No solace here: Hoops seasons hit the skids

There are years when basketball can be a reprieve for a fan base freshly scorned by the end of a college football season.

When the Ducks lost the 2014 national championship game, fans took solace in the blossoming careers of Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon’s collapse in the Alamo Bowl the next year was followed by Elite Eight runs by the women’s and men’s teams. Even better, Oregon’s disastrous 2016 season on the gridiron was buoyed by another Elite Eight appearance from Kelly Graves’ women and the first Final Four appearance for the men in 78 years.

But what about here in 2026, just weeks after another football season ended in heartbreak?

Well, relief certainly isn’t coming from the men.

Not only did Dana Altman’s Ducks (8-11, 1-7 Big Ten) struggle throughout the nonconference schedule, they’re also riding a four-game losing streak in conference play — all by double digits.  Guard Jackson Shelstad is out for the season and center Nate Bittle is expected to miss the next month. Simply, there might not be enough late-season Altman magic left in the world to pull the Ducks out of their current dive.

But the women? The women had been different.

The Ducks have won six more games than their male counterparts, have a roster filled with youthful contributors to build around and have had only one of their seven losses come by 10 or more points entering the week. They’ve been competitive. There’s a clear plan in place.

But as Graves saw Wednesday night against Minnesota, plans don’t really work when the ball doesn’t go in the hoop.

The Gophers won 65-60, handing the Ducks their fourth consecutive loss after they began the year 14-3.

“It’s definitely been frustrating, especially just given how close they’ve been,” said guard Sofia Bell, who had 9 points and 4 rebounds. “Most of them have been single-possession games where we were able to catch up or we let go of a lead. It’s definitely really frustrating because we keep competing but just come up short.”

Oregon (14-7, 2-6 Big Ten) shot 32% against the Gophers. The Ducks had good looks and moved the ball well. Graves wasn’t upset about the effort. But ultimately, what did Oregon in game was its inability to do the most basic aspect of the sport.

Get the ball through the hoop.

The Ducks missed 15 threes. They missed 40 shots from the field. Most damning were the 17 missed layups and an eight-minute stretch without a bucket that saw Oregon go from leading 39-38 with 3:49 to play in the third quarter to down 13 with 6:46 to play in the fourth.

“All we can do is design some sets that get them the best shots that we can get,” Graves said. “But at some point, we got to make them.”

The Ducks finally started making shots in the fourth — but then came the other mistakes.

Down nine with 2:06 to play, Oregon benefited from a flagrant foul called on Minnesota’s Amaya Battle. The Ducks responded by missing one of two free throws, then turned the ball over on the ensuing bonus possession when Ari Long was called for a double dribble.

Of note: Oregon’s primary ball handler, Katie Fiso, spent much of the fourth quarter on the bench.

“We needed somebody who was looking out on the perimeter,” Graves said of his fourth-quarter lineup. “At that point, we don’t need twos. We don’t need tough twos. We just felt that part of it is coaching — trying to make a point — as well.

“I love Katie. She’s a great competitor. But she’s one who wants to take it on her shoulders and we have to continue to — we’re better when we can move the ball and space this thing out.”

The frustrating thing for Graves is that, for yet another game, his Ducks were still right there. During this four-game losing streak, Oregon lost to No. 13 Michigan State by four, to No. 10 Iowa by eight and needed two overtimes to fall at Wisconsin on Sunday.

And despite the shooting woes, the Ducks still pulled within three when Jacobs drained a pull-up three with 54 seconds to play.

Then Oregon missed a layup. Then had a shot blocked. Then Minnesota hit the dagger when Sophie Hart pushed the lead to five with a layup with eight seconds left.

The Ducks have 10 games remaining until the Big Ten Tournament. Graves remains optimistic that a team built largely on underclassmen still has a ceiling to grow into.

This still could be the temporary football reprieve Oregon fans were looking for. It’s just not here yet.

“We’ve just got to find a way to win these,” Graves said. “We’re about four possessions away from being — instead of 2-6 in conference — we’d be 6-2. It just hasn’t gone our way when we really need buckets.”