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Oregon basketball: Can 2020-21 season be considered a success?

By Connor Muldowney

Mar 28, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; The Oregon Ducks reacts after losing to the USC Trojans in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; The Oregon Ducks reacts after losing to the USC Trojans in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oregon basketball’s 2020-21 season was ended in the Sweet 16 by USC, but can the Ducks’ season be considered a success? Let’s discuss.

Who would have thought it would be a Pac-12 team ending Oregon’s 2020-21 season in the NCAA Tournament? After winning the regular season conference title along with USC, the Ducks and Trojans met up in the Sweet 16 and we saw a familiar result.

Oregon got ahead early and USC put together an offensive barrage, taking a 15-point lead into the locker room before beating the Ducks by 14 for the second time this year.

The Ducks’ run was ended abruptly in the Sweet 16 after getting a first-round pass due to COVID in the VCU program and dominating Iowa for about 40 minutes. The Ducks looked like they had the potential to make a deep run, but USC cut it short with a convincing win in the Sweet 16, 82-68.

Dana Altman loses some key pieces from this year’s team heading into next year, but given what he lost before the 2020-21 season, can this 21-7 year be considered a success?

Is the 2020-21 season a success?

Finishing the season with a 21-7 record and a regular season Pac-12 title after losing guys like Payton Pritchard, Anthony Mathis, Shakur Juiston and N’Faly Dante (to injury) has to be considered an overwhelming success.

Bringing in the likes of Eugene Omoruyi and LG Figueroa really helped ensure the team had little to no drop-off following a 24-7 season. Last year’s team could have made a deep run in March with how well Pritchard was playing, but COVID-19 unfortunately prevented that. This Sweet 16 run, although not quite as deep as hoped, had to have been more than fans expected.

The roster saw plenty of attrition and had a handful of new faces and there was essentially no drop-off. Plus, people don’t realize just how much losing a star like Pritchard would affect most teams.

Losing to a Pac-12 team like USC whom the Ducks went 0-2 against this year in the Sweet 16 hurts a little more, but if you asked me after last season if I saw them winning a conference title and beating the 2-seed in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, I would have been pleasantly surprised.

Rest easy, fans, this season was a huge success with more on the horizon.

Next. Oregon's pre-spring game-by-game predictions. dark

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