Oregon men's basketball ends the regular season with win against the Utah Utes

The ending was a bit frantic, but the final result was just what the Ducks needed.

Oregon went scoreless in the final four minutes but still held on to defeat Utah, 66-65, Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena in the final Pac-12 men’s basketball game of the regular season.

The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Ducks (20-11, 12-8 Pac-12), prevented their first three-game slide of the season, and secured coach Dana Altman’s 26th 20-win season, including 14 straight while at Oregon.

Now all eyes turn to the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas, which starts on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena. The Ducks, as the No. 4 seed, won’t play until the quarterfinals on Thursday. They’ll need to win three games in three days in Las Vegas in a last-ditch effort to make the NCAA Tournament.

“We gotta get ready for Thursday,” Altman said.

N’Faly Dante dominant once again

N’Faly Dante dominated for the Ducks with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. He was 8-for-9 from the field and has made 18 of his last 19 shots.

It was Dante’s third straight double-double, and the seventh in his 17 games this season.

“He’s a difference maker,” Altman said. “I mean, another double-double … and his defensive effort in the second half I thought was really good.”

Jermaine Couisnard also had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Jackson Shelstad had 12 points.

Final minutes go Oregon’s way

The Ducks went up 65-59 on a dunk by Dante with 4:50 to play and it looked like momentum was with Oregon heading into the final minutes.

Instead, the Ducks made just one more field goal in their final eight shots. That allowed the Utes to get back into the game as they cut their deficit to one point on a pair of free throws by Deivon Smith with 38 seconds to play.

On the Ducks' ensuing possession, Couisnard handled the ball as the clock wound down then drove into traffic for a contested layup.

Couisnard hit the deck as his shot bounced off the backboard with 11.2 seconds left. Utah grabbed the rebound and quickly got down the court. Ben Carlson took an open 3-pointer from the corner for the win but the shot hit off the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“It was a grind,” Couisnard said. “We just had to grind it out. … We just had to find ways to get stops.”

Utah, which went up 53-48 with 12:13 to play following back-to-back 3-pointers by Hunter Erickson, shot 2-for-15 from the field the rest of the way as the Ducks tightened up on defense.

“We did just enough to get a win,” Altman said.

Utah injury plays a role

The game changed early in the second half when Utah’s best player, senior center Branden Carlson, left the game with an apparent elbow injury after getting tangled up with Dante in the paint.

The injury came with 17:02 left in the game and Utah leading 45-40.

Branden Carlson had 19 points and five rebounds when he left.

“There’s no doubt him not playing makes a difference,” Altman said. “(Injuries are) part of the game. We’ve suffered through that for few years here.”

Ducks can’t maintain fast start

For the second straight game, Oregon built an early double-digit lead it couldn’t hold.

The Ducks made their first five shots of the game and six of their first seven to take a 15-5 advantage by the 15:16 mark.

That was the highlight of the half for Oregon, which made just four of their next 22 attempts from the field with misses on nine-straight 3-point attempts. They trailed 37-32 by halftime and went into the locker room shooting 34.5% from the field and 25.0% from 3-point range.

They also had no answer for Branden Carlson. Two nights after scoring a career-high 40 against Oregon State, he had 17 points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting with three 3-pointers.

What’s next for Oregon

The Ducks head to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament where they will play a quarterfinal game at 2:30 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Oregon State and UCLA. The game will air live on Pac-12 Networks.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Takeaways from Oregon Ducks men's basketball's win against Utah Utes