Oregon men's basketball plays Northwestern. What to know, how to watch

A 10-game losing streak that started in January and last into February is the defining moment of the season so far for the Oregon men’s basketball team and the reason it is six games under .500 with no chance to earn an NCAA Tournament at-large berth.

But the season also isn’t over for the Ducks, and they certainly haven’t been playing like it is.

Oregon (11-17) has won three of its last four games, including two straight against teams in contention for the Big Dance heading into its 11 a.m. game Saturday against Northwestern (12-16) in Evanston, Ill.

Click here to follow along with live updates and highlights from Oregon at Northwestern.

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The Ducks rallied to score seven unanswered in the final minute to beat Southern California 71-70 on Feb. 21 in Los Angeles and then manhandled Wisconsin Wednesday at Matthew Knight Arena, outscoring the Badgers by 17 in the second half to win 85-71.

“You know, losing is no fun,” coach Dana Altman said after the win against Wisconsin. “Especially when our expectations were to have a good season. So again, I’m proud of them for not giving in to it. I told them when we started the season, you’re gonna have some adversity and we’re going to be judged how we handle that adversity.”

In the Big Ten standings, Penn State is in last place at 2-15, Washington is in 13th place at 6-11 and in between are four teams at 4-13 — the Ducks, Wildcats, Maryland and Rutgers — with three games to go before the season ends and the Big Ten Tournament begins March 10-15 in Chicago.

The bottom four teams in the standings will play on the opening day of the conference tournament. Every other team gets a first-round bye.

What to know about Northwestern men’s basketball

The Wildcats have also won two straight with back-to-back victories against Maryland and Indiana.

They also have one of the best players in the conference in senior forward Nick Martinelli who leads the Big Ten in scoring at 22.6 points per game, and leads Northwestern in rebounding at 6.1 per game.

How to watch Oregon men’s basketball vs. Northwestern

TV channel: Big Ten Network
Streaming:
Radio: KUGN (590 AM, 98.1FM), KUJZ (95.3 FM), KFXX (1080 AM, Portland), KYKN (1430 AM, Salem), Sirius: 381
Date: Saturday, Feb. 28
Start time: 11 a.m.
Location: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Ill.

Oregon men’s basketball 2025-26 schedule

Remaining regular-season games

Feb. 28 — at Northwestern, 11 a.m.
March 3 —at Illinois, 6 p.m.
March 7 — Washington, 8 p.m.

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 [email protected].