Takeaways from Oregon's 78-64 Home Loss to the California Golden Bears

The Ducks struggled mightily offensively en route to snapping their nine-game winning streak against the Golden Bears.

The Oregon Ducks were one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 Conference coming into this game. They had won 10 of their last 11 games and appeared poised to run through the conference into March.

Cal was on the exact opposite end of the spectrum, having lost 10 of its last 11 while losing second-leading scorer Andre Kelly to a season-ending injury.

After watching Saturday's game, you probably would have thought Cal was on the rise and Oregon's season was tanking. Here are five takeaways from the Ducks' loss that could not have come at a worse time.

1. Efficient Start

The Ducks applied pressure defensively early, getting out in transition after steals and scoring on the fast break. De'Vion Harmon's confidence continued to skyrocket as he attacked the basket, knifing through the defense on multiple occasions early in the first half.

Oregon used an 8-0 run to gain an advantage early, deploying great ball movement and player movement to find open shots. Defensively, the Ducks were active, forcing three Cal turnovers in the first three minutes. They hounded ball handlers to force tough passes and took advantage on the fast break.

2. 24-0 Cal Run

There was an eight minute and 38 second-stretch that may have been the most important stretch of the season for Oregon, for all the wrong reasons. The headline is that Cal scored 24 unanswered points after trailing by seven early.

So what went wrong for Oregon?

Simply put, Mark Fox and his Golden Bears just outsmarted the Ducks. They utilized the high ball screen with their bigs Grant Anticevich and Lars Thiemann to perfection, freeing up their guards for mid-range jumpers. The Bears ran the same high ball screen on most of the possession during the huge run, and Oregon just couldn't find a way to stop it.

When the Ducks would help, Thiemann and the Cal bigs would roll to the basket for easy buckets at the rim. Jordan Shepherd scored six of the points on the run.

On the other side, Oregon began settling on offense for tough three-pointers, as any drive to the paint was cut off by multiple Cal defenders and the ball was poked away often. Overall, the Ducks missed 10 consecutive shots and turned the ball over four times during the scoreless drought.

Then after a timeout, Dana Altman switched to a zone defense. Anticevich hit a contested three to beat the zone on the first possession, and the Golden Bears attacked the paint. No matter what defense Altman and the Ducks threw at Cal in the first half, the Golden Bears found ways to exploit it and put points on the board.

3. Too much hero ball for Oregon

Oregon finally ended the drought with a Rivaldo Soares layup, but the offense did not improve from there. Will Richardson, Jacob Young, and Harmon struggled to create any offense as the off-ball movement for the Ducks ceased to exist. As a result, the Ducks guards played iso ball, trying to dribble through the strong Cal man-to-man defense, often without success.

The Ducks' backcourt combined for seven points in the first half on 3-16 shooting from the field. There was no chemistry on offense for most of the first half, which resulted in settling for a lot of bad looks, oftentimes heavily contested. Oregon was 1-13 from three in the first half, which led to the Ducks' biggest home halftime deficit since Matthew Knight Arena opened.

4. Will Richardson's Second-Half Effort Comes Up Short

In the second half, the Ducks missed their first nine shots. It was more of the same — isolation on offense, and Cal getting efficient looks on offense. The Ducks just needed someone to inject some energy into their team to make a comeback attempt and fire up the crowd at Matthew Knight Arena.

Richardson turned it up in the second half to help keep the Ducks within striking distance, but he was essentially the only offensive producer in the second half. He cut to the basket and drew contact often.

He scored 20 of the Ducks' 36 points in the second half after scoring just two points in the first half. He knocked down 9-13 free throws in the half and shot 5-7 from the field before fouling out with over a minute left in the game.

5. Oregon's NCAA Tournament Hopes in Jeopardy

Cal entered Saturday's game with a 3-11 record in Pac-12 play and a 10-15 record overall, having lost 10 of its last 11 games. It's safe to say that this is Oregon's worst loss of the season, and the Ducks' at-large NCAA Tournament chances have taken a big blow.

The Ducks still have a chance to win the Pac-12 regular season title with a lot of help. They fall to 9-4 in conference play, sitting behind 11-1 Arizona and 9-3 UCLA and tied with 9-4 USC. USC hosts UCLA Saturday night with a chance to surpass both Oregon and UCLA for second place in the conference. 8-4 Washington also has a chance to inch closer in the standings, hosting No. 4 Arizona Saturday afternoon.

Oregon still has a trip to Tucson on the horizon, as well as home games against UCLA and USC. The Ducks finish with road bouts with the surprising Washington schools, so with the opponents getting better down the stretch, the Ducks must get back to their brand of basketball.

With the Pac-12 pool getting tougher, Oregon's only shot at an NCAA Tournament berth after Saturday's loss may be to win the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.

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