The Ducks' season has taken a drastic turn for the worse after the Oregon men's basketball season began with dominant, non-conference victories which led to the team being ranked within the Top 10. Now, Oregon is no longer ranked and is on a four-game losing streak.
So, with an extremely disappointing 16-7 overall record and an abysmal 5-7 record in Big Ten matchups, what has gone wrong with the Oregon Ducks?
Well, to begin with, the Ducks are struggling to score. Oregon is shooting under 50 percent from the field and barely over 33 percent from beyond the arc. The Ducks are averaging just 76.4 points per game, which currently ranks at No. 127 in the nation.
On the other side of the court, Oregon is finding it extremely difficult to slow down their opponents' offensive drives. The Ducks have allowed an average of 71.3 points per game and while that is less than their own offensive point average, it ranks as No. 179 in the country.
Final in Ann Arbor. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/LKSKgVDdkH
— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) February 6, 2025
After the Ducks' loss to Nebraska on Feb. 2, Oregon head coach Dana Altman was beyond disappointed in the game's outcome as well as his team's effort – which resulted in a 77-71 loss to an unranked Cornhuskers squad.
"They drove it by us all night. They simply played harder than us," Altman said. "Really disappointed. The thing I'm most disappointed in was I thought they outworked us."
Following the loss to Michigan, it appeared that Altman's disappointment in his team's unraveling only grew larger. However, the Ducks had a late-game rally and tied the score up before the Michigan Wolverines were able to run away with it in the end.
"God, we had just so many unforced turnovers," said Altman. "Just really hurt us, but the guys battled. I got no problem with their effort in this one. I was disappointed, as I mentioned before, in their commitment and their effort. But tonight, I really thought they did a great job. I thought they battled, you know, did a lot of good things, but just the turnovers and offensive rebounds killed us."
The Ducks have just eight conference games remaining in the regular season before the Big Ten Tournament tips off on March 12. Altman and his team have to figure out how to turn their conference season around if they want to maintain a top seed in the impending March Madness bracket.