Oregon men's basketball shakes up starting lineup for showdown with No. 9 Arizona
Dana Altman made it abundantly clear on Thursday that Oregon’s lineup was going to change following the Ducks’ blowout loss to Arizona State in Eugene that evening.
“We’re gonna shake some things up — give some guys some opportunities,” Altman said. “Cut the minutes of some guys that we’ve been giving a lot of opportunities to.”
True to his word, Altman has opted to alter his starting lineup for the Ducks’ pivotal Saturday showdown with no. 9 Arizona in Eugene.
Oregon’s starting lineup against the Wildcats will consist of: Will Richardson, Jermaine Couisnard, Rivaldo Soares, Nate Bittle, and N’Faly Dante.
That marks a major shift for Altman’s Ducks.
Couisnard and Bittle enter the starting lineup in place of senior forward Quincy Guerrier and sophomore guard Brennan Rigsby.
Guerrier has started all 17 games for the Ducks this season and is averaging 10.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Rigsby has started the past eight games for the Ducks after being hindered by a foot injury early in the season. He is averaging 7.8 points and 3.7 rebounds.
Bittle, who was also hindered by an early-season injury, is a former 4-star prospect who is averaging 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds this season. Saturday marks his third start.
Couisnard, a senior guard who transferred from South Carolina last offseason, is making his first start in just his third game of the season after undergoing knee surgery in early November.
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“We’ve gotta try some different things. We can’t keep doing the same thing,” Altman said. “We stayed with the same lineup and then tried to give some guys some chances. I thought Nate gave us some activity. … Kel’el wasn’t as active as I would like to see him, but I thought Nate did some good things. (Lok Wur) did a few good things in his minutes with the 1-3-1 that we needed.
“We’re gonna have to evaluate a lot of things here. But our activity definitely has got to improve.”
**Oregon Ducks suffer disastrous loss to Arizona State; “We got beat in every facet of the game”**
During his pregame radio interview on Thursday, Oregon head coach Dana Altman aptly stated what the evening’s showdown with Arizona State meant for his program.
“Now we’ve got no excuses,” Altman said.
The Ducks entered Thursday as healthy as they’ve been all season. Senior guard Jermaine Couisnard was available after a lengthy injury layoff. Ditto for junior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy and sophomore center Nate Bittle.
After months of injury woes and sporadic performances, Altman’s Ducks were near full strength Thursday and seemingly ready to begin delivering on their immense preseason promise.
Instead, they got run out of their own gym.
Oregon was pummeled by Arizona State, 90-73, at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks are 9-8 on the season, 3-3 in Pac-12 play, and look lost with 14 games to go in the regular season.
“We got beat in every facet of the game,” Altman said. “I’m really disappointed, obviously. I know our fans are — they should be.
“This is not what you expect from our ball team and our program.”
