Meet The Opponent: Oregon Back On The Docket For Indiana At Big Ten Tournament

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Until March 4, Indiana and Oregon’s men’s basketball teams hadn’t played each other since 1978.

Now the Hoosiers and Ducks will meet again for the second time in as many weeks.

The No. 9-seeded Hoosiers face the No. 8-seeded Ducks in the opening game Thursday of the Big Ten Tournament. They tipoff at noon ET with the winner facing No. 1 seed Michigan State at noon on Friday in a quarterfinal contest.

Indiana was competitive last week at Oregon. The Hoosiers were leading by a point with less than two minutes to go when Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad hit a deep 3-point shot to ignite a game-finishing 10-0 run by the Ducks.

Indiana could have cemented its NCAA Tournament credentials with a win at Oregon last week.The stakes are similar this week with one big difference: It’s Indiana last chance to solidify their resume.

Here's a further breakdown of the Ducks.

Key players

• C Nate Bittle: 14.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.2 bpg.
• G Jackson Shelstad: 13.3 ppg, 3 rpg.
• G TJ Bamba: 10.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg.
• G Keeshawn Barthelemy: 10.2 ppg.
• F Brandon Angel: 8.4 ppg, 4 rpg.
• F Jadrian Tracy: 7.2 ppg.
• F Kwame Evans Jr.: 6.3 ppg.
• F Supreme Cook: 5 ppg.
• G Ra’Heim Moss: 1.6 ppg.

2024-25 Schedule (23-8, 12-8)

• W, 91-76, UC Riverside, Nov. 4
• W, 79-48, Montana, Nov. 8.
• W, 80-70, OT, Portland, Nov. 12.
• W, 82-61, Troy, Nov. 17.
• W, 78-75, at Oregon State, Nov. 21.
• W, 80-70, Texas A&M, Nov. 26 – Las Vegas.
• W, 78-68, San Diego State, Nov. 27 – Las Vegas.
• W, 83-81, Alabama, Nov. 30.
• W, 68-60, at USC, Dec. 4.
• L, 73-71, UCLA, Dec. 8.
• W, 79-61, Stephen F. Austin, Dec. 15.
• W, 76-61, Stanford, Dec. 21 – San Jose, Calif.
• W, 89-49, Weber State, Dec. 29.
• L, 109-77, Illinois, Jan. 2.
• W, 83-79, Maryland, Jan. 5.
• W, 73-71, at Ohio State, Jan. 9.
• W, 82-81, at Penn State, Jan. 12.
• L, 65-58, Purdue, Jan. 18.
• W, 82-71, Washington, Jan. 21.
• L, 77-69, at Minnesota, Jan. 25.
• L, 78-52, at UCLA, Jan. 30.
• L, 77-71, Nebraska, Feb. 2.
• L, 80-76, at Michigan, Feb. 5.
• L, 86-74, at Michigan State, Feb. 8.
• W, 81-75, Northwestern, Feb. 11.
• W, 75-57, Rutgers, Feb. 16.
• W, 80-78, at Iowa, Feb. 19.
• W, 77-73, OT, at Wisconsin, Feb. 22.
• W, 82-61, USC, March 1.
• W, 73-64, Indiana, March 4.
• W, 80-73, OT, at Washington, March 9.

Series history

• Indiana leads 3-1. Oregon won the 2025 meeting 73-64 on March 4. Indiana’s victories all came in Portland, Ore., the most recent in 1978.

Head coach: Dana Altman

Altman is in his 15th season at Oregon. He has a 368-160 record with the Ducks since the 2010-11 season. Previous to Oregon, Altman was head coach at Marshall (1989-90), Kansas State (1990-94) and Creighton (1994-2010). As a Division I coach, Altman is 778-403.

Before he was a head coach, Altman was an assistant at Western Colorado (1980-82) and Kansas State (1986-89). Between those stints, Altman was head coach at Southeast Community College (1982-83) and Moberly Community College (1983-86).

Strengths

Typically, this space is reserved for evaluating individual and team strengths, but since the two teams played so recently, we can delve into what Oregon did well against the Hoosiers versus what they typically do.

Much to Indiana coach Mike Woodson’s chagrin, the Ducks were able to get to the free throw line far more often than the Hoosiers. Oregon had a 21-7 edge in attempts and out-scored Indiana 19-3 at the line.

The disparity was wider than usual, but the Ducks usually attempt more free throws than their opponent. The average margin is 19-16.

Oregon outrebounded Indiana by a 43-36 margin. That’s above Oregon’s season average of having a 25-23 edge. Brandon Angel nearly doubled his usual average with eight boards.

The Ducks don’t turn the ball over a lot, and that was the case against the Hoosiers as they only had nine giveaways. Their season average is 11.1.

Three important Oregon players – Jackson Shelstad (17 points), Nate Bittle (14) and TJ Bamba (13) – all exceeded or met their scoring average against the Hoosiers. Oregon also profited from Kwame Evans’ 10-point effort, well above his season average of 6.3 points.

Indiana played into the hands of center Bittle. The best shot blocker in the Big Ten, Bittle had four blocks against the Hoosiers. Part of it was Malik Reneau getting himself too deep on catches and when he put the ball on the floor. Reneau was 4 of 12 from the field.

Indiana took away one Oregon strength. The Ducks shot just 24% from 3-point range.

Weaknesses

As mentioned, Oregon wasn’t very good from 3-point range, but that’s atypical.

Oregon didn’t do a great job on Indiana center Oumar Ballo. He had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Trey Galloway was also a pest against the Ducks as he was able to get dribble penetration on numerous occasions, and several times that led to a made floater in the lane.

Typically, Oregon is solid in defending the 3-point shot as opponents average 31.5%, but Indiana was able to do better at 36%. Luke Goode, Mackenzie Mgbako, Kanaan Carlyle and Galloway made two 3-pointers against the Ducks.

Shooting-wise, Oregon was streakier than the Hoosiers. After starting 10 of 18 from the field, Oregon proceeded to miss 13 of its next 15 attempts. The Ducks also only made one bucket from the 11:57 to 6:46 mark in the second half – part of how Indiana was able to take the lead.

Season and game outlook

Oumar Ballo. — Indiana Hoosiers center Oumar Ballo (11) grabs an offensive rebound away from Oregon Ducks forward Kwame Evans Jr. (10), guard Jadrian Tracey (2), and center Nate Bittle (32) during the second half at Matthew Knight Arena. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Indiana still has work to do to be safely in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers’ NET ranking was No. 52 as of Tuesday. In tandem with four Quad 1 wins, that’s okay, but not a cinch to make the field for sure. A victory over Oregon on a neutral floor would count as a Quad 1 win and likely solidify Indiana’s spot in the NCAA Tournament field.

Oregon has NCAA Tournament seeding to concern itself with if it can make a run in Indianapolis. Apart from that, Oregon is in the NCAA Tournament field and doesn’t have anything at stake otherwise.