped them stay in a game with the star-studded Illini early.

That quickly became just a fleeting moment. After Oregon opened with the first six points, Illinois bolted through a 24-3 run over the next seven minutes, in which the Ducks didn’t score for the final six minutes of the stretch. 

It wasn’t one player dominating either, and the Illini thrived on rapid rim runs that allowed them to score 14 of their first 19 points in the paint, an area Oregon hoped to win with Stewart and Bittle’s height. They also allowed the Ducks to shoot their way out of the half, to the tune of 27% (9/33) from the field and 12% (2/16) from beyond the arc by the time the opening frame concluded.

As the first progressed, the Illini also found a way to convert on their open 3-pointers, and finished the half 7/15 from deep. 

Illinois put its depth on display during the first, as seven different players scored, but it was led by star freshman Keaton Wagler, who tallied 11 points and didn’t score in the second. 

Scoring slowed down in the final seven minutes of the first half, and Illinois went into the break leading 41-21. While Oregon fared better during the latter part of the half, it would not go into the break holding any confidence down 20. 

The Ducks looked slightly more inspired as the second half began. There was more energy and they were able to cut the Illini lead down to 13 with about 13 minutes to play in the game, but Oregon failed to hit a field goal for the seven minutes immediately following, which ballooned the lead to 30 at its largest. 

Oregon only lost the second 39-33, which possibly could prove that the first half offense was an anomaly, but the Ducks never shot efficiently from three (3/13 in the second), which made Illinois’ lead insurmountable quickly. 

It’s worth noting that the Illini definitely could have built on the lead much more, but they shot 37% from the field and 14% in the latter half of the game, basically forgoing efficient ball movement. Oregon never capitalized and remained safely behind the rest of the way. 

The Ducks will return to Eugene and lick their wounds, hoping to achieve a significant moral victory over bitter rivals Washington this Saturday at 8 p.m. to close out the regular season.