Oregon basketball's season came to an end early Sunday morning with a double-overtime loss to Creighton in the NCAA tournament's round of 32.
Despite holding a four-point lead late in regulation, Oregon failed to pull far enough away from Creighton, which capitalized on a missed N'Faly Dante free throw to force overtime. The teams remained even in the first OT period, but in the second, Creighton hammered Oregon to win 86-73 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
After the game, Dana Altman, who coached at Creighton for 16 years, placed the blame on his shoulders for the loss.
“We had our chances. We just made some critical mistakes there in regulation. And that's on me,” Altman said.
One of the most glaring errors by Oregon came in the final 30 seconds of regulation. After Jermaine Couisnard missed a shot that would have put the Ducks up by six with just over 30 seconds left, Creighton's Baylor Scheierman made two free throws to pull within two.
Oregon, thanks in part to strong defense by the Bluejays, then mistakenly inbounded the ball to Dante, the team's worst free-throw shooter on the floor. Creighton quickly fouled Dante, sending him to the line with a chance to re-establish either a three or four-point lead. Dante missed his free throw, though, and Creighton grabbed the rebound with a chance to tie or win the game.
The ball found its way to Scheierman, who converted on a game-tying jumper with 13 seconds remaining. Oregon's Jermaine Couisnard had one final chance to end it in regulation, but his shot was off the mark and the game rolled on into overtime, where the stalemate continued. A 71-71 tie at the end of the extra five minutes necessitated a second overtime period, where Oregon finally ran out of gas. Creighton dominated the final five-minute period, outscoring Oregon 15-2.
Oregon finishes its season at 24-12 as Creighton moves on to the Sweet Sixteen, where it will play Tennessee.
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