This season has been one of peaks and valleys for the Oregon Ducks, and Thursday night’s game against the Arizona State Sun Devils was no exception.
It started with a peak: Center Nate Bittle — who had been sidelined with a wrist injury that required surgery in late November — was officially making his return to the court after nine weeks, and entering the starting lineup to some surprise.
Bittle’s first shot back on the court, and Oregon’s first shot of the game, was a drained three-pointer. The 7-foot center gestured towards his shooting arm with braggadocious style before quickly tugging on his jersey and asking to be pulled from the game just 67 seconds after the opening tip.
Bittle ran to the bench and continued up into the tunnel — a valley.
The valley continued for the Ducks, who went on to miss 14 of their first 17 shots from the floor, eventually falling behind by 10 points early in the game, a margin that felt gracious at the time for anyone watching.
Fortunately for Dana Altman, that would be the lowest point of the night. Another inspired timeout speech on the Oregon bench sparked the team a bit, and they ended the first half on a nice run, going into the half only trailing by 5.
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The second half offered a return to the peak. A quick 8-3 run to tie the game; a drained three from freshman Kwame Evans to take the lead; and a drained transition three from Keeshawn Barthelemy to put the Ducks up by 5, their biggest lead of the game.
From 15:57 to 3:20 in the second half — a 12-minute and 37-second stretch — the Ducks went without missing a field goal, hitting 13 straight and ballooning their lead up to 22 at some points. They ultimately won 80-61, beating one of the two teams who entered the night tied with them for first place in the Pac-12 Conference.
I’m not going to lie, I walked out of the arena, into the concourse, and down to the media room feeling impressed. A win over a team like Arizona State — who smoked the Ducks in this same building a year ago — was notable, and doing it in the way that Oregon did meant something more than just a check in the win column.
Was it a statement win? From my perspective in the press row, it certainly felt like one. Ultimately, I think that depends on who you ask.
“Oh, I don’t know,” head coach Dana Altman uttered after the game, lifting his hands to the air and letting them loudly clap down on his thighs. “Every game is important, you know?”
Yes, at this point in a season where Oregon is sitting on the right side of the bubble in ESPN’s bracketology midway through the year, every game is important for the Ducks to win, especially at home. This one, though, carried with it a bit more weight.
“We needed to win the game, I know that,” Altman admitted.
Winning the game would be one thing. Dominating another top-ranked team in the conference in the way that they did, though… That’s where the statement was made.
I had more success getting someone to agree with me when asking Barthelemy his thoughts after scoring 12 points off of the bench on 5-for-6 shooting.
“It was definitely a statement win for us,” Barthelemy said. “Like I said, ASU was tied with us and we needed this one at home, especially coming off two L’s in a row. We just had to come out with a different type of energy, and we did that.”
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Though Altman may have hesitated to admit it, this win mattered more than most so far this season. After two straight years of missing out on the NCAA Tournament, it’s felt like the 2023-24 group has been walking a tightrope of pushing into a new era or succumbing to old habits. Injuries have been an issue; free throw shooting has been an issue; three-point shooting has been an issue, and defensive intensity has been brought up more than a few times from Altman after practice.
Following the mountain road trip sweep, it felt like these Ducks might have been bluffing with their six-game winning streak earlier in the year, and that No. 1 ranking in the Pac-12 might quickly be exposed. Midway through that first half, I was pretty convinced this was the case.
But the Ducks found a way to climb out of the valley and turn things around rather quickly, which is something we’ve seen on multiple occasions this season. The night ended with them standing on as high of a peak as we’ve seen all season, sitting alone at the top of the conference once again.
“I’m really proud of our guys and the coaching staff for a great game plan,” Barthelemy said. “We did what we had to do.”
In a season that has seen several peaks and valleys, more opportunities for both will continue to come. The next may be the biggest of the season, with No. 9 Arizona traveling to Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday afternoon.
A lot of eyeballs will be turned to Eugene to see what Dana Altman and his Ducks can do.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they made another statement.
Ducks Wire’s Ethan Landa was taking photos at Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday night. Here are some of his best images from the contest: