It’s no secret that Dana Altman-led teams at Oregon have a history of success playing in Las Vegas. Within an eight month span in 2024, they even won two different tournaments there.
This time around, however, their experience was one of those “What Happens Here, Stays Here” situations.
The Ducks lost all three of their games by double digits, looking like a team that didn’t deserve their invite. Worse yet, it was one of the worst defensive, if not the worst, performances in a three game span since
Altman arrived in Eugene.
After surviving their first four games with lackluster performances against inferior competition, Oregon seemed as though they would receive a wake-up call upon facing #21 Auburn. And for three quarters of the game, it looked like a simple battle of Big Dance teams.
A 37-37 tie at halftime worked its way to a 50-49 Duck lead in the second half. Then, the wheels came off. Two Auburn runs, one a 10-0 and another a 12-6, gave the Tigers a comfortable 84-73 win.
It could easily have been chalked up to a good old fashioned learning experience, and Oregon would have two more chances to show what they were made of.
What their defense appeared to made of the following night was essentially wet toilet paper.
San Diego State, the same opponent Oregon faced and beat last year, put up a fifty-piece in the first half alone, and the Ducks spent most of the game down double digits in a 97-80 embarrassment.
Spirits were obviously low, but there was a day’s rest before Oregon’s second matchup with Altman’s alma mater, Creighton.
The Blue Jays were only 3-3, and it was a great opportunity to end on a positive note and exact some revenge for an NCAA Tournament loss in 2024 the Ducks should have won.
It took until they had dug themselves a 17-point hole for Oregon to start actually playing like they cared.
Granted, the Ducks did battle back, getting it down to a single-possession lead, but Creighton merely pulled away for what ended up being a 76-66 victory.
0-3, not a single game within single digits, and a total of 257 points given up.
During their strong finish in 2024, Oregon didn’t allow an opponent to reach 70 for four straight games.
During their late season surge last year, no team put up 80 on them until the final deciding shootout against Arizona.
Oregon looks completely befuddled defensively, and what makes even less sense is that this is a team returning their three cornerstone players, who, on paper, filled their remaining gaps perfectly.
We keep things PG here, so the term “(Fool) around and find out” applied perfectly to Oregon in Vegas.
For four games at home in Eugene, Oregon (fooled) around, but they had such a talent advantage they were able to get away with it.
In Vegas, they continued to (fool) around against teams just as talented, or more, than they were…and got whipped.
The schedule doesn’t get any kinder. Oregon next hosts USC, who just won the Maui Invitational, heads to UCLA, where they’ve had all kinds of trouble winning for the past 20 years, and meets Gonzaga in Portland two weeks after that.
It is completely possible, if the play stays at this level, that the Ducks begin January at .500.
Coming up in conference play will be Purdue, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, and Illinois.
Good luck with that.
Things got real…REAL quickly.
Time to stop (fooling) around.
