Oregon made only one 3-pointer in the second half Tuesday night against Indiana.
It couldn’t have come at a better time.
With the shot clock about to run out, Jackson Shelstad unleased a 25-foot attempt that swished through the net to give the Ducks a 66-64 lead with 1:28 to play.
Oregon added seven more points from the free-throw line while holding the Hoosiers scoreless over the final 1:57 in the 73-64 victory in front of an announced crowd of 9,584 in the final men’s basketball game of the regular season at Matthew Knight Arena.
Shelstad scored 17 to lead the Ducks (22-8, 11-8 Big Ten) to their sixth-straight win with one game to go before the postseason begins in Indianapolis next week at the Big Ten tournament.
When he made the go-ahead 3, it ended an 0-for-9 stretch from the deep for the Ducks, including 0 for 8 in the second half.
“He has that little extra something that you can’t put your finger on,” guard Keeshawn Barthelemy said of Shelstad.
“That clutch gene,” guard TJ Bamba added.
Center Nate Bittle also had 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Following the game, Bittle participated in the team’s senior day ceremony. The remaining fans chanted “One more year, one more year,” at the Ducks’ big man, who has the option to return for a fifth season in 2025-26.
“I don’t know where we’d be without him,” coach Dana Altman said. “He’s a presence in there. Big body, big guy with a whole lot of experience.”
Bamba, another senior, had 13 points and Kwame Evans Jr. came off the bench for 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists in 19 minutes.
Shelstad’s shot will be what’s remembered, but it came on a night the Ducks struggled offensively. They shot 39.3% overall on 24-of-61 shooting and made 6-of-25 from 3-point range.
That was why the Ducks found themselves in a back-and-forth game late in the second half.
Indiana took a 64-63 lead with 1:57 to play on a 3-pointer by Trey Galloway, who led the Hoosiers with 16 points. But that was also Indiana’s final points and one of only two baskets they made in the final eight minutes as it ended on a 2-for-12 stretch as the Ducks clamped down on the defense end.
“It was just time for us to take that next step defensively,” Bamba said. “The whole game we were getting stops here and there but we always felt like there was another level we could take it to. We felt like it was time to lock in.”
What’s next for Oregon men’s basketball?
The Ducks end the regular season in Seattle against the Huskies at noon Sunday, in what will be the last tip-off of the conference season across the Big Ten.
Washington (13-16, 4-14), which is in last place in the Big Ten standings, plays at 16th-place USC on Wednesday in its penultimate game of the Huskies’ regular season.
Oregon defeated Washington 82-71 in Matthew Knight Arena on Jan. 21. Bamba led the Ducks with 21 points in a game that included 18 lead changes and eight ties before Oregon pulled away in the final minutes.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon men’s basketball downs Indiana for sixth straight win
