How it happened: Oregon men’s basketball back in the win column after 5-straight losses

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Three weeks to the day after its last victory, Oregon finally won again.

The Ducks took an early lead they would never lose en route to an 81-75 Big Ten men’s basketball victory against Northwestern Tuesday inside Matthew Knight Arena.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Oregon (17-8, 6-8 Big Ten), a stretch that was tied for the longest losing streak since the 2010-11 season.

Oregon guard TJ Bamba celebrates after a shot as the Ducks host the Northwestern Wildcats Tuesday at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.

“We had to win the game,” coach Dana Altman said. “So, yeah, I’m excited about that. Our confidence hasn’t been the same here in the last few weeks and so we needed to find a way to win the game.”

Point guard Jackson Shelstad led the way with a career-high 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting with four 3-pointers. He also had four assists.

Shelstad has scored 48 the last two games combined and is averaging 20.5 over the last four games.

“This is a huge shot of confidence,” Shelstad said. “A lot of teams, you know, you just gotta see one win and pick your momentum back up. And honestly, I feel like we can play a lot better.”

Keeshawn Barthelemy also had 19 points with four 3-pointers for the Ducks, and Nate Bittle had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Oregon shot 47.1% from the field, 38.1% from 3-point range (8 of 21), won the rebounding battle for the first time in five games (33-27) and had 16 assists on 24 made field goals, its most in nine games.

“Honestly, ball movement has been the biggest topic these last couple of days,” Shelstad said. “Everybody feels like our offense has been a little stagnant. If we move the ball, we’re tough to guard. We’ve got a lot of guys who can score and make plays.”

Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad puts up a shot as the Ducks host the Northwestern Wildcats Tuesday at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.

Three days ago in East Lansing, Michigan, the Ducks led No. 11 Michigan State 50-36 at halftime before getting…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/happened-oregon-mens-basketball-back-151504718.html

Author : The Register-Guard

Publish date : 2025-02-12 15:15:00

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