Oregon aims to break a 10-game losing streak Saturday afternoon in Eugene, Ore., when the Ducks host Penn State in a matchup of the two teams at the bottom of the Big Ten Conference.
Last-place Oregon (8-16, 1-12 Big Ten) has not been at full strength for much of the season — and it likely won’t be for the rest of the campaign, with star guard Jackson Shelstad’s season appearing to be over due to a hand injury.
Shelstad hurt his hand before the season, returned in the second game and re-injured it just before the start of Big Ten play. He’s unlikely to come back before the season ends.
The Ducks nearly pulled off a big upset last weekend against then-No. 12 Purdue, but Oregon lost 68-64 to the Boilermakers. Most recently, Oregon was defeated 92-74 at Indiana on Monday.
Head coach Dana Altman stressed that the Ducks have yet to play a conference game where Shelstad, center Nate Bittle and forward Kwame Evans Jr., the team’s most experienced players and key scorers, have all been on the court together.
“So, you know, it hasn’t been good,” Altman said earlier this week. “We knew we had to have those three guys on the floor all the time for experience.”
Penn State (11-14, 2-12) is coming off a 63-60 win at Washington on Wednesday night, the Nittany Lions’ first Big Ten road win of the season. Their three leading scorers are Freddie Dilione IV (14.6 points per game), Kayden Mingo (13.4) and Josh Reed (10.7).
Mingo is the highest-ranked recruit in program history. The freshman from Farmingdale, N.Y., has scored in double figures in 16 of his 22 games this season.
Mingo rallied from a couple of poor shooting performances to score 13 points at Washington, making 6 of 11 shots.
“He’s a competitive dude. He takes this very personal, that’s what you love about him,” Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades said. “We’ve got to have his back, too. We’ve got to help him as well.”
–Field Level Media
