university of oregon ducks mens basketball

Whatever Dana Altman’s crew had discovered back in December, it appears to have completely evaporated over the month of January.

With a bundle of big wins and a Top 10 ranking nationally, Oregon looked primed to compete for the conference title in 2025. Instead, they’ve taken a nosedive during the first month of the year.

The Ducks, as I feared after their performance against Minnesota, continued to look disorganized and inefficient as they were manhandled by UCLA Thursday night 78-52.

The lowlight, as has been so prevalent over the past few seasons, was again outside shooting. Oregon was 4 for 23 (17 percent) from downtown. It’s head-scratching to try and figure out why the teams Altman has been churning out the last three seasons simply cannot shoot from outside.

But it’s right there, and it’s glaring.

Oregon compiled only 52 total points for the game, not hitting 30 points in either half. UCLA’s dominance was evenly spread as they outscored Oregon by 14 in the first half and 12 in the second.

It was never a competitive game, and now, far from worrying about being the top team in the conference, concern starts to shift to whether Oregon can even finish with a winning record in the Big Ten.

This weekend they host Nebraska, who isn’t that good. But neither was Minnesota. In fact, the Huskers have the same conference record as the Golden Gophers.

Then Oregon goes on the road to face Michigan, who is 7-2 in conference and 10-0 at home, and Michigan State, who is 9-0 in conference, 11-0 at home, and in the Top 10 nationally.

Yeah, good luck with that.

I’d never count Altman out, history has taught us not to do that, the man is a wizard at finishing strong.

But right now, heading into February…man. Not feeling too good.

If things don’t start to change, Oregon could turn what looked like a sure-fire NCAA Tournament season into bubble-bouncing and eventually an NIT invite.

Crazy to think that a single month could change things so drastically. But it has.