Ducks' difficult season ends in decisive loss at Texas A&M

Oregon’s season has come to a sudden, unceremonious end.

An extensive list of issues hindered the Ducks throughout the year, and many of those same flaws were present Saturday. Ultimately, it was a horrendous shooting performance that put the final nail in Oregon’s coffin.

The Ducks fell 75-60 to Texas A&M in College Station in the second round of the NIT, bringing their campaign to a close. After being ranked as high as No. 12 nationally early in the season, they finish the year 20-15 and a long, long way off of where many hoped they would end up.

“We seemed a step slow that first half, we didn’t get any loose balls,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “(Texas A&M) picked up every loose ball. They were quicker to the ball, quicker to the rebounds. … I thought we had a lot of good looks early.”

Up against an Aggies squad that was very much in the conversation for an at-large NCAA tournament berth, the Ducks were always going to need an inspired performance Saturday if they hoped to advance. Instead, they delivered one of their worst shooting performances of the season.

Oregon shot just 21-of-57 from the field and 6-of-24 from three-point range. It never led after the 17:08 mark in the first half and was outscored in the paint 42-24 in the paint.

The Ducks’ three-point percentage of 25 percent was their sixth-worst of the season and worst since Feb. 17.

“We’ve gotta get shooters,” Altman said. “That’s something that’s so obvious to the game right now. Teams that are shooting the three well just have a tremendous advantage. It spreads the floor and it also makes the opportunities for two so much better.

“That will be a priority here in the offseason.”

For the sixth straight game, the Ducks were without senior guard and leading scorer Will Richardson, who did not travel with the team. Altman confirmed after the game that Richardson has mononucleosis and has been struggling with it for several weeks.

Oregon got a healthy return from starting big-man N’Faly Dante, who provided a major boost with 13 points and 13 rebounds in just 23 minutes.

But it was not enough to overcome the Aggies, who shot 47.5 percent from the field as a team.

Eric Williams Jr. scored 13 points for the Ducks and De’Vion Harmon added 12. Quenton Jackson led the Aggies with 17 points to pace a balanced scoring attack.

After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, Oregon finished the opening period with a nice surge to cut the Aggies’ lead to 37-28 and stay within reach. But Texas A&M scored the first four points of the second half on a pair of layups to push the lead back to 13.

The Ducks cut the deficit back to 50-42 with 13:05 to go. But each time Oregon put together a run, the Aggies had an answer.

Texas A&M uncorked a 9-2 surge over the next 1:21 to take a 59-44 lead and put the game out of reach for good. Oregon never cut the lead to single digits from that point.

“Like every year, we’ll evaluate everything that we’re doing as a program,” Altman said. “Our staff, our players, and figure out which direction we want to go.”