Oregon won’t have its two best players once again when the Ducks face Washington in Big Ten play on Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
Senior center Nate Bittle, a preseason all-Big Ten selection, likely will miss another two or three weeks with an ankle injury — the second one to cost him time this season. Junior guard Jackson Shelstad, also a preseason all-league pick, could miss the rest of the season with his second hand injury of the season.
Oregon’s streak of 15 consecutive 20-win seasons — not to mention its customary contending for an NCAA Tournament — remains in jeopardy as the Ducks (8-11, 1-7 Big Ten) are on a five-game losing streak.
Without their two most-prolific scorers, the Ducks have reached the 70-point mark just once in the past four games.
Longtime head coach Dana Altman hasn’t had many seasons where so little has gone well for his team.
“When you’re missing a couple of guys who can really score, you’ve got to get every point you can,” Altman said after a 68-52 home loss to Michigan State on Tuesday.
Washington (10-9, 2-6), which has dropped three straight games against Top 10 foes Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska, can appreciate Oregon’s injury issues because the Huskies have been battling them as well.
Highly touted Southern California transfer Desmond Claude could miss the rest of the year with ankle woes. Wesley Yates III, who also made the move from USC in the offseason, has missed six of the last eight games. In the frontcourt, Jacob Ognacevic made his season debut three games ago and joined the starting lineup for Wednesday’s 76-66 loss at Nebraska.
One constant for the Huskies has been freshman forward Hannes Steinbach, who leads the way with 18.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Guard Zoom Diallo (15.2 ppg, 3.7 apg) has hit double figures in 10 straight games.
“Now that we’re getting everybody back slowly, I feel like, if we continue to build, there could be some noise to be made in the second half of the season,” Diallo told the Seattle Times.
Oregon has controlled the recent series between the regional rivals with four wins in a row and 10 wins in the last 12 meetings. Oregon is 22-9 against Washington under Altman with an 8-7 mark in Seattle.
–Field Level Media
