Eugene, Ore. – Oregon’s NCAA Tournament at-large chances received a near-death blow by visiting California Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks were not good on either offense or defense and fell in blowout fashion to the Golden Bears 78-64.
Cal is the third loss at home to Oregon by a Quad 3 opponent, severely crushing the Ducks’ soft NCAA Tournament resume. Oregon also now drops out of possession of the second-place pole position in the Pac-12 Standings following the loss. The Ducks are now 16-8 overall and 9-4 in Pac-12 play.
The Ducks led by eight in the first half’s first few minutes, but then went ice cold from the offensive floor and struggled to defend Cal’s two-man action on the other end. Oregon had a stretch in the first half where they failed to score any points for over seven minutes and missed 10 straight field-goal attempts, allowed California to go on a 24-0 nothing run, the Ducks missed way too many free throws, and the Ducks shot one of the worst percentages in the Altman era on three-point attempts 5-of-27.
The game had just two lead changes and Oregon led for just under five minutes of game time.
Needing to avoid a loss to a bad Cal Bears team, the Ducks delivered one of the worst performances in recent memory. Now the only question is how much of a price did it cost Oregon.
