Dana Altman reiterates intention to continue Oregon-Oregon State rivalry in future seasons
On the eve of the final Pac-12 men’s basketball matchup between Oregon and Oregon State, Ducks’ head coach Dana Altman reiterated his intention for his program to continue the in-state rivalry in future seasons.
The exact details of when and where the Ducks and Beavers will next meet, though, remains unclear.
“We’re gonna play next year,” Altman said while speaking with reporters on Tuesday. “Haven’t decided (where) yet. I haven’t even talked to (Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle) about this yet. For our schedule, I’m gonna probably try to get it here because we’ve already got some neutral games away and I think I’ve got my road schedule finalized already. Then the next year looks a lot better for me. But, I haven’t talked to Wayne about it. I don’t know what their schedule is.
“But I think they’re gonna have a little more flexibility because I think the WCC only plays 16 conference games. Where we’re gonna have 20. Year-to-year it’s gonna change our availability for road games. Because we have to have a certain number of home games for our season ticket package.”
Oregon (18-9, 10-6 Pac-12) and Oregon State (12-16, 4-13) are set to face off Wednesday at 8 p.m. PT at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. The Ducks are fighting to keep their at-large NCAA Tournament hopes alive, while the Beavers are aiming to climb out of the conference cellar.
With UO set to make the move to the Big Ten next season, and OSU set to make a temporary transition to the West Coast Conference for the 2024-25 season, Altman acknowledged that the shifting landscape presents some inherent challenges.
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“It’s gonna be a big change for us next year with, just, the travel,” Altman said. “Trying to figure out, you’re taking four or five trips a long way, I’m really a little concerned about it. It’s just change. Change is always a little worrisome. A little difficult.”
When the two teams met in Corvallis on Feb. 17, Oregon jumped out to a substantial lead but nearly collapsed down the stretch. The Ducks escaped Gill Coliseum with a 60-58 win thanks to a dunk from N’Faly Dante with one second left in regulation.
“Well, the things we did well — we rebounded. Until late,” Altman said when asked what clicked for his team early against the Beavers. “With four minutes to go in the game, they had 38 points. We did a good job. Then they score 20 points in the last four minutes; we put them on the line, which you don’t do. But we did. I thought we did some good things defensively. … We got some transition baskets early.”
Oregon State is coming off an 85-73 road win over Stanford last Saturday.
“(Jordan) Pope is so dangerous,” Altman said. “(Wayne Tinkle) has done a great job of keeping them together through some tough times. Getting that first road win, I’m sure it gives them a lot of confidence. We’re gonna have to be ready to go and we’re gonna have to play really well.”
