Oregon
Oregon delivers largest comeback win of the year over the Cal
Facing a confident California Golden Bears team coming off a historic comeback win vs the Colorado Buffaloes, the Oregon Ducks showed resilience in their 80-73 victory Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks struggled straight from the tip, as they couldn’t get anything going early on. Cal came out of the gates hot, hitting seemingly every shot they put up, while on the other side of the floor turning the faucet off for the Ducks. Midway through the half, Cal went on a 13-3 run and extended their lead to 18 points.
Facing its largest deficit of the season, Oregon made quick adjustments to get back into the game. It closed the half on a 16-2 run in the final three and a half minutes and trimmed the deficit to just four points going into the half. This late first-half surge was led by Oregon guard Jermaine Couisnard, as he went 4-for-5 from three, with a couple of those capping off the half. He finished the game as Oregon’s leading scorer, with 18 points in 34 minutes.
In addition to the offensive surge, it was the defensive effort that brought the Ducks back into the game. It was apparent that Oregon head coach Dana Altman told his team to bump up their aggression and intensity level. This led to a full-court press that bothered Cal’s guards bringing up the ball, as well as a tight point-of-attack defense in the halfcourt.
The Ducks were able to carry their late half momentum into the second half, and contain the Golden Bears offense, finishing the game out with their defense.
Limiting California’s “Big three”
Surely Oregon’s main focus heading into this game was how they were going to contain the Golden Bears’ three best players: Jaylon Tyson, Jalen Cone, and Fardaws Aimaq.
Tyson is currently leading the Pac-12 in scoring, averaging over 20 points per game. Tonight, while he still got to that number, scoring exactly 20 points, it didn’t come easy.
Tyson got some good looks to start the game, but once the Ducks made their defensive adjustments. They forced their point-of-attack defense to focus on him. Doing so made him take the ball out of his hands and make other players try to beat them, which ended up working in the Ducks’ favor.
Baskets became limited for Tyson specifically in the second half, as he shot only 3-of-13 from the field.
Cone, his backcourt running mate, is leading the conference in 3-point attempts and is second in the country with 10 three-point attempts per game.
On Saturday, he was limited to 1-of-8 from three, which was a credit to Oregon’s perimeter defense and ability to switch over the screens that were set for him, making each look he had tough.
California’s center, Aimaq, certainly had two distinct halves. To start the game, he seemingly had his way with whatever he wanted. Despite Oregon’s center Mahamadou Diawara playing strong defense on him, he was getting good looks inside of the paint and finishing with ease. He finished the first half with 14 points. In the second half, he was bottled up entirely, scoring only four points.
How did N’Faly Dante look in his return?
After returning from a successful knee surgery, N’Faly Dante played his first minutes after missing the last 14 games. With both his injury and his teammate Nate Bittle‘s injury, Oregon has been forced to play a version of small ball these last few weeks.
In doing so, the Ducks have found success, as their record reflects that being now 13-3 and 5-0 in conference play.
Dante played a total of 17 minutes in his return where he came off the bench. While the numbers he put up weren’t anything eye-catching, his presence was felt immediately on the court. Oregon tried to get him going right away with a couple of low post touches, but his first basket came from an emphatic dunk off of a baseline out-of-bounds play. He finished with eight points, four of which came from mid-range jump shots which looked smooth.
Defensively Dante looked strong, protecting the rim with a volleyball-like spike block into the crowd. It was clear that he is still getting his legs back, he caught himself with his hands on his knees winded from the fast-paced gameplay. He will likely see his minutes increase game by game until he gets back to his normal rotation.
Next up
The Ducks will now travel to Boulder, Co. to face a hungry Buffaloes team that is coming off their third loss in a row. Headlined by top-five projected lottery pick Cody Williams, the Buffs will look to spoil Oregon’s perfect conference record.
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.”
The Oregon Ducks have been progressing through the class of 2027 with hopes of landing some of their top target’s commitment on both the offense and the defense.
With many names left on the board, the Ducks have started to receive some great news, including some news from someone they have been targeting since they offered back in January of 2025.
Darius Johnson Releases His Top Four Schools
One of the Ducks top targets’ in the 2027 class at the cornerback position is Darius Johnson. Johnson recently released his top schools with Hayes Fawcett, as he is entering a crucial part of his recruitment. The four schools he has listed at the top include the California Golden Bears, Michigan Wolverines, UCLA Bruins, and the Oregon Ducks.
Johnson is one of the better cornerbacks in the country. He currently ranks as the nation’s No. 178 prospect in the country, No. 20 player at the position, and the No. 14 player in the state of California, according to Rivals. Landing his commitment would be major for any of the schools, as he is someone who could see the field early due to his size, and his growing ability to lockdown a side of the field all by himself.
More About Darius Johnson
Johnson currently measures in at 6-1 and 155 pounds, and will be someone who continues to add weight through his high school program, and will eventually have the chance to really improve his frame when he gets to college. As of now, each of the four schools has a solid chance to win its recruiting battle, but there seems to be a clear leader at this moment.
The leader for the Ducks target seems to be the Michigan Wolverines, who have the only scheduled official visit at this moment. It seems likely that the talented prospect will schedule his other official visits sooner rather than later now that he has officially cut down his list. If the Ducks want to land his commitment, they will need to get him on an official visit because they are likely trailing at this point.
What If He Committed to Oregon Today?
If he were to commit to the Ducks today, he would be the ninth commitment for the Ducks in the class of 2027. He would also be the third cornerback commit for the Ducks in the class of 2027, which is a position they have been recruiting heavily. The cornerbacks the Ducks have at this moment are four-star Ai’King Hall from the state of Alabama and four-star Josiah Molden from the state of Oregon.
Some of their other commits at this moment include four-star EDGE Rashad Streets, four-star defensive linemen Zane Rowe, and four-star EDGE Cameron Pritchett. This class is shaping up to be another top-five class if the pieces continue to fall into place for Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff.
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