No one can say Jermaine Couisnard and N’Faly Dante didn’t give it their all.
In the last game of the season, Oregon fought Creighton for 50 minutes but ultimately ran out of gas and fell 86-73. Couisnard went for 32 points and Dante scored 28 as well as 20 rebounds. Unfortunately, that was the vast majority of the Ducks’ output. Those two scored 60 of the 73 points.
Oregon was right there the entire way and even had a shot at the end of regulation to win it. Couisnard’s long three from the left wing at the end of the first overtime kept the game going. With a short bench and Jackson Shelstad suffering a knee injury, the Ducks didn’t have a chance when the second overtime rolled around.
But just the Ducks being in this position was a minor miracle. They were NIT-bound for the third straight season. It was only a magical run through the Pac-12 tournament that put Oregon in the Big Dance.
They’ll miss Couisnard and Dante, but with some returners such as Nate Bittle, Shelstad and Kwame Evans, Jr. the Ducks should field a really good team in their first foray into the Big Ten Conference.