UO Men Looking To Make Another Run

INDIANAPOLIS — The team is different, the stakes are different, even the conference is different.

What is unchanged for the Oregon men's basketball team, one year after an electric conference tournament run, is the desire to go on another one. It took three wins in three days to win the Pac-12 Tournament a year ago — clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament — and while the Ducks have a different group this season, and are preparing for their first ever Big Ten Tournament, they know what it takes to go on a run.

"It doesn't matter who's playing, or what happened during nonconference and during conference," UO senior wing Jadrian Tracey said Wednesday, after the Ducks wrapped up a practice at Arsenal Tech High School. "It's the team who gets hot right now. So hopefully we can keep our energy up and spirits up and go be the hardest working team out there."

The Ducks open the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday as the No. 8 seed, having earned a bye through Wednesday's first-round games. They take a 23-8 record and a No. 23 national ranking into a 9 a.m. PT matchup with Indiana, having returned to the top 25 on the strength of a seven-game win streak to close the regular season.

A year ago, Oregon lost three of five to close the regular season; only a conference tournament win would get the team into the NCAA Tournament. This year the Ducks are surging into the postseason, and projections have them around a No. 4 or No. 5 seed into the Big Dance. So there's less pressure on the UO men to make a run this week — but they'd still like to find that same sense of urgency.

"We've got some vets and older guys, so they know what's up," sophomore guard Jackson Shelstad said. "We've been playing with a different kind of confidence and energy these last couple games to finish out the conference. So we've just got to carry that into the tournament."

One reason the Ducks know they'll need to find their edge is the certainty that the opponent will play with one. Oregon will meet Indiana less than two weeks after a Senior Night win over the Hoosiers in Matthew Knight Arena on March 4.

"They're going to come out looking for revenge, with a big fan base there," Shelstad said. "So if we don't bring energy, it's going to be a long game. So we've got to come out like that.

"I know it's not technically a road game but it's gonna feel like it, and I like that kind of environment. I think this team does too — I think it kind of gets us going a little bit."

Indeed, Indianapolis is only about an hour's drive from Bloomington, the Hoosiers' home base. But the Ducks know what it's like to play on a neutral court that isn't so neutral — their Pac-12 semifinal win a year ago, after beating UCLA in the quarterfinals, was played before an intensely partisan crowd primarily made up of Arizona fans.

That win over the Wildcats followed a script fans of the 2024-25 Ducks know well — Oregon started slow but ramped up the defensive intensity midgame, flipped the rebounding margin in the second half and got hot from three-point range late, led by Shelstad.

"Kind of just knowing that, it's all the stuff (UO head coach Dana Altman) emphasizes, right?" post Nate Bittle said. "We're just gonna continue to do those things."

Bittle was an observer for that game, as was fellow current senior Keeshawn Barthelemy. Rooting on their teammates to a conference tournament title was fun. Participating in such a run would be even better.

"I was able to be there and be with the team and experience that, but I want to be able to participate and experience it at the same time," Bittle said. "Being here this year, I'm just really excited to have the opportunity. And you know, we've got a good group of guys and I feel like we can get it done."

Adding to the challenge of repeating last year's run is the need to play an extra game. The Ducks won three times in three nights a year ago, but would need four wins in four days to win this Big Ten Tournament.

"You've gotta be healthy," sophomore wing Kwame Evans Jr. said. "Try to get through every game without getting hurt, try to do all the little things to get your body right so you can be able to play at a high level at all times."

As much as anything, though, the challenge will be mental. Last year's Ducks knew it was do-or-die in the conference tournament. Can this group find the same edge?

"We're still trying to prove people wrong," Evans said. "We just got back in the rankings, but we're still trying to get better as a group. We're trying to look at the bigger-picture things but also look at where our moment is and just trying to win the Big Ten."

The UO men won't be able to ride Jermaine Couisnard and N'Faly Dante this time, after their unforgettable postseason production a year ago. The cast is different, as is the setting and the stakes. But the Ducks are looking for the same finale.

"Why not?" Barthelemy said. "We have the talent, we have the players to do it, and I think we have the drive to be able to accomplish something like that. And guys are excited."