Oregon's season comes to close with 75-60 NIT loss to top-seeded Texas A&M
Oregon’s season came to a close Saturday in College Station, Texas. The Texas A&M Aggies downed the Ducks 75-60. After a wonderful performance in the opening round of the NIT that saw Oregon dispatch Utah State, the Ducks struggled to keep pace with an A&M squad that felt it should have been in the NCAA Tournament.
So, a season of swings and marked inconsistency ends a lot like the way it went.
Still, the Ducks finished with 20 wins for the 12th straight season. But, at 20-15, they endured the most losses by a Dana Altman-coached team in a campaign.
N’Faly Dante, back after missing the Utah State game, scored 13 points to tie Eric Williams Jr. for the team-high in scoring. Dante was one of the bright spots on the day for the Ducks, finishing with 13 boards and five blocked shots. Oregon got outscored by 15 points for the game, but it won Dante’s 23 minutes by six points.
The starters struggled. De’Vion Harmon was the lone member of the first five to reach double-figures scoring, finishing with 12 points on 12 shots. Jacob Young shot 2-of-7 (six points), Rivaldo Soares was 3-for-10 (seven points), and Quincy Geurrier was 1-for-7 (three points). A&M did well on Young, who also had three turnovers and three fouls.
A&M built its separation on the scoreboard early. From the 15:50 mark through to the 6:55 mark in the first half, the Aggies outscored Oregon 18-6.
For a team missing its leading scorer and struggling to shoot the ball, the 13-point lead they built up proved to be insurmountable. The Aggies had at least a 10-point lead for more than 19 of the 20 second-half minutes.
The Ducks shot 6-of-24 from 3-point land and settled a little too often for the jumpshot. A&M outscored them in the paint 42-24.