Oregon Ducks Basketball Defeated By Minnesota, Nate Bittle Held Scoreless

The Oregon Ducks lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 77-69 in Minneapolis on Saturday afternoon. Minnesota came out of the gates on fire from the field, but the Ducks were able to battle back. The Golden Gophers defense stepped up in the second half and was the key to upsetting the No. 15 ranked Ducks.

Oregon dropped to 16-4 on the season and 5-4 in in Big Ten play. Minnesota is now 11-9 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play.

Oregon Loses Their First Road Game of Season in Minnesota

Jan 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Oregon Ducks guard Jadrian Tracey (2) saves the ball from going out of bounds against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images | Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

The Oregon Ducks came into Saturday’s matchup against Minnesota undefeated on the road at 4-0, with wins at Oregon State, USC, Ohio State, and Penn State. That streak came to end in their 77-69 loss to the Gophers.

Minnesota was shot out of a cannon in the first seven minutes of the game and took a 26-8 lead over the Ducks. In this stretch, Minnesota shot 10/14 from the field, 4/6 from three-point land, and turned the ball over zero times.

The Ducks started to figure things out offensively to keep up with the Gophers throughout the rest of the half, led by Oregon forward Brandon Angel’s 15 points. Oregon went into the half down just 44-38 despite Minnesota shooting 56.7 percent from the field. The 44 points were the most points scored in half for the Gophers in all of their Big Ten conference games so far this season.

Oregon came out of the half on a 8-0 run to take their first lead at 46-44 with just over 17 minutes to go in the game. Minnesota then turned the screws on defense and had Oregon’s offense scrambling for the remainder of the game. Minnesota got timely buckets from the game’s leading scorer, forward Dawson Garcia, who had a season high 31 points.

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After Minnesota got their lead up to 67-60 with just under three minutes to go, Ducks guard Jackson Shelstad started to get Oregon back in the game. He hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 67-63 and shortly after converted an and-one to make the Minnesota lead just 70-68 with a little over a minute to go.

Oregon got the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead after a Gophers offensive foul, but Shelstad missed the go-ahead three pointer. Garcia and Mike Mitchell Jr. iced the game down the stretch with a couple buckets and a pair of free throws. The 77-69 win is Minnesota’s third straight victory.

Nate Bittle Held Scoreless In Loss

Jan 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Oregon Ducks center Nate Bittle (32) controls the ball as Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) defends during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images | Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Oregon center Nate Bittle had a rough go of it on Saturday. Bittle is the Ducks leading scorer this season, averaging 13.6 points per game. He shot 0/3 from the field and 0/2 from the free throw line against Minnesota, scoring zero points for the first time all season. Bittle battled foul trouble all night and was never able to get in a rhythm on either side of the ball.

Next up for Oregon is another road game at UCLA on Jan. 30. Expect coach Dana Altman to make it a point to get Bittle going in that one.

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