Oregon Ducks Drop Key Game To USC, NCAA Tournament In Doubt

The Oregon Ducks(17-9, 7-6 Pac-12) let a big game get away against the USC Trojans on Thursday night.

Head Coach Dana Altman usually has his team ready to play which has been the case for the last seven seasons, but the team this year has had an Identity Crisis all season. It showed up again Thursday against the USC Trojans on the road.

The Oregon Ducks started with an early 5-2 lead, but the team knew that USC would battle. It was back and forth for the entire game and when things fell it was not for the Oregon Ducks. There were times that the Ducks looked confused on Offense and Payton Pritchard failed to pass the ball on more than one occasion. Troy Brown showed that he had the skills, but his talent was lacking in a big way.

Head Coach Dana Altman watched as the Oregon Defense failed in the final seconds allowing the USC Trojans to score the winning basket. Paul White tried a heave from just outside the three-point line but it hit the basket and fell away sending Oregon to their sixth Pac-12 loss. There is no other way to say it – Oregon NEEDED this game.

Oregon needs to be more consistent and needs to show a different side against the UCLA Bruins on Saturday. Right now, the Oregon Ducks do not look like an NCAA Tournament team. I’m not even sure they look like an NIT Tournament team. The next five games will tell the tale. I just hope it looks better than Thursday night.

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The Oregon Ducks face UCLA on Saturday night at 7:15 pm on ESPN.