First, there was Bad Oregon.
The 81-49 pounding by BYU. “It shouldn’t happen for our program. I’m totally embarrassed,” coach Dana Altman said afterward. The 62-50 loss to Saint Mary’s. The 78-49 steamrolling by Houston. In those three games, the Ducks scored 18, 15 and 19 points in the first half and never shot 40 percent. “How we have regressed in the last two weeks just shocks me,” Altman said after the Houston thrashing.
Then, there was Unlucky Oregon.
An overtime defeat at home to Arizona State was followed by a loss on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer at Stanford. The Ducks had been ranked No. 12 early in the season and been picked to finish second in the Pac-12. The Stanford game left them 5-5.
Next, came Showing Signs Oregon.
There was another defeat, but this was 78-70 to top-ranked Baylor, and the Ducks made a fight of it. “You look back at the losses we had like BYU and Houston, we didn’t compete. And we got kicked,” said guard De’Vion Harmon, “Tonight we competed, and I’m proud of that . . . but we’ve got to move on.”
And now? Here’s On A Roll Oregon.
The team that was once 6-6 has now won five in a row. November’s ugly ducklings have turned into January’s swans, and they just spent a truly historic weekend in southern California. The Ducks went into Pauley Pavilion Thursday and stunned No. 3 UCLA in overtime 84-81. Two days later, they marched into the Galen Center and dominated No. 5 USC 79-69.
The No. 3 Bruins were the highest ranked opponent Oregon had ever beaten on the road. According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Ducks are only the third team in history to beat two Associated Press top-5 teams on the road in a five-day span, and the first to do it in 46 years. No Pac-12 team had ever swept a road trip against…
