Oregon Men’s Basketball: Ducks Fall At Colorado, 41-68

Oregon Ducks men’s basketball, in spite of all the great teams it has produced, has only won in Boulder one time; that was last season. With the struggles of building a cohesive unit given this season’s injuries, this match was in doubt before it started.

Tonight concluded with a dismal offensive performance by the Ducks, as their score reached a season-low in losing 41-68.

The Ducks started the game well enough, and were initially within two at 6-8.

Oregon showed some fire on defense, but it was not enough to keep up with the very active defense of the Buffaloes. Colorado jumped to a 8-21 lead because the Ducks were not getting shots to land, had no presence in the paint, and were being out-rebounded by the Buffaloes.

They also had no answer for the combined play of Colorado’s Tristan Da Silva and Julian Hammond Ill. At the 6:40 mark in the first half, Oregon was shooting a paltry 12.5%.

Colorado pushed to a 20-point lead before entering halftime up by 18, 19-37. The Ducks went into the break shooting only 24%, including 0-7 beyond the arc, with 13 rebounds and 54% from the charity stripe. Colorado shot 43% (4-14 on threes), with 26 rebounds, and shot 82% on the FT line.

The Ducks looked just as hapless coming out of the break. Their offense never improved, no one had a three shot, and Colorado was on fire offensively and defensively.

Before long, the Buffaloes established a 24-point cushion and that was it for the Ducks. Momentary offensive flashes by Oregon were wasted on this night:

Oregon finished their night shooting 27%, and was 1-14 on threes. FT shooting was 57%, and the Ducks pulled 28 rebounds. Quincy Guerrier was the Oregon scoring leader with ten points.

Colorado shot 46% on the night, including 35% from downtown and 79% from the free throw line. Oregon had no answers for Colorado’s Tristan Da Silva, who ended the game with a career-high 30 points.

The Ducks died with their offense - or lack thereof - but that was not the only nagging statistic. The Buffaloes convincingly won the glass, 46-28. Oregon had nothing for ball movement, glaringly obvious in their three assists as a team to Colorado’s 14.

Oregon next plays Utah, and road games in Salt Lake City generally don’t fare too much better than games in Boulder for the Ducks. Also, Oregon will face stiff competition from a very good, 12-4 Utah team. However, if Oregon can’t find an offense and congeal as a team, it goes without saying that this will be a long, disappointing conference run.

The Utah Utes host the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, 1/7/22, at 4:00 pm PT.