For the second straight game, the Ducks found themselves trailing by double digits in the first half.
This time, however, they managed to get out.
Point guard Jackson Shelstad scored 23 points with a career-high five 3-pointers to lead No. 9 Oregon to an 83-79 Big Ten men’s basketball win over No. 24 Oregon. Maryland at Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The victory came three days after a blowout loss to No. 22 Illinois, when the Fighting Illini scored 109 points — the most allowed by Oregon in a regulation game in nearly 60 years.
Sunday’s crowd of 7,427 was no doubt wondering if the Ducks (13-2, 2-2 Big Ten) were heading that way again when they fell behind by 13 to the Terrapins (11-4, 1-3) just 10 minutes into the game.
Instead, the Ducks rallied with Shelstad leading the way as the sophomore shot 8-for-13 from the field and 5-for-5 from 3-point range. He was one point away from his career high in goals.
“Today I got hot and trusted my shot,” said Shelstad, who made his first seven attempts from the field.
Oregon center Nate Bittle also had 16 points and six rebounds, Keeshawn Barthelemy added 14 points and Jadrian Tracey and Kwame Evans Jr. scored 10 each.
Barthelemy broke a 76-76 tie with a 3-pointer with 2:14 left on a pass from Bittle as the big man fell backwards in the paint.
Bittle then made it a two-score game, 81-76, with a couple of free throws after being fouled on a rebound with 1:31 left.
Shelstad added two points from the free throw line with 13.9 seconds left.
Maryland, which was led by 19 points from Rodney Rice, scored just one point in the final 2:13 until getting a layup at the buzzer.
“I’m just proud of the guys for bouncing back,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “We went down early and we could have given in and we fought. We did a good job of staying that way and finding a way to win the game.
Oregon’s first-half rally kept the Ducks in the game
The Ducks appeared to be headed for trouble when the Terrapins took a 30-17 lead midway through the first half.
But Shelstad, who scored 14 on 5-of-5 shooting in the first half, had other plans to get Oregon back into the game.
Shelstad scored eight points during a 13-3 run that cut the Ducks’ deficit to one point — 33-32 — with 5:24 remaining.
Maryland extended its lead to 45-37, but Oregon scored the final five points of the half to lead 45-42 at the break.
After trailing by 13, the Ducks made nine of their final 13 shots from the field and shot 51.7 percent for the half. They finished the game shooting 51.8% (29 for 56) from the field to 42.9% (12 for 28) from 3-point range.
“We knew what we had to do,” Bittle said. “We got yelled at the other night. We knew coming out that they were a good team. They were in front of us on the NET. So it was just another game where we can show what kind of team we can be and forget about the last game.
What’s next for Oregon men’s basketball?
The Ducks will get a taste of life on the road in the Big Ten Conference with games at Ohio State on Thursday and at Penn State next Sunday. So far this season, Oregon’s only away games have been in familiar, friendly places, like the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
The game against the Buckeyes (7-5, 1-2) will be at 3 p.m. and the game against Penn State (12-3, 2-2) will be at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article was originally published on Register-Guard: No. 9 Oregon men’s basketball rallies to beat No. 24 Maryland
