Jackson Shelstad is on a heater, and not coincidently, Oregon is back on a winning streak.
The sophomore point guard will lead the No. 17 Ducks into Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center in State College for a 1 p.m. Big Ten men’s basketball game Sunday.
Oregon (14-2, 3-2 Big Ten) has won two straight and is off to its best start since going 19-2 in 2016-17 – a season that ended in the Final Four.
In the last two games, Shelstad has scored a combined 47 points on 16-of-21 shooting, including 9 of 11 from 3-point range.
He tied his career high with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting with four 3-pointers and the game-winning free throws in the final seconds against Ohio State on Thursday as the Ducks beat the Buckeyes 73-71 in Columbus.
“Just trying to trust my work,” Shelstad said during a postgame radio interview on KUJZ-FM on Thursday. “I started out really cold this season, but I just tried to stay confident and my teammates and coaches, they keep telling me to shoot the ball and I appreciate that.”
Penn State (12-4, 2-3) has dropped two straight games, including a 91-52 loss to Illinois on Wednesday.
Oregon knows what it’s like to get walloped by the Fighting Illini. The Ducks lost 109-77 to Illinois on Jan. 2 at Matthew Knight Arena for just their second loss of the season.
But Oregon has responded with back-to-back wins against then-No. 24 Maryland, 83-79, on Jan. 5, and then Thursday at Ohio State.
Both wins required the Ducks to overcome a halftime deficit, something they’ve become adept at doing this season. Oregon is 6-1 is games when trailing at halftime.
“Second half we’ve been finding our way, sticking together,” Shelstad said. “But we’ve gotta start coming out early like how we finish games.”
How to watch Oregon men’s basketball vs. Penn State
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TV channel: Big Ten Network
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Streaming:
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Radio: KUGN (590 AM, 98.1FM), KUJZ (95.3 FM), KFXX (1080 AM, Portland), KYKN (1430 AM, Salem), Sirius: 381
Oregon men’s basketball vs. Penn State game time
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Date: Sunday, Jan. 12
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Start time: 1 p.m. PT
Oregon men’s basketball vs. Penn State predictions, picks, odds
The ESPN Analytics matchup predictor gives Oregon a 51.0% chance to beat Penn State.
Oregon men’s basketball 2024-25 schedule
Next five games
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Jan. 12 – at Penn State
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Jan. 18 – vs. Purdue
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Jan. 21 – vs. Washington
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Jan. 25 – at Minnesota
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Jan. 30 – at UCLA
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon men’s basketball vs. Penn State: TV, streaming info
