When the Oregon men's basketball team landed in Las Vegas earlier this week, it did so already teetering on the brink of a disappointing end to a once-promising season and the potential of missing the NCAA tournament for the third straight season.
Questions would have amplified about coach Dana Altman's future, whether he was still the right person to lead the program despite one of the most impressive coaching resumes in college basketball.
The only way for the Ducks to stave off all of that was to win three games in three days to take the Pac-12 championship and force their way into the NCAA tournament field with the conference's automatic bid.
"Believe. That's the word -- believe," senior guard Jermaine Couisnard said afterward. "We knew what we had to come here to do, we knew we had to win three straight, so everybody just had to put everything aside and just do whatever it takes for us to get the win."
Just like they did against UCLA and top-seeded Arizona the previous two nights, the No. 4-seeded Ducks weathered a slow start against Saturday before tapping into that steely resilience Couisnard referenced while pulling away late for a 75-68 win over No. 3-seeded Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game at T-Mobile Arena.
It marks the first Pac-12 tournament title for the Ducks (23-11) since 2019 and the program's sixth overall -- second only to Arizona's nine -- since the event debuted in 2002.
And this one was as sweet as any, as Altman looked unburdened from the taxing stress of the team's injury setbacks and any other frustrations that had come from this erratic season that had come unraveled after a 5-0 start in league play.
"As a coach, you get a lot of opportunities and these guys don't. You never take it for granted because it can always be your last one. They're not that easy to make -- injuries, sickness, not hitting a shot," Altman said. "... But the reason this one's different is [N'Faly] Dante was hurt in 2021 when we went to the Sweet 16. Jermaine came and wanted to go. Those guys, it's their last chance. ... So you want those guys to experience it. Really important for Dante, really important for Jermaine."
Dante, Oregon's veteran big man, had taken a hard fall to the court the previous game and was said to be sore throughout the day entering the championship. He then found himself on the bench with two early fouls, but nothing could deter him Saturday as he went a perfect 12 of 12 from the field for 25 points, 9 rebounds, a block and 3 steals.
"Dante, his last two games against Colorado he went 12 for 12 and 10 for 10 -- we probably ought to get him the ball a little bit more, guys," Altman joked during the postgame press conference.
Couisnard added 14 points and 8 assists with just 1 turnover while freshman guard Jackson Shelstad continued his strong tournament play with 17 points.
Altman highlighted his veterans for rallying the team and making a run like this possible.
"We had great leadership from Jermaine and Dante and the rest of the guys picked it up, followed," he said. "... I think every team reflects its best players, and I think our team is a reflection of those two guys -- their resilience. They both went through knee surgeries -- Dante two and Jermaine one -- they've both missed a lot of games since they've been here, but their toughness and their resiliency is something that the guys respected and I think followed."
Oregon needed more of that resilience Saturday as Colorado (24-10), which had won its last eight games and swept the regular-season series with the Ducks, jumped out to a 20-11 lead a little past the halfway point of the first half.
But by halftime, the Ducks had a 33-30 advantage after a 14-4 run to close the half.
Colorado briefly took the lead back three times in the second half but never for long.
Dante was the tone-setter, hitting all 8 of his shots after halftime and coming through with one timely dunk or layup after another.
A Luke O'Brien 3-pointer gave Colorado its final lead, 62-62 with 4:51 remaining, but the Ducks scored the next five points on a Kwame Evans free throw, two foul shots from Shelstad and a Jadrian Tracey layup.
When the Buffaloes' Eddie Lampkin scored down low to make it a two-point game, Dante followed with a dunk, a layup and Couisnard hit a free throw to push the lead to 71-64 with under a minute to play.
And soon enough, the Ducks were cutting down the nets and looking ahead to a season that may well still have plenty of life left in it after all as they now await their NCAA tournament seeding Sunday during the live selection show on CBS (3 p.m. PT).
"For me, it's just something I always dreamed of," Couisnard said.
