It’s been a brutal stretch for Oregon men’s basketball, and Sunday’s 72-57 loss at Washington only deepened the hole. The Ducks have now dropped six straight, and with injuries piling up and offensive rhythm nowhere to be found, the season is teetering on the edge.
Oregon, now 8-12 overall and just 1-8 in Big Ten play, struggled to find any traction on either end of the floor. The Ducks shot just 36% from the field and were thoroughly outmuscled on the glass, getting outrebounded 45-23. Sean Stewart led the way with 15 points, but he was the lone Duck in double figures - a telling stat on a night when the offense never really got going.
Meanwhile, Washington (12-9, 3-6 Big Ten) found its groove from deep, hitting 10 of 21 from beyond the arc - a sizzling 48%. The Huskies had five players score in double digits, spreading the wealth and keeping Oregon’s defense off-balance all afternoon.
The Ducks came in already short-handed, missing key contributors Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle - both likely out for the season. Ege Demir, who injured his shoulder in the previous game against Michigan State, was also unavailable. And things got worse late in the game when guard Takai Simpkins went down with an apparent ankle injury and did not return.
Early on, both teams looked sluggish offensively, but Washington was the first to shake off the rust. The Huskies jumped out to a 14-2 lead with a string of easy buckets at the rim, and as their outside shooting heated up, they pushed the lead to 22-12.
Oregon’s offense, on the other hand, stalled. A 10-0 Washington run stretched the lead to 32-15, with the Ducks going more than four minutes without a point.
By halftime, it was 34-19 - matching the lowest-scoring half in Dana Altman’s tenure at Oregon, a mark set in a 2023 loss at Colorado. The Ducks shot just 28% in the opening 20 minutes, committed seven turnovers, and were already down nine in the rebounding column.
The second half didn’t offer much relief. Just minutes in, former Oregon big man Franck Kepnang threw down a thunderous dunk to make it 40-22, and the Huskies never looked back.
Oregon showed flashes - a few brief runs, a couple of stops - but every time they tried to build momentum, Washington had an answer. With just over 11 minutes to go, the Huskies were still shooting efficiently, hitting five of seven shots to maintain a comfortable 50-32 lead.
Any hope of a comeback was quickly snuffed out when Jacob Ognacevic drilled a three-pointer to push the lead to 59-40 with just over seven minutes remaining. Oregon made one final push - Wei Lin hit a three, then knocked down three free throws on the next possession to cut the deficit to 12 with under four minutes to play - but the Ducks couldn’t string together the stops they needed to close the gap.
Now sitting near the bottom of the Big Ten standings, Oregon is running out of time and bodies. With key players sidelined and confidence slipping, the road ahead doesn’t get any easier. Next up: a home matchup against UCLA (14-6, 6-3 Big Ten), a team that’s been trending in the opposite direction.
For the Ducks, it’s gut-check time. The margin for error is gone, and if there’s going to be a turnaround, it has to start now.