After securing their 14th-straight 20-win season last Saturday, the Ducks are destined to play in the postseason.
Where their March Madness experience takes them is still TBD.
The Oregon men’s basketball team still has one shot — and one shot only — at making the NCAA Tournament. It’ll need to win three games in three days in Las Vegas this week and spend Saturday night cutting down the nets at T-Mobile Arena and hoisting a Pac-12 Tournament championship trophy into the air.
Win the conference title and the Ducks get the Pac-12’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Lose at any point this week, and Oregon will most likely be back at Matthew Knight Arena next Tuesday or Wednesday hosting a first-round game in their third straight National Invitation Tournament appearance.
Oregon (20-11, 12-8 Pac-12), the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, will begin play in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 5 UCLA and No. 12 Oregon State.
“We’ve got a chance,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said Saturday night after the Ducks ended the regular season with a win against Utah. “I know it’s a long shot. Don’t need anyone to tell me that. I told (the players) that in the locker room. … We’re gonna need a break or two. We’re gonna need to hit a few more shots than we hit today, but we’re gonna go swing away and see what we can make happen.”
How did Oregon men’s basketball get here?
Oregon certainly had its share of disappointing performances and subpar play during the regular season. But the fact is, injuries and an illness to key players also took its toll on the Ducks.
Six players — including three opening game starters — have missed a combined 109 games for Oregon. Four of those players have been lost for the season, three of whom only played in five games each.
For the last 11 games, the Ducks have been down to eight scholarship players and two walk-ons.
“I know fans are disappointed we’re not in the Big Dance unless we win the tournament,” Altman said. “At this point in the season you want to be in the Big Dance and know you’re going to the conference tournament just to improve your seed. I know all that. But our guys never quit. We never gave into it.”
Injuries hit the Ducks before the season began when two prize freshmen — point guard Jackson Shelstad and forward Mookie Cook — were sidelined for the opener.
Shelstad returned after missing the first four games to become a starter and key player. Cook, who was dealing with an ankle injury from high school, didn’t play until Jan. 4 and got in only five games before getting reinjured and ultimately shut down for the season.
Senior transfer Jesse Zarzuela, who was supposed to serve as a one-year bridge at point guard as the Ducks eased in Shelstad, started the first five games and averaged 10 points before an injury ended his season.
Senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy played in 18 games with six starts before an ankle injury against Arizona on Jan. 27 ended his season.
Star center N’Faly Dante had 21 points and 16 rebounds in the season-opening win against Georgia then missed the next 14 games after needing knee surgery.
His position mate, Nate Bittle, injured his wrist in the third game of the season, missed 15 games, returned and then has been sidelined for the last 11 games as he recovers from an undisclosed illness.
Not having a full roster has been felt in all aspects of the Ducks’ season, Altman said, and not just on game day.
“We haven’t practiced hard enough because I’m worried about injuries,” Altman admitted. “Hind sight’s 20-20, but we haven’t been physical enough at practice because I was scared someone else was gonna get hurt.”
It’s tournament time now, however, which means excuses no longer matter, Jermaine Couisnard proclaimed.
“I think everybody’s tired,” the senior guard said. “Whoever is playing right now, everybody’s got injuries. There’s no team that you could show me right now in the country that’s not tired. I feel like it’s just about who wants it more. Who wants to grind? Who wants it? That’s the biggest thing coming up for us this week.”
Scouting Oregon State vs. UCLA in Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament
Oregon’s quarterfinal opponent will come out of Wednesday’s 2:30 p.m. game between the Beavers and Bruins, two teams who have struggled to gets wins this season.
Oregon State (13-18) went 5-15 during Pac-12 play — including a pair of losses to UCLA — and enter the tournament having won just twice in its last 13 games.
The Bruins (15-16, 10-10) only have one win in their last six games, and that came last Saturday in the regular-season finale against No. 11 seed Arizona State.
Don’t expect a whole lot of points on Wednesday.
Oregon State and UCLA are the two lowest scoring teams in the Pac-12 at 69.26 and 65.95 points per game, respectively.
Much of that offense for the Beavers is coming from sophomore guard Jordan Pope, who is fifth in the conference scoring at 17.61 points per game. Pope is also the Pac-12’s most efficient player from the free-throw line, having made 87.7% of his fouls shots this season (93-for-106).
The Bruins are shooting a conference-worst 41.5% from the field — including 32.8% from 3-point range — to 44.1% for the Beavers, who are also the Pac-12’s worst rebounding team at 32.65 boards per game.
The Bruins counter their lack of offensive production with a defense that is holding opponents to a conference-low 65.65 points. The Beavers are fourth in scoring defense at 72.58 points allowed per game.
Oregon State’s last victory over UCLA came in the 2021 Pac-12 Tournament when the Beavers survived in overtime to win 83-79.
Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament 2024 schedule
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
WEDNESDAY
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Game 1: No. 8 Washington vs. No. 9 USC, 12 p.m., Pac-12 Network
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Game 2: No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 12 Oregon State, 2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network
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Game 3: No. 7 California vs. No. 10 Stanford, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network
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Game 4: No. 6 Utah vs. No. 11 Arizona State, 8:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network
THURSDAY
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Game 5: No. 1 Arizona vs. Game 1 winner, 12 p.m., Pac-12 Network
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Game 6: No. 4 Oregon vs. Game 2 winner, 2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network
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Game 7: No. 2 Washington State vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network
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Game 8: No. 3 Colorado vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m., FS1
FRIDAY
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Semifinal 1: 5 p.m., Pac-12 Network
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Semifinal 2: 7:30 p.m., FS1
SATURDAY
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Pac-12 Men’s Basketball tournament: How to watch Oregon Ducks
