Oregon men's basketball is in must-win territory to keep NCAA Tournament hopes alive

The regular season is just weeks from wrapping up and the Oregon men’s basketball team still has work to do as they attempt to end their two-year NCAA Tournament drought come March.

The Ducks (17-8, 9-5 Pac-12) are in the Bay Area this week for games against Stanford (12-13, 7-8) at 8 p.m. Thursday in Maples Pavilion and against California (11-15, 7-8) at 4 p.m. Saturday in Haas Pavilion.

It's a critical road trip for Oregon, which was No. 62 in the NET Rankings as of Wednesday and are on the outer fringes — if at all — of the NCAA Tournament bubble in most projections of the 68-team tournament field.

The Ducks are also in third place in the Pac-12 standings with six games to play before the conference tournament March 13-16 in Las Vegas. They're a half-game ahead of UCLA, two games ahead of fifth-place Colorado, and three games ahead of four teams tied for sixth, including the Cardinal and Golden Bears.

A top-four finish in the standings will get Oregon a pass out of the first round of the Pac-12 tournament and into the quarterfinals.

Not that the Ducks are thinking about their postseason possibilities.

“I don’t think any of us are because it’s just one game at a time,” guard Brennan Rigsby said. “At the end of the day you just gotta keep winning. One game at a time, that’s what I’m looking at.”

Oregon is playing Stanford for the first time this season. The Ducks beat the Golden Bears 80-73 on Jan. 13 at Matthew Knight Arena.

“Cal’s got guys, Stanford’s got guys, that are going to play basketball for a long time,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “… We’re gonna have to play really well. Both teams are very, very capable.”

Cardinal dialed in from deep

Stanford, which is averaging 76.9 points and shooting 47.0% from the field during Pac-12 play, is the most prolific 3-point shooting team in the conference, both in made-attempts overall (237) and per game (9.48).

Forward Brandon Angel and guard Michael Jones are ranked second and third, respectively, in the Pac-12 in 3-point accuracy. Angel has made 25-of-55 attempts (45.5%) and Jones has made 49-of-109 attempts (45.0%).

During Pac-12 play, the Cardinal have made 150-of-359 3-point attempts and are shooting 41.8%. Oregon has been one of the best at defending the perimeter during conference play as its allowed a Pac-12 low 93 3-pointers and holding opponents to 34.1% shooting in 14 conference games.

“You gotta take away transition, and you gotta take away the easy ones,” Altman said when asked the key to slowing Stanford's 3-point attack. “And then, keep your fingers crossed.”

The Ducks need to get back on track from 3-point range themselves. They made just six of their 37 attempts the last two games, including a 2-for-19 performance against Oregon State last Saturday, though Altman said he wasn't unhappy with most of those attempts, just the end result.

“Of our 19 3s, 16 of them were really good and we hit two of them,” Altman said. “There’s just some nights that for whatever reason, they don’t go in and you can’t quit playing. You gotta find another way to win those games.”

The Cardinal’s reliance on the deep ball is reflected at the free-throw line as they take fewer foul shots than any other team in the conference, though they do make the most of their limited chances.

Stanford is 302-for-399 from the line and its shooting percentage of 75.7% is second-best in the Pac-12. However, it’s also the only conference team to have less than 400 attempts.

Oregon needs to be road warriors

The Ducks are in a stretch of playing four-of-five games on the road.

They beat Oregon State in Corvallis last Saturday, 60-58. After Stanford and Cal, they’re back home to play the Beavers on Feb. 28 then head to No. 4 Arizona for a game in Tucson on March 2. They end the regular season with games at Matthew Knight Arena against Colorado (March 7) and Utah (March 9).

Oregon is 5-3 on the road this season, including 4-3 in Pac-12 play.

“In February you’ve got to find a way to win any game,” Rigsby said. “Going to Oregon State’s gonna be tough, going to Stanford’s going to be tough, any away game’s gonna be tough to get a win.”

Nate Bittle still out for Oregon

Oregon will continue to be without Nate Bittle.

The junior will miss his sixth straight game with an undisclosed illness, Altman said Tuesday.

Last week Altman said Bittle was undergoing tests to determine the exact nature of his illness, but those tests didn’t provide a definitive answer for what's ailing the starting center.

“He feels better, which is good,” Altman said. “They’re still doing some tests, but he just doesn’t feel good. He’s lost weight, he’s lost strength, he’s still out. He was at practice today but he hasn’t practiced.”

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.

Oregon (17-8, 9-5 Pac-12) vs. Stanford (12-13, 7-8)

Time/date: 8 p.m., Thursday

Site: Maples Pavilion, Stanford, California

TV: ESPN2. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3).

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Pac-12 men's basketball: Oregon on a critical road trip: What to know