Following a 14-point home loss to the Cal Bears on Saturday, Oregon’s future grew murky.

Prior to that loss against one of the Pac-12’s non-contenders, the Ducks had won 10 of their previous 11 games while strengthening their NCAA tournament chances. Suddenly, they had to prove themselves anew while facing a final six-game gauntlet including three contests with the conference’s best teams.

But Tuesday night, the Ducks' focus wasn’t on their upcoming games. It wasn’t on Joe Lunardi’s updated bracket projection, which has them as a part of the “first four out.”.

It was exactly where it needed to be – on their matchup with Washington State. Led by N’Faly Dante’s 13 points and 10 rebounds, the Ducks took down the Cougars, 62-59, at Matthew Knight Arena.

Dante set the tone for a gritty victory enforcing his will on both sides of the court. It only resulted in one blocked shot, but his presence intimidated the Cougars’ slashers, forcing them to settle for contested 3s. The Cougars' unwillingness to attack the paint resulted in 33 3-point attempts and only eight makes.

A year ago, Dante watched from the bench as Oregon jostled for a position in the NCAA tournament. He tore his ACL on Dec. 20, 2020, and wasn’t able to be a part of the Ducks’ trip to the Sweet-16.

A year and two months later, he played a key role in a potentially season-altering victory.

De’Vion Harmon chipped in 13 points and 6 boards and helped the Ducks pull ahead in the middle of the second half. They were down 5 when he made a driving layup and free throw, Jacob Young followed a WSU turnover with a pull-up jumper to tie it, and Quincy Guerrier threw down a dunk to put Oregon ahead, 45-43, with 11:27 left.

Meanwhile Dante’s mindset made its way down the Ducks’ bench as Franck Kepnang wasted no time making his presence felt off the bench. Kepnang flew from end-to-end, slapping the padding underneath the basket as he blocked Noah Williams’ layup attempt to help protect that tenuous two-point advantage, and he’d later supply a couple big baskets down the stretch while finishing with 9 points and 4 blocks in 20 minutes.

“I always try to bring the energy, whether I’m on the floor, or I’m off,” Kepnang said. “Whenever I was screaming or hitting the pads you can see the passion I have for the game.”

Energy and enthusiasm come naturally to Kepnang. Sometimes it results in unnecessary fouls and forced shots. Tonight, it sparked the Ducks’ victory

First, it was Dante who came through with a pair of pivotal fast-break layups to put Oregon ahead, 49-45 with under 8 minutes to play. They would remain in the lead the rest of the way – albeit with a little late suspense.

Kepnang then had his other pivotal sequence, as he hit a jumper, blocked a Tyrell Roberts layup attempt at the other end and then finished on the ensuing fastbreak for a layup and a 57-50 Ducks lead with just under 4 minutes left.

The game later seemed wrapped up after Will Richardson downed a corner 3 to give Oregon a 62-53 lead with 1 minute remaining.

Oregon’s calmness quickly turned to panic, though. The Ducks conceded three consecutive offensive rebounds that resulted in a Flowers’ 3, then Harmon threw away the outlet pass as he tried to break the press resulting in another Flowers 3-point basket.

Life was restored in the Cougars' comeback hopes. Harmon was fouled and missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving the Cougars a chance to tie. Flowers ran the ball up the court, took the first shot he got, and it rimmed out.

Just barely, the Ducks escaped further disaster and instead came out with a victory that could be the first step to rebuilding the momentum lost over the weekend.

“We’ve got to get a lot tougher handling the ball late,” coach Dana Altman said. “We’ve got veteran guards that have got to do a better job at that and obviously the free throws have been a problem… This time of year you just got to find a way to scratch one out and we did, but I know how much better we’ve got to be to win games.”

With the victory, the Ducks improve to 17-8 overall, 10-4 in the Pac-12 and retain hope to earn their place in the March Madness field. A showdown Thursday with an Arizona State team that hopes to play spoiler looms.