Ducks run out of gas, inspired postseason run ends in 2OT loss to Creighton
Dana Altman knew this was all house money.
Just look at him, flashing that wry smile when he saw it was center N’Faly Dante heading to the free-throw line with 26 seconds remaining, Oregon up two against 3-seeded Creighton. A chance to secure a trip to the Sweet 16.
After all, Altman’s ensured a lifetime worth of job security at Oregon for getting these Ducks through the Pac-12 tournament and through South Carolina.
These Ducks, who were doomed from day one by an injury devil (stronger and more devastating than the better-known 'injury bug'). These shorthanded Ducks, whose freshman point guard left the game with 5 minutes to go and didn’t return. Altman insists these Ducks embody their gritty leaders: Dante and senior guard Jermaine Couisnard.
On Saturday, rather than the Ducks they might as well have been called Dante-and-Couisnard, the two combining for all 28 of Oregon’s second-half points before they ran out of gas in the second overtime period
That’s why Altman blamed himself, ultimately.
“I wish I would have made that last free throw,” the big man said.
Instead, he left the door open for Baylor Scheierman to hit a mid-range jumper that sent the game into overtime, where the Bluejays (25-9) had more options than 11-seeded Oregon (24-12) but needed another 5 minutes to put them away, 86-73, outscoring the Ducks 15-2 in the second overtime period.
Couisnard had 32 points, while Dante had a career-high 28 and 20 rebounds.
“Jermaine and Dante played their tails off,” Altman said.
The Ducks led 62-58 with 1:15 left and let it slip. They were running on fumes well before that and it bit them in the waning minutes.
Early on, Altman decided his already-shortened rotation would be cut.
Couisnard picked up his second foul 5 minutes in but returned to the game 6 minutes later. He immediately hit a floater and then popped off a down screen from Dante to hit a 3 that gave the Ducks their first lead, 22-21.
In the first half, Creighton pushed the ball up the court seeking any opportunity to hoist a 3-pointer. Guard Trey Alexander knocked down his first attempt, but the Bluejays went on to miss their next eight.
The Ducks struggled to match the pace their opponent set and conceded open looks but were bailed out time and again. Creighton, however, made up for that poor shooting by hounding the offensive glass and corralling long rebounds off those wayward shots. They ended the first half with 14 second-chance points.
“I thought we could have rebounded the ball a little better,” Altman said. “That was basically the difference in the game.”
After going 3-of-17 from deep — about 16 of which were well-advised — the law of averages began to kick in. The Bluejays hit three triples in the final 5 minutes of the first half and, on the final possession, the Ducks elected not to use one of three fouls they had to give and Steven Ashworth punished them with a 3 to make it 36-34.
That momentum seeped into the second half as the Bluejays went 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
Ashworth and Scheierman sprinted around the perimeter, rarely giving defenders a break, while the Ducks guards sought any moment to catch their breath.
And, for all of Dante’s positives, it’s a fool's errand not to run drop coverage when he’s in. It’s allowed teams with talented perimeter scorers and deadeye shooters to dice up the Ducks all season.
On Saturday, it gave Ashworth, Scheierman and Alexander room to operate. Each time they’d catch a pass off a cut or screen they had a step on a tired guard and space to drive a dropping big.
Eventually, those misses turn into makes when there’s no hand impeding the view of the basket.
“We lost them a couple times and it cost us,” Altman said.
All the Ducks could do to counter it: Run a middle high ball screen with Couisnard and Dante and live with the result.
“We needed some contributions from some other guys,” Altman said.
That never came.
For a second — after Couisnard’s 3 put Oregon up 58-52 with 5:20 left — it seemed like that may not matter, but the Bluejays roared back to tie it at 58 and again caught the Ducks at 62.
“We had our opportunities,” Altman said. “Made critical mistakes. Didn’t finish in regulation.”
In the first overtime, the Ducks were dead in the water until, with 16 seconds to go, Couisnard again forced a deadlock at 71. He grabbed Jadrian Tracey’s errant pass and drilled a shot in Scheierman’s face.
The game went into double overtime and Oregon, on its last legs, hiding a drained Dante on defense, were exposed. Ashworth, with the stamina of a naval soldier, darted from elbow to elbow and restored Creighton’s lead.
Then Ryan Kalkbrenner caught the ball on the right wing and decided to use the room Dante afforded him to shoot, his 3 zapping any ounce of energy the Ducks had left and, with it their season, which easily could have been dead a week ago.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Altman said, regarding a 2023-24 campaign he began feeling positive about, particularly optimistic about Oregon’s depth before that all came and went. Chronicled as it has been, it was further epitomized when Jackson Shelstad sprained his right knee Saturday, leaving Couisnard as the only healthy ball-handler down the stretch.
Without Saturday and Thursday and that Pac-12 tournament run for the ages, this season would have been defined by those injuries, yet again.
Instead, these Ducks banded together to show talent was never the issue and that Altman’s process, antiquated as it may be, is still thoroughly successful when it matters most.
“I don’t think they knew how to take me,” he said. “You know the trust level, I bite them a little bit, they think it’s personal. I’m just trying to get them to play a little harder. I got a lot of work to do.”
His message might have fallen flat the past two years, but, for five games, at least, it made waves with this group.