Three takeaways: Oregon Ducks cap off tumultuous regular season with nail-biting win over Utah

The Oregon Ducks put a tasteful bookend to their last-ever Pac-12 regular-season finale, with their marginal 66-65 win over their conference foe, the Utah Utes, on Saturday.

The game perfectly encapsulated Oregon’s season in a nutshell; an up-and-down, shaky game where they barely squeaked away, despite not scoring a single point in the final four minutes of the game. Arguably Utah’s best player, Branden Carlson, left the game at the 17-minute mark of the second half. His brother, Ben Carlson, had a great look at a would-be game-winning shot that narrowly missed.

The Ducks leaned on their senior night luck to scrape away with this win. 

The final weeks of the season felt rather disappointing for Dana Altman and his squad after their promising start to the year. A team riddled with numerous season-altering injuries to key players like Nate Bittle, Keyshawn Barthelemy, and Mookie Cook, managed to finish with a home record of 13-3 and scrap together another 20-win season. It was their road performances, specifically against UCLA and Cal in the latter half of the year, that came back to hurt them.

Oregon’s hope now is to use the momentum of tonight’s win and bring it with them to the bright lights of Las Vegas, Nev. for the final Pac-12 conference tournament next weekend. Should they not remain as the king of the court in T-Mobile Arena, the Ducks will likely have their eyes set on another NIT tournament, which would be their third consecutive year doing so and viewed as another disappointing finish from the fanbase.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s regular-season finale in Eugene.

Senior night

Tonight was senior night in Matthew Knight Arena, which brought an emotional ceremonial postgame for some of the program’s cornerstone individuals. N’Faly Dante, Jermaine Couisnard, and Keyshawn Barthelemy have been this team’s veteran leaders the past couple of seasons, and their exit from the program will leave a large void in this roster going forward. Couisnard and Barthelemy, both transferred in from their respective schools, South Carolina and Colorado. Their talent has been on display for two years, and the fans in Eugene have come to embrace them as their own. 

Dante, on the other hand, is the cherished face of the program and has been a fan favorite during his five seasons in Eugene. His individual resume speaks for itself. His ferocious and dominant playstyle on the court has perfectly complimented his calm and collected demeanor off the court. He has been the perfect embodiment of what it means to be an Oregon Duck, and will likely be one of the most remembered players to wear the green and yellow.  

Dana Altman

With another underwhelming regular season concluded, fans are rightfully entitled to question whether Altman is the answer going forward. His teams have failed to sniff the NCAA tournament since 2019, where they lost in the Sweet Sixteen to the eventual national champion, the University of Virginia. 

Altman was recently asked about the possibility of his retirement, to which he steadfastly pushed back on the idea, saying  “I’m not going anywhere. Unless this school tells me I’m not here. But, no. I’m not retiring — that’s for sure.” 

He has four seasons remaining after the conclusion of the 23-24 season, as his contract runs through the 27-28 year. At age 67, finishing his 14th year with the program, it is hard to envision him remaining with the program for the entirety of his remaining contract. The university would have to pay him roughly $1.5 million dollars to terminate his contract after this season, and with no obvious candidate on the coaching market to replace him, all signs point to him returning for the start of the 24-25 season. 

The future of Oregon Men’s Basketball

While the season is not over yet, it is not too early to look ahead to what this roster is going to look like next season. If the Ducks walk away from this season with nothing to show for it again, the one silver lining they have is how their freshmen, Kwame Evans Jr. and Jackson Shelstad, have looked.

The prominent freshmen prospects have certainly met — and maybe even exceeded — their expectations for what they could provide this program this year. With the extended absences of Barthelemy and Bittle, the two likely got more opportunities than what they envisioned. Both starting for the majority of the season, Shelstad averaged 12.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 3.0, and Evans Jr. averaged 7.8 PPG, 5.0 PPG, and 1.2 APG. Barring neither of them opting into the transfer portal after the year, they will both be heavily featured in next year’s offense. 

Easily overlooked is the additional freshman who only played five games due to injury, Mookie Cook. A four-star recruit, he has all the physical tools to be an elite two-way player for the team going forward. An unfortunate lower leg injury sidelined him for the majority of the season, and he is going to have to prove it to not only his coaches and his teammates but prove it to himself that he can come back and make his name known. 

Who knows what this team is going to look like going forward? There will be players added in the portal. A new freshman class will be brought in. There will be some familiar faces sticking around, and some favorites that exit. But one thing is certain, as the Ducks leave the Pac-12 conference in their rearview mirror, changes are imminent if they want to make a statement with their inaugural season in the Big-10.