Oregon drops road game at California, Dante returns to form

It was a game that the Oregon Ducks should have won, but nothing is predictable in the Pac-12 this season. The loss put a damper on Oregon’s NCAA Tournament hopes, but of course, wins the rest of the way mean more than losses.

The Ducks now enter a stretch that has more games at Matthew Knight Arena to close out the season.  

The week saw a road split for Oregon with a win at Stanford prior to the loss against California. The Ducks took the lead into halftime vs the Golden Bears.

N’Faly Dante continued to perform well vs Cal finishing with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Jermaine Couisnard led the team in scoring with 19 points in the losing effort.  

Oregon basketball was held scoreless over the final four minutes of the game which could have been the difference. The Ducks were outrebounded by five, 40 to 35, and hit 87 percent of their free throws. California hit 91 percent from the charity stripe in their 69-64 win over Oregon.  

The season for Altman and the Ducks has been a struggle. Wins have not been easy. They are also in some cases playing against teams with senior or super senior players as starters.

With the COVID-19 pandemic effect, players are getting five and six seasons which means you have an 18-year-old freshman facing up against a 23- or 24-year-old senior. I highly doubt the NCAA Tournament committee will take this into account when they announce the field of 68 teams.  

Oregon will play three of their last four games at Matthew Knight Arena to close out the regular season. The Ducks face Oregon State this week before a trip to Arizona and return home next week for games with Colorado and Utah.  

The Ducks will look to get back on track Wednesday night hosting Oregon State in the Ducks' and Beavers' final meeting in Eugene as Pac-12 opponents. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. PT on Fox Sports 1.