The Ducks never aim to win ugly. During this eight-game win streak, Oregon figured out how to do it routinely. Even in a contest where the opponent shot 36% from the field, the Ducks were required to put their heads down and grit out a win.  

The Big Ten Tournament second round proved more evidence to that fact — as the Ducks emerged victorious over the Indiana Hoosiers 72-59. 

While Oregon found success on neutral sites, its second round matchup proved anything but that. 

Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Indiana Pacers, and host to the conference tournament, sits just 54 miles from Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana. In other words, this was a Hoosiers’ home game. 

“We knew the crowd would be involved, with it being in Indiana. We play well on the road and with crowds involved. We’re kind of the ‘away team,’ so we just brought that energy,” Jackson Shelstad said. 

Shelstad led the Ducks with 18 points. 

The opening five minutes reflected that. Each Indiana basket drew a significant reaction from the crowd, while Oregon had to play silencer, even as the technical home team. 

Indiana took an early lead by forcing nine Oregon turnovers in the first half. 

Once the offense slowed down and the ball moved around more, the Ducks found their open shots. Oregon tied the game at 23 with seven minutes remaining in the opening frame after two-straight possessions finished by a Brandon Angel three. 

Angel posted 14 points on 6-8 shooting and made both of his tries from deep. 

“Brandon gave us a big lift in the first half. He hit a couple threes and got to the rim,” Altman said. 

Indiana center Oumar Ballo dominated the boards in the first. His eight first half rebounds, five coming from the offensive end, made Oregon’s big man Nate Bittle obsolete at times. 

“Nate was coming down in the first half to help on drives, and no one was cracking down on [Ballo],” Altman said. “[Ballo] didn’t play a lot in the second half, and he was giving us problems with those offensive rebounds.”

Along with Ballo, Indiana received excellent production from its backup center Malik Reneau, who played the majority of the second half. Reneau tallied a game-leading 19 points while facing the tough defensive task of defending Bittle. 

“Reneau was playing so well, he was giving us fits,” Altman said. 

After a career-high 36 points in the Ducks’ regular season finale, Bittle failed to score a point for most of the first half and only secured three rebounds. Bittle’s first basket came from beyond the arc, and took a lead with two minutes to play in the first. 

“I thought Nate showed great maturity,” Altman said. “You wouldn’t have known if he scored 30 today or two, he just played. He had six assists and one turnover.”

The offense that Oregon generated came almost exclusively from Shelstad and TJ Bamba, who finished with 12 and eight points in the opening frame, respectively. Bamba’s tally grew to 17 by the final whistle. 

“In the second half, I thought TJ did a good job of getting to the basket and really taking his time, making some plays, nose to the goal and went to the free throw line,” Altman said. 

Oregon finally found its run in the final four minutes of the half, and took a 37-29 lead at the break after a 13-2 stretch. 

Indiana opened the second by scoring the first six points and reinvigorating its home crowd. 

It took three-and-a-half minutes for Oregon to score in the second half, which came as Indiana spent over two minutes without scoring. The Ducks’ turnover woes didn’t stop as the game wore on, however. 

Oregon finished with 14 total turnovers, which at times became the only reason Indiana had a way back into the contest — the Hoosiers had the ball more. 

That being said, Indiana’s offense continued to struggle in the same ways it did last week in Eugene — the Hoosiers couldn’t hit threes. Indiana scored its points inside and led the game in the paint 36-20. 

But the Hoosiers would not be counted out. Trey Galloway responded with a make from deep and Reneau followed it up by adding two more in the paint. Oregon’s answer, once again, proved resounding. 

Jadrian Tracey scored his only three points of the game from the deep elbow and the Ducks’ defense forced a crucial turnover. As Oregon sustained its lead, slowing down Indiana’s offense became the primary method of closing the game out.

That method proved successful. Indiana spent over five of the final seven minutes scoreless, and in that same stretch, the Ducks took a 9-0 run for the first double-digit lead in the contest. 

Barthelemy iced it with a contested three and Oregon was on its way to the quarterfinals. 

The Ducks will face the tournament’s one-seeded Michigan State Spartans at Noon tomorrow.