Oregon’s winning streak and undefeated record will carry over into the start of Big Ten Conference play.
For the second time in three games, the Ducks (8-0) took down a ranked team as they defeated No. 9 Alabama 83-81 Saturday night in the championship game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The victory continues the Ducks’ best start to a season since opening 13-0 in 2013-14.
“We felt like we could play with Alabama even though they were ranked higher than us,” coach Dana Altman said. “We didn’t feel like we didn’t match up with them.”
Keeshawn Barthelemy came off the bench to lead Oregon with 22 points, tying his career high for scoring first set in 2021 when he was at Colorado. The senior guard also had four rebounds, four assists, was 7 of 11 from the field, 4 of 5 from 3-point range and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
He scored five points during a 7-0 run over the final minute of the first half as the Ducks tied the score 39-39 going into the break.
Nate Bittle also had 19 points and nine rebounds for Oregon, TJ Bamba had 12 points and Supreme Cook scored 11.
The Ducks outshot the Crimson Tide (6-2) 44%-42% and had just eight turnovers. Alabama had 15 turnovers that Oregon turned into 17 points.
“Oregon is just a really good overall, well-rounded, sound basketball team that did a great job tonight,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “We’ve got to take care of the ball better.”
The Ducks opened the tournament on Tuesday with a win against No. 20 Texas A&M. They then beat San Diego State on Wednesday to make the tournament final.
Oregon opens Big Ten play on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. game against Southern California in Los Angeles at Galen Center. The Ducks will then host UCLA at 3 p.m. Sunday in Matthew Knight Arena.
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 beats No. 9 Alabama to get second top-25 win
