Oregon’s once-shiny season has taken a huge smudge, and the Ducks will attempt to snap a five-game losing streak when they face Northwestern in Big Ten play on Tuesday night at Eugene, Ore.
Oregon was ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 before its slide began. The troubles have been so pronounced that the Ducks are now tied for 11th in the Big Ten.
However, Oregon (16-8, 5-8) has a chance to get back on the winning track considering Northwestern (13-11, 4-9) stands 0-7 on the road. The Wildcats also have lost senior guards Brooks Barnhizer (foot) and Jalen Leach (ACL) for the season.
Still, nothing is coming easy for the Ducks, who lost 86-74 Saturday at No. 11 Michigan State.
Talk about a tale of two halves. Oregon scored 50 points in the first half and led by 14 at the break. In the second half, the Ducks allowed 50 points and were outscored by 26.
“I’m not sure who was coaching that team in the second half. But he did an awful job, I know that,” said Ducks coach Dana Altman, taking the blame.
Oregon made 10 of 19 3-pointers in the first half before missing all eight 3-point attempts in the second half. Altman liked the defensive play even less.
“I was much more pleased with our defensive activity the first half, when I just thought we were really active,” Altman said. “But when they punched us that second half, our activity went down. And they kind of got whatever they wanted.”
Jackson Shelstad scored 18 of his team-high 22 points in the first half. He leads Oregon with a 12.9 scoring average.
Northwestern has lost four of its last five games, which includes a 76-71 loss Saturday night at Washington.
That was the Wildcats’ first game without Leach (14.3 ppg), who tore the ACL in his right knee during Tuesday’s 77-75 home victory over Southern California. That misfortune came just four days after Barnhizer (17.1 ppg) was declared out for the season after struggling in back-to-back late January games against then-No. 17 Illinois and Rutgers.
That leaves junior forward Nick Martinelli as a one-man show and he lived up to the moniker with 23 points and 10 rebounds against the Huskies. It was the second straight double-double for Martinelli, who averages a Big Ten-best 19.8 points along with 6.0 rebounds per game.
Wildcats coach Chris Collins told Martinelli it was time to take over.
“This is your team now and you’ve got to step up and be vocal and hold guys accountable and bring the young guys along,” Collins said he told Martinelli.
Oregon won both previous meetings with Northwestern, but the schools haven’t met since 1964.
–Field Level Media
