Bay Area Trip Ends In Split

Saturday, February 24

Berkeley, CA

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

18-9,10-6Pac-12

California

13-15,9-8Pac-12

Oregon

California

Photo by: GoDucks.com

02/24/24 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Oregon lost at California on Saturday, 69-64.

By: Rob Moseley

BERKELEY, Calif. — A cold shooting stretch midway through the second half doomed the Ducks on Saturday, as the Oregon men's basketball team suffered a 69-64 defeat to California at Haas Pavilion.

The Ducks (18-9, 10-6 Pac-12) led 44-38 early in the second half before going more than 10 minutes without a made field goal and falling behind by as many as eight at 56-48. Cal took its first lead of the game during that stretch, and though the UO men fought back within one at 60-59 with 2:38 to go, the Golden Bears hung on for the win.

"Defensively holding them to 69, we should have given ourselves a chance," UO coach Dana Altman said. "Our guys played hard; didn't hit any shots. Our ball movement wasn't nearly as good as it should have been."

Jermaine Couisnard scored 19 points to lead the Ducks, N'Faly Dante had 15 points with nine rebounds and Jadrian Tracey added 10. But the Ducks shot just 35 percent overall and were 4-of-18 from three-point range, after making 12 three-pointers in Thursday's win over Stanford.

"Our ball movement wasn't nearly as good as it was against Stanford," Altman said. "Some of that was their pressure, some of that was them laying on Dante in the post (but) we've got to get it moving quicker."

How It Happened: The second-half slump was a surprise after the way Saturday's game began, with Oregon making its first four shots and 5-of-6 overall to open the game for a 10-7 lead. When it was 17-15, Dante finished a three-point play to spark a 7-2 run that gave the Ducks their biggest lead of the game, 24-17.

Six straight points from Cal followed, and the Golden Bears eventually tied it at 25-25. The Ducks responded with six straight of their own, including consecutive field goals from Jackson Shelstad, and Tracey hit a three for a 34-30 lead that held up as the halftime score.

Jermaine Couisnard Dribble

Cal got back within one early in the second half at 39-38, before a basket from Couisnard and then a three-pointer by Brennan Rigsby made it 44-38. That shot dropped with 15:24 left in the game, but Oregon then went 10:12 before making another field goal, missing 12 straight attempts.

At that point the Ducks were playing without freshman starter Kwame Evans Jr., who was injured prior to Rigsby's three and didn't return.

"He sprained his ankle there," Altman said. "He was hobbling on it, said he could go back in, but we decided to go with that we had."

Cal took the lead for good at 46-44 with 11:23 to play, the first of four straight made attempts by the Golden Bears. That came during an 18-4 run that put the Ducks in their largest deficit of the night, 56-48.

It was 60-54 when a three from Tracey and two free throws from Couisnard got Oregon back within one at 60-59. But the Ducks only got one stop the rest of the way and missed their final four field-goal attempts of the night as Cal held on.

"Big game Wednesday night," Altman said. "We've got to find a way to get it, and keep swinging away."

Up Next: The Ducks host Oregon State on Wednesday (8 p.m., FS1).