Oregon basketball can’t afford any more letdowns after Colorado loss

Oregon basketball can’t afford any more letdowns after losing to Colorado on Tuesday night in Eugene. The Ducks need to get back on track.

Dana Altman and Oregon basketball were riding high heading into Tuesday night’s home battle with Colorado and it seemed like a prime opportunity to keep the winning streak alive.

The Buffaloes had a 12-6 record overall as well but were just 4-4 in conference play and the Ducks seemed to have everything working in their favor. Colorado had lost 3-of-4 games heading into Tuesday night’s game in Eugene and it felt like Oregon was just going to tack on another win to the streak and improve to 13-6.

Heck, Oregon went from NIT hopeful to projected NCAA Tournament team in just a few weeks and Colorado was trending in the opposite direction.

Oregon then built a 15-point lead and looked like it was going to cruise to an easy win, but the Buffaloes stormed back, built a seven-point lead in the second half, and held on for a shocking 82-78 victory. No one expected the Buffaloes to pull this one off.

The Ducks choked down the stretch on their own floor as the defense couldn’t seem to get any stops as the Buffaloes shot 50 percent from the floor, 53 percent from deep, and 91 percent (20-for-22) from the free throw line. Colorado wasn’t missing down the stretch and the Ducks’ defense was struggling.

With the NCAA Tournament finally in the Ducks’ sights, they simply cannot afford to have any more letdowns against teams that they should beat. Losing to Colorado isn’t the end of the world, but Oregon had to have this one in order to keep the momentum flowing in the right direction.

Back to the drawing board for Altman.