Tag: Will Richardson

MBB Recap: Ducks falter in second half, lose to No. 7 UCLA 70-63

It looked promising for 20 minutes of game time, but ultimately the Ducks couldn’t hold on to upset the No. 7 UCLA Bruins.

For about 20 minutes of game time, it looked like this might be another one of those special nights inside Matthew Knight Arena.

The crowd of over 10,000 fans was rocking, and Dana Altman’s squad was playing about as well as we’d seen all season. The No. 7 UCLA Bruins were struggling to keep pace, and entered the half trailing. The Ducks were in a good spot, needing a win like this to get a bid into the NCAA Tournament.

And then the second half happened.

I’m not sure what Mick Cronin said to his Bruins at the break, but it certainly hit home. UCLA came out of the half on a 13-0 run, quickly taking the lead and growing it from there. Oregon’s offense turned to dust and the easy looks that N’Faly Dante was getting inside were no longer there.

In the end, it was a blowout loss for the Ducks that left the remainder of the season in question. Oregon has five games left, all against the bottom teams in the conference, but even if they manage to go undefeated through that stretch, it’s unclear whether or not that will be enough to get them into March Madness. For 20 minutes on Saturday night, it looked like they wouldn’t have to worry about that.

And then the second half happened.

MBB Recap: Ducks blow out USC Trojans, 78-60, notching big win at home

The Ducks’ NCAA Tournament chances got a significant boost with that 78-60 win over the USC Trojans.

Going into Thursday night, the Oregon Ducks were considered as one of the several teams who were just on the outside of the NCAA Tournament looking in, listed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi as one of the “first four out” in his latest bracketology.

They might hop over to the right side of the bubble after the result on Thursday night.

Oregon dismantled the USC Trojans at home, winning 78-60 and controlling the game from start to finish. Will Richardson had a fantastic game, with 16 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds, while N’Faly Dante thrived once again, scoring 17 points with 5 rebounds.

With the two Los Angeles schools — USC and UCLA — in Eugene this week, getting at least one victory is huge for Oregon. If they can find a way to beat the No. 9 Bruins on Saturday, then the Ducks should have no problem getting into the tournament.

MBB Recap: Ducks pick up 68-56 win, sweep season series over Utah

The Ducks dominated the paint and out-rebounded Utah by a large margin in a big win on Saturday night.

All season long, it appeared that the Oregon Ducks were bound to follow up a nice win with a tough loss. They beat Utah, and then turned around and lost to Arizona State at home. They upset No. 9 Arizona and then lost to Stanford a week later.

So following a nice win over Colorado on Thursday night, what was in store for Saturday night’s game against the Utah Utes?

Fortunately for Duck fans who still have hopes of watching this team play in the NCAA Tournament, Oregon turned in yet another impressive victory, sweeping the season series over Utah, the No. 2 team in the Pac-12.

It was not an impressive night for Utah, however, who shot 28% from the floor and lost the rebounding battle 41-32 to Oregon.

In the end, the good version of the Ducks showed up and was able to get an important win at home, keeping their hopes for a late winter run into tournament play. Here’s how everything went down.

MBB Recap: Nate Bittle shines in 75-69 win over Colorado Buffaloes

The Ducks got a nice win at home over Colorado, led by 11 points and 13 rebounds from Nate Bittle.

It may have been a little too late to mean much in the grand scheme of things for the 2022 season, but the Oregon Ducks got an impressive win over the Colorado Buffaloes on Thursday night, edging out a 75-69 victory at home.

Considering the fact that the Ducks lost by 27 points the last time that these two teams met, this was a marked improvement.

It was Nate Bittle who led the way for Oregon, notching his first career double-double in a game where the team desperately needed him to step up. the Ducks’ star N’Faly Dante was slotted to start the game, but a tweaked knee in warm-ups held him out of the contest.

In the end, it was a trio of Bittle, Quincy Guerrier, and Keeshawn Barthelemy that led the way for Oregon. Here’s how everything went down:

MBB Recap: Ducks flop in must-win game vs. Stanford, lose 71-64

The Oregon Ducks saw their NCAA Tournament hopes go up in flames with a 71-64 loss to the Stanford Cardinal, the last-place team in the Pac-12.

The Oregon Ducks had a good big of momentum on their side. After the season was put on life support with a big loss to Arizona State at home, Dana Altman and his team flipped the script and turned around on a dime, beating the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats in a blowout just a couple of days later. They followed that win up with a blowout over the California Golden Bears on Thursday.

It appeared that things were clicking in Eugene, and all hope was not lost.

That’s no longer the case.

On Saturday night, Oregon closed out their Bay Area road trip with a disastrous loss to the Stanford Cardinal, falling 71-64 to the last-place team in the Pac-12. It feature abysmal shooting, poor effort until it was too late, and another head-scratcher for Altman in a season that’s been full of them.

The Ducks’ chance at an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament is all but dashed, and it’s seeming likely that it will be another trip to the NIT for Oregon.

Here’s how it all went down:

MBB Recap: Ducks blow out Cal 87-58 in must-win game on the road

It was a must-win game vs. Cal for the Ducks, and Oregon blew the Golden Bears out 87-58.

I left Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday night wondering if the Oregon Ducks’ blowout win over the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats would mean anything. I questioned if the Ducks would use that victory as a jumping off point for the season, ready now to make a second-half run instead of turning around and flopping, much like they did previously against Arizona State.

It appears that the momentum is currently in Eugene, as Dana Altman’s squad came out on Wednesday night and blew the doors off of a bad California Golden Bears team, winning 87-58.

Of course, this is what was supposed to happen. The Golden Bears were 3-15 coming into the season and among the worst teams in the nation. A team as talented as Oregon is supposed to blow them out of the water.

It was just encouraging to see the Ducks play up to their potential. Here’s how it all happened.

MBB Recap: Ducks upset No. 9 Arizona with shocking 87-68 blowout

With a 21-point blowout win over No. 9 Arizona, the Ducks picked up their defining win of the 2022 season.

With that much talent, and one of the best coaches in the college basketball world, it makes sense that the Oregon Ducks were able to turn things around at some point in the 2022-23 season, doesn’t it?

I can’t say I expected them to turn things around against the No. 9 team in the nation, though. I will be completely honest about that.

Dana Altman’s Ducks shocked the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday afternoon in front of what turned out to be a raucous and rambunctious Matthew Knight Arena crowd. It featured the energy and effort that has been lacking in so many lackluster performances this season and gave Oregon it’s defining win of the season thus far.

An outlook that featured missed tournament bubbles and potentially another trip to the National Invitational Tournament now has experienced a shakeup. With a resume-building win like this on the record, Oregon should feel good about playing in March if they keep things rolling. If they play as well as they did on Saturday afternoon, then the Ducks shouldn’t feel crazy about entertaining the notion that a couple of weekends may be possible in the tournament.

It was a celebratory day for the Oregon program which has seen so many disappointments over the past month. Here’s how everything went down:

Photos: Dana Altman says Ducks ‘got beat in every facet of the game’ vs. Arizona State

The Oregon Ducks dropped a frustrating game to the Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

It was another tough night if you’re a fan of the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team.

After a potential low point of the season came last Thursday against the Colorado Buffaloes in a blowout loss that saw a lack of effort and shooting ability, Dana Altman’s squad seemed to turn things around on Saturday with an impressive win against the Utah Utes on the road. For once, it seemed that the tide might be turning for Oregon this year as they got their roster to the healthiest it had been all year. There was hope on the horizon.

That hope came crumbling down on Thursday night, with another blowout loss, this time to the Arizona State Sun Devils at home.

“We got beat in every facet of the game,” Altman said after the loss. “Really disappointed, obviously. I know our fans are. They should be. That is not what you expect from our ball team and our program. Very concerning.”

The Ducks will have to try and shake this one off quickly, with the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats coming to town on Saturday afternoon for a matinee clash.

Ducks Wire had our photographer Ethan Landa at the game on Thursday night. Here are the best photos from the contest.

 

 

 

MBB Recap: Ducks suffer another blowout loss, fall 90-73 to ASU

Another big loss for the Ducks, this time falling to Arizona State at home, 90-73.

It appears that Oregon’s win over the Utah Utes on Saturday night did a good job of making a lot of fans forget about the abysmal display that they saw against the Colorado Buffaloes in a blowout loss the Thursday before that.

Oregon’s 90-73 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday night brought the same feeling to the forefront.

The Ducks once again put forth a lackluster display of effort and basketball shooting that would more quickly draw comparisons to a YMCA pick-up run rather than a D1 basketball game. Oregon finished the game shooting 42% from the field while allowing the Sun Devils to make 13 three-pointers, shooting 52% from the floor in total.

It was another brutal loss for the Ducks on a season where there have been more than a few. Here’s how it went down.

MBB Recap: Ducks get much-needed 70-60 win over Utah to close out road trip

The Ducks got their biggest win of the season on Saturday, beating Utah 70-60 on the road to try and turn around their season.

After the frustrating and downright embarrassing result from Thursday night’s game against the Colorado Buffaloes, the Oregon Ducks responded well on Saturday, coming out with some fire and passion in a key 70-60 road win over the Utah Utes.

With the win, the Ducks kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive for the time being.

The Ducks stormed out in the first half and used some big minutes from not only N’Faly Dante and Kel’el Ware, but also Jermaine Couisnard, who was more impactful on the game than his stat line would show.

It was a much-needed win and a solid foundation point for what can hopefully be a turnaround in the Oregon season.