Oregon Basketball: First-Year Coach Altman Has Ducks Flying High

Dana Altman knew he had a rebuilding job when he came to Eugene as the Oregon men's basketball head coach.

And this season has been filled with its frustrations, for sure.

Coming up short against No. 8 Missouri in early December was disappointing.

Losing six games in a row, which included the Ducks first four Pac-10 games, was trying.

But Oregon seems to have turned a corner.

Suddenly a team that opened the Pac-10 season 0-4 has won five of its past seven games, including Saturday night's upset win over the No. 19 Washington Huskies.

Following the game, Altman said, “In any situation, a little success goes a long way," comparing his team’s feeling about itself to a student who puts in extensive preparation for an examination and is rewarded with a good grade.

"You get fired up and the next test you’ve got a little more confidence. Yeah, the guys should feel good, they should have more confidence, they passed a big test."

Last night's victory against the Huskies gave Oregon a home sweep of the Washington schools, following a 69-43 rout of Washington State on Thursday night.

That's a nice accomplishment in any season.

Senior forward Joevan Catron (pictured above) leads Oregon in both scoring (15.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg). 

The Ducks will take their momentum and confidence on the road to face UCLA and USC later this week.

Picking up even a split in SoCal will help the Ducks to continue rising.