As the clock wound down on Tuesday night, it felt like Oregon basketball was going to suffer its first loss of the season in embarrassing and shocking fashion.
The Ducks trailed Portland at home by multiple scores throughout the second half and it just felt like the game was out of reach in the final minute. A big three followed by two missed Portland free throws opened the door for the Ducks to come back and tie things up, forcing a shocking overtime session in which they dominated 13-3. The Ducks went on to win 80-70, avoiding disaster.
Earlier in the day, Joe Lunardi had Oregon in his bracketology as an 8-seed after looking solid through its first two games of the season but things seemed to sway in the wrong direction on Tuesday night.
Fortunately, the Ducks avoided the massive disaster.
Jackson Shelstad finally got back on track in the scoring column, but his rough shooting start to the season continued as he finished just 5-for-19 from the floor but he did grab 10 rebounds with five assists and three steals. It was Jadrian Tracey who actually stole the show off the bench with 19 points, five rebounds, and four steals on 8-of-11 shooting.
Oregon struggled mightily from distance, making just 7-of-31 shots while Portland hit 11-of-31 which nearly included a number of daggers.
Dana Altman and Co. have to feel fortunate that they escaped with a win here in a game in which they probably didn't deserve it, but good teams overcome these shaky performances to win. We've yet to see just what kind of team Oregon is, but you can bet they won't be taking anyone else lightly moving forward.