Oregon holds off Northwestern to end skid

Field Level Media|published: Wed 12th February, 01:42 2025

Feb 11, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon Ducks guard TJ Bamba (5) shoots a three-point shot over Northwestern Wildcats guard Justin Mullins (20) during the first half at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Jackson Shelstad scored a career-high 26 points and Oregon halted a five-game losing streak with an 81-75 victory over Northwestern on Tuesday night in Big Ten play in Eugene, Ore.

Keeshawn Barthelemy added 19 points and Nate Bittle had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Ducks (17-8, 6-8 Big Ten), who won for the first time since Jan. 21. Shelstad and Barthelemy each made four 3-point baskets.

Ty Berry matched his season high of 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting while freshman K.J. Windham scored a career-best 20 points for the Wildcats (13-12, 4-10). Leading scorer Nick Martinelli had 16 points but made just 7 of 18 shots.

Northwestern trailed by 17 points late in the first half, but getting back into the game was encouraging for the Wildcats, who have had to reinvent their rotation after recently losing starters Brooks Barnhizer (foot) and Jalen Leach (knee) for the season.

Northwestern shot 51.7. percent, including 8 of 19 from 3-point range.

The Ducks hit 47.1 percent of their shots and were 8 of 21 from behind the arc. TJ Bamba had four steals.

Oregon led 62-48 after two free throws by Brandon Angel with 9:14 left. Windham drained three 3-pointers during a 14-5 run as the Wildcats moved within 67-62 with 5:11 left.

Angel sank two free throws to give Oregon a 73-66 lead with 2:23 remaining before Martinelli answered with a layup 11 seconds later.

Another layup by Martinelli pulled the Wildcats within five with 1:09 left.

Barthelemy made two free throws with 36.5 seconds remaining and two more with 23.6 seconds left to increase the lead to nine as Oregon ended its skid.

Shelstad scored 13 first-half points to help the Ducks hold a 39-25 lead at the break.

Northwestern led 14-13 after a 3-pointer by Windham with 11:44 left in the first quarter. Oregon scored 17 of the next 23 points to take a double-digit lead.

Shelstad made two 3-pointers during the burst, and Angel capped it with consecutive baskets as the Ducks took a 30-20 advantage with 5:31 left in the half.

The lead reached 39-22 before Berry ended the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer.

--Field Level Media