The Oregon Ducks (15-6, 7-3 Pac-12) came into Thursday’s contest at USC (8-13, 2-8 Pac-12) searching for answers after a negative week, and those answers appear to have been found. The Ducks earned a 78-69 win behind positive spurts from their backcourt. 

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that veteran guard Keeshawn Barthelemy would be sidelined for the rest of the season after injuring his ankle in Oregon’s loss to Arizona. 

Barthelemy was crucial to the team’s defensive setup. He was the Ducks’ best on-ball defender and their best option guarding opposing team’s backcourt-scorers. 

Thursday was Oregon’s first test since the injury, and the backcourt had its hands full with USC’s Boogie Ellis and Oziyah Sellers, who scored 17 and 12 respectively. However, neither of them shot particularly well, with Ellis shooting just 5-16 and Sellers going 5-9. 

The adjustment that head coach Dana Altman made was to start a three-man backcourt of Jackson Shelstad, Jermaine Couisnard and Kario Oquendo — who made his first start as a Duck. 

The backcourt trio each had two steals, responsible for six of USC’s 14 turnovers in the game. 

Oquendo was a major difference maker for Oregon. He took on the toughest matchup of the night in Ellis and, aided with Couisnard, held the Trojan backcourt to a lackluster night on offense. 

Earlier this week, Altman noted the need for guys to step up, especially Shelstad, who did not play his best basketball in the games entering Thursday’s contest. 

“Jackson has to do a good job, but he’s normally playing 30 minutes a game, so he should be able to handle [the responsibility] most of the time,” Altman said Tuesday. 

In the first half, Shelstad responded with one of his best games on both ends of the floor. 

At the 11:30 mark in the first half, Jackson Shelstad had 15 of his 20 points, shooting 6-6 from the field and 3-3 from deep. With some gutsy shots, impressive passing and serviceable defense, he led the Ducks to an efficient and impressive first half. 

He finished the game leading Oregon in assists with six while also playing the most minutes out of any Duck with 35. 

The Ducks finished the first frame on a 9-2 run, behind a positive run of play from Jermaine Couisnard. The veteran guard finished the half with 10 of his 11 points.  Oregon took a 46-39 lead going into the half. 

The Ducks made half of their field goals from deep, and they shot 7-17 from 3-point range overall in the half. This trend continued in the second half, as Oregon scored 12 of its 24 field goals on the night from deep. 

The Ducks had a second half to forget, shooting 10-30 and at points they looked like they would let USC back into the game. 

What killed Oregon was its inability to score in the paint effectively. N’Faly Dante couldn’t get any space inside and put up significantly fewer shots as he usually does. This was only abated by the continued hard work and commitment to defense from Oregon’s guards. 

The Ducks didn’t score for the last four and a half minutes and further, they made just one bucket in the last seven minutes of play. Oregon is still looking for that closer who will rise to the occasion in crunch time. 

While the first half and parts of the second half are exactly what the Ducks need, the decline in play late in the game could have been fatal. 

This game was not the most impressive nor the most dominant win for the Ducks, but thanks to solid defense throughout, Oregon was able to close it out — and maybe, discover a solution to some season-long issues

The Ducks hope to regain their shooting form when they face UCLA in Westwood on Saturday.