Oregon
Oregon men’s basketball’s long win-streak vs. Utah ends in close game
For the first time in a long time, Oregon came up empty handed in its Pac-12 men’s basketball mountain roadtrip.
In an entertaining game that included 15 lead changes and nine ties, the Ducks couldn’t capitalize on scoring chances in the final seconds against Utah Sunday afternoon, losing 80-77 in the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
Oregon (13-5, 5-2 Pac-12) had won 11 straight against Utah (14-5, 5-3), and 20 of its last 21 in the series. That included eight straight road wins. The Utes’ last win against the Ducks came on Dec. 29, 2017 in Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks left for their road trip last week on a six-game winning streak. But along with Thursday’s loss to Colorado in Boulder, they’ve now lost back-to-back games for just the second time this season.
Two-man game on offense for the Ducks
Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard scored 26 on 9-of-15 shooting with a career-high seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts.
N’Faly Dante, in his best performance since returning from knee surgery three games ago, had 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, with 10 rebounds and a team-high six assists.
“He played an unbelievable game,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said during his postgame radio interview on KUJZ-FM. “He was so focused and so prepared.”
Both players had chances in the final seconds to either put Oregon in the lead or tie the score but couldn’t convert.
With Oregon trailing 76-75, Couisnard missed his layup attempt on a drive to the basket with 12 seconds to play. Dante grabbed the rebound but missed an uncontested put-back.
Utah went up 78-75 with 8.3 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Cole Bajema.
Oregon’s Keeshawn Barthelemy was fouled with 5 seconds to play, made his first attempt to make it 78-76, then intentionally missed his second attempt. Dante got the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line with 1.4 seconds on the clock and a chance to tie the score.
Dante missed his first free-throw attempt, then tried to intentionally miss his second as well, but instead banked in the shot to make it 78-77.
Oregon quickly fouled on the inbounds play and Bajema made two more free throws with 1.2 seconds to play to seal the victory.
Deivon Smith nearly had a triple-double for the Utes, with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
It was the first loss for the Ducks this season in their five games decided by five points or less. It was also their fifth loss this season in the six games that they’ve given up at least 80 points.
“I’m not the smartest guy around, but we’re 1-5 when we give up 80,” Altman said. “Our defensive performance has got to improve.”
Oregon led 33-32 at halftime but Utah scored 48 in the second half on 17-of-25 shooting (68.0%).
“You can’t give up 48 points in a half,” Altman said. “Just really disappointed with some of our focus.”
Oregon went with a different starting lineup
Altman made a change to the starting lineup Sunday, replacing freshman forward Kwame Evans Jr. with Jadrian Tracey, two players who had been trending in different directions the last couple of games.
It didn’t have much of an effect.
Tracey, who had 14-point performances off the bench in back-to-back games, got into foul trouble and ended up finishing with no points on 0-for-3 shooting before fouling out after playing just 19 minutes.
Evans had made 16 straight starts but was coming off consecutive games where he had a combined five points and six rebounds. He finished with two points and two rebounds in 11 minutes on Sunday.
What’s next for the Ducks
The Ducks return to Matthew Knight Arena against Arizona State (11-7, 5-2) at 6 p.m. Thursday and Arizona (14-4, 5-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The Ducks, Wildcats and Sun Devils are tied for first place in the Pac-12 standings.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
The Oregon Ducks are set for one of the biggest timelines of their recruiting cycle, as many top targets are nearing commitments. This time around, the Ducks have a ton of top targets still remaining on their board compared to past seasons, as the Ducks have eight total commitments at this time.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff still need to land a safety commitment, but three-star safety Elijah Butler out of Maryland recently included the Ducks in his final six schools.
Oregon Target Elijah Butler Makes Exciting Recruiting Announcement
Butler announced his top six schools ahead of a crucial part of his recruitment, according to a graphic by Leyton Roberts. The Ducks made the cut alongside the Maryland Terrapins, Virginia Tech Hokies, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The talented prospect would be a great addition for any of these teams, as they could all use a safety prospect at this point in the recruiting timeline.
Butler is from the state of Maryland, which makes the Terrapins one to watch.
It is also worth noting that he has been labeled as one of the best players in the state of Maryland, as he currently ranks as the state’s No. 9 prospect, according to Rivals. This is important as the Terrapins have always made solid attempts to land their in-state stars, including last season when they landed one of the better players in the state’s history, Zion Elee.
As of now, the prospect hasn’t been predicted to land with any of these schools, which means it is likely still a tight race entering the official visit schedule. He has yet to schedule an official visit with all of the schools he has listed in his top six, as he is still missing three key official visits. Butler has scheduled official visits with Alabama, Auburn, and Florida, according to 247Sports. This means he still needs to set one with Oregon, Virginia Tech, and Maryland if he wants to take one to each school.
If the Ducks are able to get Butler on a visit, then they would likely be in a more favorable position to land his commitment, as it currently. seems they are one of the trailing teams from this list. It seems highly unlikely that the Ducks will gain his commitment unless they get him on an official visit, which is still possible at this point, as plenty of top prospects across the nation are still scheduling their official visits.
As of now, the Ducks have 27 prospects set to take an official visit, according to 247Sports. Among all of the prospects who have scheduled a visit thus far, only one of the players is listed as a safety. That player is a three-star target, Junior Tu’upo. This leads one to believe that the Ducks could try to get Butler on a visit, or at a minimum, pitch their program to the prospect from St Frances Academy.
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BLUE RIVER, Ore. (KATU) — The founder of a former disaster relief nonprofit is being sued for allegedly diverting nearly $837,000 in donations and grants for personal gain.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed the lawsuit Thursday against the founder and executive director of Cascade Relief Team (CRT), Marcus Brooks. In the complaint, Rayfield calls CRT “a sham.”
Brooks is accused of stealing donations and government grants meant for disaster relief following wildfires and flooding in 2020, and using it for personal expenses including casino visits, travel, vehicles, and more.
CRT was founded in 2020 and was hired for cleanup and relief services following the Labor Day Wildfires that burned over 1 million acres across Oregon.
In Blue River, an unincorporated community in the McKenzie River Valley, the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire destroyed nearly 800 homes and burned more than 173,000 acres.
I am angry that my community was taken advantage of
Just months after the fire, long-time Blue River resident Melanie Stanley said CRT stepped in and promised help to the community.
“For us, it was…like a savior at that point,” Stanley said.
Stanley was the manager for the Blue River Resource Center and worked for Brooks to help facilitate recovery efforts. She said CRT operations slowly became questionable.
“None of us knew the level at which all of this stuff that finally came out was at,” Stanley said. “We knew that there was some stuff that had started to look hinky or feel hinky, or there was just some lack of communication that was happening. There were some other things that were happening, and so we just all were kind of guarded.”
In fall of 2023 the nonprofit was reported to have run out of money, and Brooks allegedly fired staff without disclosing the organization’s financial conditions and did not notify donors or beneficiaries. Stanley was one of those people fired.
The state now claims the funds that were meant to go towards communities like Blue River, never made it out of Brooks’ hands, including donations given by Blue River neighbors.
“I am angry that my community was taken advantage of, and I am angry that they now have to worry about trusting when something else happens, because we know something else is going to happen,” Stanley said. “We hope to God it’s never anything as big or as bad as what has happened, but you know, we also have learned that groups like Locals Helping Locals…they are our foundation, and they are because they’re us.”
The state is seeking to recover the money, permanently bar Brooks from serving in a leadership role at a charitable organization and dissolve the nonprofit.
Stanley said Brooks’ actions have tainted reputations.
“We as a community and as the people from the community who helped kind of put all of these things together, we did what was asked of us,” Stanley said. “We did help clean things, and we did help get things to provide, you know, more progress and get things moving forward, and we did good work, and so I just really hope that this is not overshadowed.”
According to Stanley, Blue River’s recovery now stands at 50%.
“We will be very picky from here on out about who and what groups gets let in to help with anything,” Stanley said. “And sadly, it may be to our detriment, but he did more damage now, as far as reputations go, and for that I’m angry. I’m very angry.”
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