Born a Duck and a walking bucket, hometown kid Jackson Shelstad’s late three pointer was the difference as Oregon men’s basketball (5-2) defeated the University of Michigan (4-4) 86-83 in overtime Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.
In a tail of two halves in terms of consistency and fluidity, one thing remained the same — Shelstad hit the first shot and the last shot of the game. It was an ending meant for Hollywood, and one that he had surely imagined before.
“That’s a dream I’ve had,” Shelstad said after the game. “Hitting game winners like that, for my dream school, Oregon.”
Although Shelstad opened and closed Oregon’s game with a bang, the beginning of the game started sluggishly. The Ducks and Wolverines were both sloppy and struggled to find rhythm. Through the first ten minutes of play both teams combined for nine fouls and 10 turnovers.
“Too many times we didn’t get the ball moving,” head coach Dana Altman said after the game.
As the half turned, so did the contest, as the offensive floodgates opened. With Dug McDaniel and Brennan Rigsby the catalysts for their respective squads.
“It’s cool but we don’t want to let another guy go crazy like that,” Rigsby said of his and McDaniel’s performances. “It’s definitely cool to go back and forth like that, but hopefully we can stop that next time.”
McDaniel finished with a game high 33 points and seven three-pointers while Rigsby finished with 19 of his own while being relied on as the Ducks primary source of offense throughout the night.
“I thought when we got the moving to two or three sides and attacked, and got down hill some good things happened.” Altman said.
The Ducks and Wolverines would remain deadlocked throughout the game as neither team would trail by more than six points throughout.
With time dwindling down, the Ducks relied on veteran Kario Oquendo to hit two clutch free-throws to tie the game with 17 seconds remaining.
“[He] showed a lot of guts there stepping up and hitting those two free throws,” Altman said. “He’d been struggling from the free-throw line and knocked two big ones there.”
A Michigan turnover gave the Ducks yet another opportunity to win in regulation. However, Shelstad’s storybook ending wasn’t written yet. A contested mid-range miss followed by a Rigsby miss as time expired would send the game to overtime.
“I thought he had a better look to end regulation,” Altman said. “Brennan got a good one on the out of bounds play.”
With overtime leading the teams to yet another tie, it was time for the hometown kid to do what he had always dreamed of — hit the shot.
“They set up in a two-three zone and Jermaine [Cousinard] had the ball and I kind of cut through and flashed through and I was open so I just let it go,” Shelstad said. “It was a deeper shot than usual, I felt comfortable and I just let it go and it went in.”
If Altman’s squad looks to remain competitive in centers N’Faly Dante and Nate Bittle’s stead, he’ll need performances like his Ducks had today. Four Ducks finished in double digits as the team adjusted in their absences.
“Again we are making a big transition here, from what we envisioned that we would be to what we are,” Altman said. “The guys are working with me and I appreciate it, our playlist was one thing and now it’s something totally different, it’s going to take time to make the adjustments.”
Having moments like Shelstad’s helps too.
“We’ll take it,” Altman joked. “It was a little deeper than I wanted, but he hit it.”
