Oregon basketball avoids major scare against Oregon State for bragging rights

Down 10 at the half, Oregon basketball looked like it was in major trouble. The Ducks had taken punch after punch and were on the ropes against Oregon State on the road.

Dana Altman must have pressed the right buttons at halftime because the Ducks came out swinging and made things interesting in the final 20 minutes. Oregon made up ground and then finally overtook the Beavers in the final minutes to win 78-75 in a thriller.

This win wouldn't have been possible without Nate Bittle and Jackson Shelstad who really stepped up and led the team to its biggest win of the season to improve to 5-0.

Bittle was a star yet again and he's proving to be the team's most consistent player, scoring a game-high 23 points with 14 rebounds, three blocks, and three assists. While Bittle was 0-for-3 from deep, he was 10-for-13 from inside the arc and made 3-of-4 free throws. He was basically automatic from inside the arc. That kind of reliability makes him that much more valuable.

Shelstad was expected to be the team's start player this year but he's gotten off to a slow start. That all changed on Thursday night as he was second on the team in scoring with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor and 3-of-7 from deep. He also led the team with six assists and played well on both ends of the floor.

Keeshawn Barthelemy was also a spark off the bench along with Kwame Evans and Supreme Cook.

The Ducks now own the state's bragging rights and have become just the fourth team in the Big Ten this year to reach five wins.