Everything Oregon head coach Dana Altman said after his team’s big win over Wisconsin

[ad_1]

Wisconsin basketball (21-6, 11-5 Big Ten) fell 77-73 in overtime to the Oregon Ducks (20-8, 9-8 Big Ten) on Saturday afternoon.

Backed by 16 early points from star wing John Tonje, the Badgers built a 17-point edge late in the first half. They held the Ducks to just 26 points in the opening frame on 11-of-32 shooting from the field. At the break, it appeared as if Wisconsin would cruise to another blowout win at home.

The beginning of the second half suggested a similar theme — Wisconsin maintained a comfortable double-digit lead courtesy of several buckets from Nolan Winter, Kamari McGee and Max Klesmit. A Tonje layup extended UW’s advantage to 14, 64-50, with just over six minutes to play. The Ducks, however, had yet to ignite their late-game surge.

Over the ensuing six minutes of play, Oregon piloted a 16-2 spurt, ending in a game-tying three-pointer from Jackson Shelstad. From there, big man Nate Bittle took the offensive reigns to propel the Ducks to an unlikely upset over the nation’s No. 11-ranked team.

Oregon head coach Dana Altman met with the media after his team’s statement win. Here’s everything he said, including some praise for the 2024-25 Badgers:

Opening statement

Jan 30, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman reacts during the first half against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images

“Very proud of the fellas. I thought we really sucked it up there after being down 17. Got the ball inside to Nate that second half. Kind of went inside out. Got our offense going a little bit, which generated our defense. We got 17 points off of turnovers in the second half and overtime. I thought that was the difference in the game. Coming in, watching Greg [Gard]’s team play on film, their ball movement and execution are so impressive. I told our guys we have to break their rhythm in some way because they move the ball so good. So we got that rhythm just a little bit out of sync that second…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/everything-oregon-head-coach-dana-150454559.html

Author : Badgers Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-23 15:04:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.