Men’s Basketball Recap: Oregon @ Michigan

The Ducks traveled east to face off against the #24 Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday afternoon, in a fairly tightly contested matchup. Both sides got things rolling early on the offensive side of the ball, trading buckets back-and-forth, eventually resulting in a 13-13 tie with just under 12 to play in the first half. But then the Wolverines started to separate themselves from the Ducks, going on a quick 13-3 run in about 2 ½ minutes, and pulling ahead 26-16 at the 8:28 mark. Oregon would continue to battle back, though, eventually cutting the lead down to just one point, before Michigan added a couple more close looks, giving them a 41-36 halftime lead.

The second half was, unfortunately for Oregon, very reminiscent of the last few losses. The Ducks struggled to put the ball in the hoop with any consistency, letting Michigan grow their five-point halftime lead up to 14 with 12:21 remaining in the game. But then things started to feel like one of those games from early in the season. The ones where suddenly there was a sudden spark of offense, and seemingly out of nowhere Oregon had life and a chance to win. Over a span of about 12 minutes the Ducks, behind mainly a TJ Bamba offensive surge, methodically cut the Wolverines lead down to just two with just 49 seconds left… but unfortunately, that’s where Oregon’s luck ran out. Michigan made some very clutch free throws, and would end up winning the game 80-76, and handing the Ducks a fourth consecutive loss.

While this definitely wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for, I still think that this game was a positive one. The Ducks showed a fight that I haven’t really seen since early January. If they can re-capture that momentum over the next month and play with that confidence we saw early this season, they could still be a dangerous team heading into the BigTen tournament, as well as possibly the NCAA tournament.

Their next test comes against the #9 Michigan State Spartans at 9:00 AM (PST), on Saturday, February 8th.

As always, ‘Sco Ducks.