NJDuck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted March 9 The Oregon men's basketball program will look to close out the regular season with a win and some positive momentum heading into next week's Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. Saturday the Ducks will host Senior Day when they play the Utah Utes at 4 PM. LIVE UPDATES: Oregon hosts Utah on Senior Day 247SPORTS.COM Oregon will close out the regular season with a game against Utah on Senior Day. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmithRiverDuck No. 2 Share Posted March 10 If I was a Utah fan attending the game right now, I would get our section to start chanting, "NIT! NIT! NIT!" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Man No. 3 Share Posted March 10 Senior Guard Jermaine Couisnard was 4 for 17, 0 for 5 from beyond the arc, and 5 turnovers. Hard to know what to say about that stat line. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemangi No. 4 Share Posted March 10 Yeah, shot 20 percent from 3. Can't play defense, almost their lead; but have they have N'Faly Dante and won by a point! I remember that tall skinny kid from 4 1/2 yrs ago and will miss him. I hope he gets an NBA chance. Go Ducks, shake up the world and somehow luck into winning last Pac 12 tournament and then the NBA! LOL 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Ducky No. 5 Share Posted March 10 One bad basketball team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 6 Share Posted March 10 On 3/9/2024 at 8:03 PM, Just Ducky said: One bad basketball team. Really? The most injuries of any team in America and 20 wins is BAD? Seniors Lift Ducks to Victory in Regular Season Finale EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon men’s basketball escaped Matthew Knight Arena with a 66-65 victory on senior night. With nine minutes and eleven seconds left in the game, senior guard Jermaine Couisnard lobbed a pass to senior center N’Faly Dante, who finished with an emphatic slam to give Oregon a 54-53 lead and momentum. The lead change proved to be the last of the game, as Dante and company found a way down the stretch to end senior night on a high note. The Ducks built a five-point lead, but began to struggle to find points, as time winded down. Oregon found themselves relying on defense in the final minutes, holding Utah to just one field goal in their last eight attempts on the night. The Utes had one last look at the buzzer that fell short, leaving Oregon victorious. How it Happened: Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad was once again a catalyst for the Ducks early, scoring eight-straight as the Ducks raced out to an early 15-5 lead. Utah utilized hot shooting to get back into the game, draining six 3-pointers on 50-percent shooting from the floor in the first half. A 10-2 run by the Utes pulled them in front and they led by five as the game reached the halfway point. The teams traded blows out of the locker room with Utah using back-to-back layups to build its lead up to eight. Oregon grouped together to score 11 of the games’ next 13 points, pulling back in front on a layup from Kwame Evans Jr. with 13 minutes left in the game. Ute guard Hunter Erickson put a stop to the Duck run by cashing in back-to-back shots from deep, swinging the momentum once again. His team trailing by five, Dante converted a look down low before an acrobatic layup by Brennan Rigsby cut the lead, 53-52, as the game entered its final 10 minutes. Dante continued his takeover of the game as he caught a lob from Couisnard and slammed it home over a Ute defender to reclaim the lead and electrify Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks went back to the Dante-Couisnard pick-and-roll on the next possession, this time ending in another lob that ended in a layup with the foul. After Dante failed to convert the free throw, Evans Jr. battled for the offensive rebound and gave it right back to the big man who finished at the rim again, capping a 10-0 run. The teams went bucket-for-bucket across the next four minutes as Oregon fought to maintain a six-point lead with 4:06 left on the clock. Utah’s Gabe Madsen sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead in half on the next possession, and after both teams were unable to find buckets the Utes stepped to the free-throw line with 38 seconds remaining and a chance to cut the lead to one. Deivon Smith cashed in on both attempts, and the Ducks took the ball down for their final possession. After dribbling the clock down, Couisnard attacked the rim but was unable to convert as Utah collected the defensive rebound with eight-seconds left. Electing not to call a timeout, the Utes advanced the ball up the court and swung the ball around to find an open shooter in the corner, but the buzzer-beater attempt hit off of the iron to give Oregon, and its seniors, a final win at home this season. Up Next: Oregon has earned the fourth seed in the 2024 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament and will play its quarterfinal game on March 14 at 2:30 p.m. PT in Las Vegas. 1 1 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 7 Share Posted March 10 (edited) Thrilling game, let’s enjoy that aspect at least. I’d call it “one mediocre team in a year the pac was terrible”. I know we have extensive injuries, but I don't think our record would be much better if healthy, I think we’d be on the bubble at best. Sadly we’ll never know. Edited March 10 by JabbaNoBargain 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemangi No. 8 Share Posted March 10 I do think we'd have been much better without the injuries! At least this team, compared to last yr, seems to try to play good basketball. True, a mediocre league this year but we did earn a bye and 4 seed which is not a nothing burger in my opinion. Doubt we go far in NIT, but all about match ups. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Ducker1 No. 9 Share Posted March 10 The line up change this year was something else. Hard to be consistent with all the lost days of practice and games. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) Yep a bye isn’t nothing for sure. I think we had our key pieces at guard in Shelstad and Couisnard, one was a frosh the other a mega-senior that is extremely inconsistent and not an NBA prospect. Guard play is everything in college hoops and that combination is bubble at best unless you have really good NBA-type prospects at every other position. I don’t think any of the injured guys would have made us better from the 3-point line or made us tougher on D, and Bittle (project) would have landed Evans (legit) more bench time. One injury that could have impacted things more is Cook, but total wildcard as a frosh. I just think Dana hasn’t been successful at prioritizing good 3-point shooters, at one point before big Frank transferred to UW, we were slated to have four player that were at least within an inch of 7 feet, most of them with zero range. That’s not good modern hoops. Edited March 10 by JabbaNoBargain 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudslide No. 11 Share Posted March 10 On 3/10/2024 at 11:29 AM, JabbaNoBargain said: Yep a bye isn’t nothing for sure. I think we had our key pieces at guard in Shelstad and Couisnard, one was a frosh the other a mega-senior that is extremely inconsistent and not an NBA prospect. Guard play is everything in college hoops and that combination is bubble at best unless you have really good NBA-type prospects at every other position. I don’t think any of the injured guys would have made us better from the 3-point line or made us tougher on D, and Bittle (project) would have landed Evans (legit) more bench time. One injury that could have impacted things more is Cook, but total wildcard as a frosh. I just think Dana hasn’t been successful at prioritizing good 3-point shooters, at one point before big Frank transferred to UW, we were slated to have four player that were at least within an inch of 7 feet, most of them with zero range. That’s not good modern hoops. Jabba, I agree with almost everything you said ... but with one exception. Although he only played in 5 games, Bittle's stats exceeded Evans in almost every category. Bittle also was a pretty fair 3-pt shooter (about tied with Couisnard) for a 7-footer. I'd rather think that Bittle is legit and Evans is the project (in spite of his media hype). For sure, if Dana's crew is going to make it to the Tourney next year, he needs to find or develop one or more 3-pt specialists. It's mighty frustrating to watch these guys miss after miss open 3-pointers. The Ducks could sure use a 40+ percentage guy. And get an S&C team that finds a way to eliminate these multiple yearly injuries. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 12 Share Posted March 10 (edited) On 3/10/2024 at 12:37 PM, Mudslide said: Jabba, I agree with almost everything you said ... but with one exception. Although he only played in 5 games, Bittle's stats exceeded Evans in almost every category. Bittle also was a pretty fair 3-pt shooter (about tied with Couisnard) for a 7-footer. I'd rather think that Bittle is legit and Evans is the project (in spite of his media hype). For sure, if Dana's crew is going to make it to the Tourney next year, he needs to find or develop one or more 3-pt specialists. It's mighty frustrating to watch these guys miss after miss open 3-pointers. The Ducks could sure use a 40+ percentage guy. And get an S&C team that finds a way to eliminate these multiple yearly injuries. Agree, but Bittle is a supposed 5 star Junior that has stats on par with a true frosh. I’d love to see an Oregonian kick butt, but he really is “exhibit A” of how questionable the star system is. Edited March 10 by JabbaNoBargain Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
