Oregon Men fall short in Sweet 16 bid, 87-83

Sunday night at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Oregon trailed by 11 versus Arizona when the Wildcats' Tobe Awaka made a jumper with 15:59 to play.

The Ducks battled. At 2:01 they were down by seven when Caleb Love drained one of his five threes, 80-73. Love went off for 29 points on the night, a series of three-pointers in crunch time. The Ducks worked for a shot. Jackson Shelstad passed to Keeshawn Bartelemy, who connected on a three to get within four at 80-76, 1:35 on the clock.

At just under a minute, 7-0 center Nate Bittle got a defensive rebound, then made a layup at the other end. Ducks down by two, 80-78. They pressed and with 45 seconds to play Kwame Evans stole the ball.

Oregon had an opportunity to work for the final shot, even steal the ballgame with a three. But at 32 seconds TJ Bamba took the ball on the right wing and went one-on-one into the lane, well-defended. He put up an awkward jumper that went off the front of the rim. Awaka latched on to his 14th rebound, and all that was left for the Ducks was to score quickly and foul.

Shelstad drove to the basket for a layup to make it 81-80 with 10 seconds to play. Anthony Dell'Orso sank two. The Wildcats fouled Shelstad before he could get to the three point line and he made them both. Ducks down 83-82. Five seconds to play. Dell'Orso fouled, sank two more. Three seconds. Shelstad fouled, goes to the line, makes the first misses the second intentionally but Arizona rebounds. Barthelemy fouls quickly. Caleb Love sinks two, and the Ducks fall 87-83.

It was a season where not much was expected. Jermaine Couisinard had left for the NBA and N'Faly Dante was denied another year of eligibility by the NCAA. But Bittle developed into a player, and Shelstad found his shooting stroke at the right time. Dana Altman worked his late-season magic, and the Ducks went on a run of eight straight wins to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament as a five-seed. Thursday morning they beat Liberty 81-52.

For a while it looked like Altman would get his team into the Sweet 16 for the sixth time. The Ducks started out beautifully Sunday when Brandon Angel made a dunk, the Wildcats committed two early turnovers, then Angel dropped in a 3-pointer. At the end of the first two minutes Shelstad connected on a three, and Oregon led 8-2. For the night the sophomore from West Linn, Oregon poured in 25 points on 9-14 shooting, 3-6 from the arc.

They held an advantage for much of the first half. They led 19-4 with 14:21 to play when Evans made a layup. But Arizona stayed persistent, working their way back, connecting on threes, Awaka sweeping the boards. By halftime the four-seed from the Big 12 led 42-38. It was the same old story for the Ducks: Scoring droughts, rebounding and turnovers.

For the game Arizona outrebounded UO 44-37. The Ducks were an utterly awful 12-22 from the line in a game they lost by four. They turned the ball over 9 times and got just 12 points from the bench.

Late in the game James Crepea of the Oregonian made the point on social media that Bittle and Shelstad are enrolled in school for spring term. It doesn't necessarily mean that both will come back, but at least it gives them the option. Though a senior, Bittle was limited to five games in 2023-24. Kwame Evans, 6-9, 220 from Baltimore, Maryland and the Ducks best player off the bench, will be a junior next winter. Mookie Cook, a Rivals 4-star in 2022, is still just a sophomore.

After the game Dana Altman told reporters, "I was talking to the guys here, and we have played 30-some games and it's the first one this year that we lost at the line. We've been a good free-throw shooting team. We've hit clutch free throws all year ... but I've always told the guys it's a game of very few possessions in most cases and tonight that was true. We had our opportunities, came out great, but didn't play the way that we needed to play to win the game."

For the season, Oregon shot 75 percent from the free throw line. Against Liberty in their first-round win, 9-11, 82 percent. Sunday night the free throw line was still 15 feet away, but the Ducks could only connect on 12-22. They just ran out of magic in March Madness. For a team that needed to extend its brilliant early run, reality landed with a thud. Bittle had eight rebounds, Evans seven off the bench, but no other player had more than three.