Oregon men's basketball loses to Colorado, but still gains Pac-12 Tournament bye

Oregon's loss to Colorado won't keep it from getting a bye in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Oregon State, of all teams, gave the Ducks a helping hand.

Oregon fell to Colorado, 79-75, Thursday night in front of 7,794 at Matthew Knight Arena, giving the Buffaloes a season sweep of the Ducks and securing third place in the conference standings.

But the Beavers' stunning win against Utah in Corvallis on Thursday kept Oregon firmly in fourth place and prevented a showdown for the No. 4 tournament seed on Saturday when the Ducks and Utes play at 4 p.m. in Eugene.

Oregon will head to Las Vegas next week with a first-round bye. The Ducks will play at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and will play the winner of Wednesday's game between the No. 5 and No. 12 seeds.

Oregon (19-11, 11-8 Pac-12) and Colorado (21-9, 12-7) came into their penultimate game of the regular season tied for third in the conference, a spot in the standings the Buffaloes no longer will share.

“Disappointed,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “We had our opportunity … and so we’re just gonna have to bounce back on Saturday.”

Career night for Jackson Shelstad; double-double for N'Faly Dante

The Ducks lost despite a career-scoring night from freshman point guard Jackson Shelstad, who finished with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting with three 3-pointers and six assists.

It was a career high for made field goals and one away from his career high for field-goal attempts.

“He got a couple shots down early and got it going,” Altman said. “Any shooter, when you get a couple down early, it always helps. I thought he did a really good job there being aggressive.”

The loss also came despite a double-double from center N’Faly Dante, who had 20 points,12 rebounds, five blocks and four assists. He was perfect from the floor, making all 10 of his field-goal attempts.

Jermaine Couisnard, who was coming off a career-best 39-point performance Saturday against Arizona — the most points by a Pac-12 player this season — finished with 17 points, 10 of which came in the final 8 minutes.

How it happened

A 9-0 run by Colorado late in the game provided the cushion it would need to seal the win.

The score was tied 61-61 with 5:14 to play when Oregon’s Jadrian Tracey missed an uncontested 3-point shot, slapping the floor in frustration after the ball hit off the rim.

Tristan da Silva countered with a made 3 at the other end for Colorado to put the Buffaloes up.

On the Ducks’ return trip down the court, Dante turned the ball over with a pass into traffic and KJ Simpson went in for the layup as Colorado went up 66-61.

A couple more layups for Colorado followed missed shots by Oregon — a 3-pointer by Shelstad and a jumper by Couisnard — to give the Buffaloes their largest lead of the game, 70-61, with 3:22 remaining.

“Oh my God,” Altman said as he threw his arms into the air in frustration. “We made so may defensive mistakes for, what is today, March 7? Just gave them baskets.”

The Ducks clawed back and a 3-pointer by Couisnard cut their deficit to 76-75 with 37 seconds to play.

Dante blocked a layup attempt by Da Sliva with 17 seconds left, but the Buffaloes scored on the ensuing inbounds play with 13.4 on the clock to make it 78-75. Couisnard’s game-tying 3-point attempt hit off the front of the rim with 2.1 to play.

Overall, the Ducks shot 53.3% from the field to 55.2% for the Buffaloes, who won the rebounding battle, 36-24.

“You shoot 53% at home and score 75 points you should win the game,” Altman said.

Da Silva scored 22 to pace Colorado.

Oregon can’t sustain hot start

The Ducks looked like they were going to turn the game into a rout when they went on an 18-4 run early in the first half to go up by 12 points.

Colorado scored the first basket of the game but Oregon followed with the next 11 points — including seven straight by Shelstad — to begin its hot start. A 3-pointer by Couisnard put the Ducks up 18-6 with 12:44 to play in the half.

But the Buffaloes scored the next 11 as Da Silva heated up with layups, jumpers and even a 3-pointer as he scored 14 of his 16 first-half points over the final 12:00.

The lead changed hands four times in the final 1:53 but the score was 37-37 at halftime.

The Ducks shot 53.3% in the first half, with Shelstad and Dante leading the way. Shelstad was 7-for-10 from the field and Dante, who had 10 points and six rebounds, was 5-for-5. The rest of the team was 4-for-15 for 11 points.

Colorado shot 60.7% in the first half, with Da Silva making 7-of-10 from the field.

What’s next for Oregon?

The Ducks and Utes (18-12, 9-10) will play at 4 p.m. Saturday in Matthew Knight Arena in the final game of the regular season.

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

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon loses to Colorado, but still gains Pac-12 Tournament bye