Oregon men’s basketball’s first season without 20 wins under head coach Dana Altman ended with a whimper on Tuesday afternoon, as the 16-seeded Ducks (12-20) fell to the 17-seeded Maryland Terrapins (12-20) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. 

At the end of a particularly unsuccessful season, it’s no surprise that Oregon put up a season-low scoring tally in the first half, largely attributed to an 11 minute field goal drought to begin the game. The abysmal first half left the Ducks behind all game, and even after an inspiring final five minutes, the Terps proved too much to handle in their 70-60 victory. 

The opening 10 minutes reflected the bottom-three seeding each of these teams played themselves into during the regular season. Oregon’s lackluster offense endured possibly its worst stretch of the season. The Ducks didn’t hit a field goal for the first 11 minutes of the game, and missed all of their first 11 attempts, seven coming from beyond the arc.

The Ducks failed to create shots, quite simply. Instead of moving the ball around the horn and looking for a perfect shot, they relied on the first look possible. Takai Simpkins and Kwame Evans Jr. each took a couple contested 3-pointers in that stretch, each clanking off the rim and ending up in the hands of a Terrapin. 

Maryland didn’t fare much better, and only jumped out to a 17-4 lead, at its largest, due to inefficient shooting outside of the opening five minutes. 

Oregon finally scored with nine minutes to go in the first, and it took a bit of luck after a Wei Lin feed to Nate Bittle inside was converted into a tough lay-in over two defenders. Before that, the Ducks had made six free throws to get on the scoreboard. 

A five-minute Terrapin field goal drought helped give the Ducks a chance to make the deficit more manageable, but Maryland shot out to a 16-4 run in the nine minutes of play after Oregon’s first made field goal. 

After an opening frame where the Terps never trailed, they led 33-12 at the break. The Ducks’ offensive fortunes never improved, shooting 3/22 (14%) overall and 0/10 from beyond the arc. Defensively, everything broke down by the end of the first, evidenced by the final play. 

On a baseline inbound play, Sean Stewart froze and allowed his man, forward Solomon Washington, to cut freely to the rim for an easy dunk as time expired. Elsewhere, Oregon allowed Maryland to settle in offensively as the half progressed. The Terrapins finished shooting 39% from the field, which came as a result of patient ball movement and finding shots in the paint against Oregon’s struggling interior defense. 

Maryland doubled the Ducks’ points in the paint (12-6) in the first. The 12 point total was Oregon’s lowest total in a half this season, and it played a large part in ending it. 

Bittle hit the Ducks’ first triple of the contest on the opening possession of the second half, leading the charge to salvage his final season in the latter 20 minutes. 

The Terps did not make chipping into their lead easy, and hit a couple 3-pointers to get their scoring going in the second. Moving the ball through Bittle, however, proved an effective way to improve the offense. 

The Ducks hit their stride with a 11-2 run that cut the Maryland lead to just 12. Oregon played much more aggressively on the perimeter, chasing Terrapin ball handlers and forcing them to make quick decisions even as they tried to slow the game down. 

Maryland broke a three-minute scoring drought with a couple free throws, which Terps guard Andre Mills followed up with an and-one off an Oregon turnover to push the advantage back to 17. 

Even with the size at their disposal, the Ducks struggled mightily around the rim all game, shooting 33% on layups. While it helped them get back into the contest early in the second, interior scoring proved unreliable the rest of the way. 

That wasn’t completely true for Bittle, specifically, as his rim-running in the final 15 minutes was the only offense Oregon generated. He inspired a 15-2 run late in the half, but with Maryland’s advantage reaching 24 just before, it was too late to scare the Terrapins, even if the Ducks cut it down to just 9 with two minutes to go. 

Maryland successfully held off the comeback, and drained out the clock, continuing its season for another day at least. Oregon’s frustrating season ended as expected in Chicago, and it’s yet to be seen if this team will end up in any postseason tournament.