Instant Recap: Oregon defeats Northwestern 81-75

Oregon sits at No. 35 in NET rankings, No. 40 on KenPom, and No. 45 on EvanMiya. Northwestern sits at No. 56 in NET, No. 56 on KenPom, and No. 76 on EvanMiya. Both Oregon and Northwestern come into this game in major slumps, the Ducks losing 5 straight, and the Wildcats being 3-7 in their last ten. The Ducks are now 7-6 in Quad 1 games this season, and 2-2 in Quad 2 matchups. Oregon is still undefeated in Quad 3/4 games, at 7-0 on the year.

Northwestern is without two of their top three scorers for the rest of the season, Brooks Barnhizer, and Jalen Leach. Barnhizer averaged 17/8/4/2/1 on 41/26/76 splits, while Leach averaged 14/2/3/1 on 44/39/86 splits. With these two done for the season, the Wildcats will heavily lean on leading scorer, Nick Martinelli and Guard Ty Berry.

For Oregon, they will again be without Oleksandr Kobzystyi and Andre Warren, and freshman Jamari Phillips is questionable. If Phillips is to be out again, I would expect Mookie Cook to get more burn tonight.

Jamari Phillips is dressed, appears he will play.

Starting Lineup:

Ducks are starting Shelstad, Bamba, Barthelemy, Angel, and Bittle. The Wildcats will start Ty Berry, Jordan Clayton, Justin Mullins, Nick Martinelli, and Matthew Nicholson.

First Half:

Jackson Shelstad gets things started for the Ducks with a nice up-and-under layup on Oregon’s first possession. Ducks lead the Wildcats 11-4 at the first media timeout, 14:44 left in the first half. Shelstad already has 7 points, nobody outside of Shelstad and Bittle have shot the ball yet.

After two consecutive 3-pointers from Shelstad and Barthelemy, Northwestern calls timeout and the Ducks lead 19-14 with 10:34 left in the half.

Oregon’s defense has already forced 5 Northwestern turnovers, and the Wildcats are the best in the conference at not turning the ball over.

Shelstad up to 13 points already, with 3 triples. Oregon leads 24-18 now with 7:42 remaining in the first.

Ducks leading by 8, 30-22, 3:51 left in the half.

Oregon leads at the break 39-25 over the Northwestern Wildcats.

First Half Statistics:

The Ducks have forced 8 Northwestern turnovers in the first half, the Wildcats average only 9 turnovers per game. I don’t think the defense has been perfect by any stretch as Northwestern has gotten some wide open looks. In the first half, Northwestern shot 10/26 (38.5%) from the field, and 3/10 (30%) from three.

TJ Bamba has three first half steals, Supreme Cook has two steals, and Jadrian Tracey, Keeshawn Barthelemy, and Nate Bittle have all added a steal as well. Kwame Evans Jr has one block, and Nate Bittle has two blocks so far.

Second Half:

At the first media timeout of the second half, Oregon leads 50-38 over Northwestern. Ty Berry has gotten going for the Wildcats, and a few dumb turnovers have hurt the Ducks. 15:35 to play in MKA.

Oregon has only gotten one bucket to fall since the last timeout, over two minutes ago. Ducks still lead 52-42 with 13:16 to go.

Wildcats continue to hang around, getting another foul call their way. Nick Martinelli is 4/13 on the night but has now reached 10 points. Ty Berry, Martinelli, and KJ Windham are the only players capable of scoring for Northwestern. Ducks lead 57-46 with 11:56 left in this Quad 2 matchup.

Crunch Time:

Oregon leading 64-51 with 7:56 to play in Matt Knight, Ra’Heim Moss getting a ton of minutes tonight. Those minutes haven’t been great but he is taking away from Jadrian Tracey’s minutes. Tracey has been coming off of the bench for the last few games, and hasn’t scored more than 10 points since January 12th against Penn State.

Dana Altman calls timeout, now only up by 5 after KJ Windham is up to 18 point on four 3-pointers. Ducks lead 67-62 with just over five minutes to play, Northwestern on an 11-3 run. Keeshawn Barthelemy responds with a three of his own pushing the lead back to 8.

Northwestern calls timeout, trailing the Ducks 70-75 with just over a minute to play. Nate Bittle continues to lose positioning against this Northwestern team and they keep running the same exact play.

Keeshawn Barthelemy is fouled with 36.5 seconds to play, with two free throws coming. Barthelemy converts both and the Ducks lead 77-70. Barthelemy is again fouled with 23.6 remaining and will head back to the line. Again he converts both, pushing the lead to 79-70.

Bittle gets called for a very weak foul, and Northwestern is able to get a 3-pointer from Ty Berry. Back to a 6 point game, 79-73 Oregon with 12 seconds left. Ducks unable to get the ball in so Jadrian Tracey has to call timeout.

Tracey passes the ball into Shelstad and he is fouled with 7 seconds left. Shelstad subsequently knocks down both free throws. New career high for Shelstad with 26 points, as the Ducks lead 81-73. KJ Windham lays home a meaningless two points, and the Ducks win 81-75.