Dana Altman Speaks Candidly After Oregon's Embarrassing Big Ten Tournament Loss

The Oregon Ducks lost to the Maryland Terrapins 70-60 on Tuesday, March 10, in the Big Ten Tournament and Maryland will advances to face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Wednesday. The Ducks, on the other hand, are eliminated from the conference tournament and a rather disappointing season comes to an end.

After the game, Oregon coach Dana Altman spoke about his reaction to finishing the season with a 12-20 record.

oregon ducks dana altman big ten tournament loss dana altman maryland terrapins nate bittle chicago losing record — Mar 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman during the first half against the Maryland Terrapins at United Center. M | David Banks-Imagn Images

"Really disappointed in the way we started the game, obviously. It's my job to have them ready to play, and that first half was awful. . . . The guys really battled, tried to get themselves back in it the second half — cleaned up some of the board play, made a couple shots," said Altman.

"I'm disappointed for these guys (Nate Bittle and Kwame Evans Jr.)," said Altman. "They've been in two NCAA Tournaments, last year, the last two years, and the expectations were for us to win again, and we didn't. Part of that's injuries; part of that's poor decisions that I made in recruiting and not getting enough experience."

"So when our experience did go down, whether it was Jackson or Nate, we weren't able to keep anything together. We haven't had the assist-to-turnover ratio, the ball movement, the playmaking for KJ and for Nate that we needed to. No, I'm disappointed. It's been 30 years since I had a losing season, or my teams have had a losing season. So it's kind of hard to digest," Altman continued.

As mentioned by Altman, the Ducks have won at least 20 games since the 2010 season, Altman's first season as the Ducks coach. With nine NCAA Tournament appearances and one Final Four in the Altman era at Oregon, the Ducks' basketball program has been a consistent competitor, making this losing season a surprising one.

Oregon Ducks Fall to Maryland Terrapins in Chicago

The year ended in ugly fashion as the Ducks missed their first 11 field goal attempts from the floor to start the game as Maryland jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the first media timeout. Oregon's first points came on two made free throws from forward Kwame Evans Jr., but the team struggled to get much going on the offensive end.

The team started 0-7 on three-point attempts, and they ended the first half trailing Maryland 33-12.

The second half was a different story, as the Ducks outscored the Terrapins 48-37. However, it was too little, too late, as Maryland consistently held a double-digit lead over Oregon. As a team, the Ducks ended the game shooting 36.5 percent from the floor and 19 percent (4 of 21) on three-point attempts.

Oregon center Nate Bittle finished with 16 points and six rebounds, and forward Kwame Evans Jr. added 14 points and 9 rebounds of his own.

Dana Altman, Oregon Ducks Moving Forward

Earlier in the season, Oregon publicly expressed its support for Altman as the school's basketball coach, but one has to wonder if his seat is warming up at all. Still, the Ducks dealt with injuries throughout the season, and the offense seemed to miss guard Jackson Shelstad who only played 12 games during the year.

How Altman retools the roster will be worth monitoring. The transfer portal opens the day after the NCAA Tournament ends on April 6. Starting on April 7, the portal will be open for 15 days. Players have to enter the transfer portal before the deadline, but they do not have to make their decisions before the portal closes.

In previous seasons, the transfer portal for college basketball has been open during March Madness. However, the window changed in 2026, and Oregon's early exit from the postseason gives Altman and the Ducks some extra time to prepare and scout for the portal.