Oregon Ducks news: N’Faly Dante leads Ducks’ win, Kelly Graves’ worst year yet, more

The men’s basketball team has concluded its regular season with a win over the Utah Utes. Oregon looks to the postseason with a 20-11 overall record, going 12-8 in conference play.

After a heartbreaking loss to Colorado on Thursday, Oregon was still in search of their 20th win this year and was able to pull off the one-point victory Saturday evening.

Center N’Faly Dante, on his senior night, was playing to the peak of his abilities and led the team with an incredible 19 points and 12 rebounds. This was Dante’s third consecutive double-double and he is averaging 15.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

Jackson Shelstad’s 12 points and Jermaine Couisnard’s 14 points helped seal the Ducks’ win over the Utes.

One area of play that Oregon needs to improve heading into the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament is points off the bench.

While the starters combined for 55 points against Utah, the players who came off the bench only contributed 11 points to the Ducks’ total score.

Sitting at fourth in the conference, Oregon has earned a bye in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Ducks will play the winner of the UCLA vs. Oregon State game in the quarterfinal round on March 14 in Las Vegas.

More Oregon Ducks news:

Head coach Kelly Graves has had his worst season with the Ducks finally come to an end. With nearly twice as many losses as there were wins, Oregon finished the regular season last in the Pac-12.

A loss and consequent elimination in the Pac-12 Tournament came with an astonishing point differential. Oregon lost 79-30 to the No. 18 Colorado Buffaloes.

With no chance at the NCAA Tournament or the NIT, Graves’ year out of his nightmares ended at an 11-21 overall record.

The Ducks earned just eight wins at home and only two wins in conference play.

While many of the players on Graves’ roster are young, a 34.4 win percentage is inexcusibile and, in my opinion, the Ducks and Graves are lucky to be finished with their year.

After a two-game sweep over Grand Canyon, Ducks baseball faced their first conference opponents of the year.

Playing Arizona State in Phoenix, Oregon struggled in the first game and lost 4-5 in the Pac-12 opener. However, the Ducks turned things around in the second and third games of the series.

Finding their bats, Oregon earned the series win with 6-4 and 8-5 victories over the Sun Devils. The Ducks now sit at 11-4 overall.

Oregon softball saw an abysmal start to its Pac-12 season with a 5-11 loss to No. 17 California. 

Similarly to the baseball squad, the Ducks completed the series win with victories in the second and third games.

With 4-3 and 5-2 wins over the Golden Bears, oregon has a winning record to kickoff conference play and are 14-9 overall.

Track and field flew to Boston for the NCAA Indoor Championships and flew home with some hardware. 

Sprinter Jadyn Mays placed third in both the 200-meter and the 60-meter races. Jaida Ross earned silver in the women’s shot put event.

Maddy Elmore ran 8:58.52 in the 3,000 meters for an eighth place finish while Aaliyah McCormick placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles.

Overall, the Oregon women placed at the championships.

More college sports news:

The Michigan Wolverines' running backs coach Mike Hart will not return with the program in 2024. Hart has spent three years in Ann Arbor and played for UMich himself.

After Jim Harbaugh's departure from the program, Sherrone Moore was promoted to head coach and, currently, only wideouts coach Ron Bellamy is set to return to his 2023 position.

Read more: