In what’s usually a forgettable early January conference game was anything but that for Maryland and Oregon.

The Terps and the Ducks hadn’t lived up to preseason expectations and looked to avoid a 0-3 start in Big Ten play. It wouldn’t come easy, as both sides were without arguably their best players — Pharrel Payne for Maryland and Jakson Shelstad for Oregon.

Despite shooting poorly from the field, Maryland had plenty of opportunities. They had 16 offensive rebounds and took 18 more shots than the Ducks. Still, Maryland’s offense never found its rhythm, dropping its third conference game 64-54 at Xfinity Center.

Maryland (7-7, 0-3 Big Ten) and Oregon (8-6, 1-2 Big Ten) have had a similar start to the 2025-26 season. Both teams had successful seasons last year, with each advancing past the first round of the NCAA tournament.

This season does not appear to be heading that direction for either program. Both teams have struggled against tougher competition. Maryland has lost to all six teams it has faced, ranked in the top 25 in KenPom and the NET, while Oregon’s six losses have come against a similar strength of schedule.

With neither program having a true statement or a Big Ten win coming in, Friday night’s matchup was a huge measuring-stick game for both teams.

A complete overhaul of Maryland’s roster and staff, along with injuries to several key players, has resulted in a step back. The Ducks returned key players like Shelstad and 7-footer Nate Bittle, but injuries have also affected them. Bittle has missed two games due to an ankle injury, and Shelstad was out against the Terps.

Maryland was without Payne for the fourth time this season, along with another big man in freshman Aleks Alston.

A shorthanded frontcourt was not ideal with Bittle on the other side for the Ducks. The Oregon big man scored 16 points and had seven blocks, stopping the Terps from getting anything inside, helping the Ducks dominate points in the paint 32-12.

“You can’t get beat up like that and kicked in the ear in the paint,” head coach Buzz Williams said. “You also can’t let a team shoot half of their balls from three at 45% or it’s not going to be a game.”

Maryland was forced to shoot a ton of threes, and it did not work out. The Terps shot 7-of-35 (20%) from beyond the arc, with many being wide-open misses.

Solomon Washington held his own for Maryland. His usual energy was infectious while he added 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Terps.

Aside from Washington, no other Maryland player had a good night offensively. Darius Adams was 3-for-14, Andre Mills was 1-for-10, and Diggy Coit was 2-for-9. Isaiah Watts was the only player who shot 50 percent from the field — not a good recipe to get a win.

“We didn’t shoot the percentage that we need to shoot. But I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was what I would call a red light shot,” Williams said. “I thought we shot a lot of green light shots. We just didn’t make them.”

Early on, it looked like Oregon was ready to make a run and break open the lead. The Ducks shot better from the field and were ahead in the rebounding battle.

Maryland looked disjointed on offense, with a five-minute scoreless stretch, and started 4-of-22 from the field, shooting just 27 percent in the first half despite outrebounding Oregon 9-5 on the offensive glass. But Maryland only trailed by seven at the break.

An issue all year long for the Terps was turnovers — to their advantage. Maryland led the Big Ten in turnover per game, coming in with 13.8, but had just three to Oregon’s seven in the Ducks’ half. The Ducks’ 50 percent from the field wasn’t enough to pull ahead.

The Ducks’ issues carried over into the early second half. Maryland tied the game despite its shooting struggles and had Oregon right where they wanted.

Still, Maryland’s offense held them back. The Terps went over four minutes without scoring as Oregon’s lead was back to 10 points with under four minutes to play.

Maryland’s inability to make shots was the difference as it dropped its third conference game, leaving an uphill battle for postseason contention in March.

“We just need to be more mentally focused, everyone, me at the front of the line,” Washington said. “Just having the guts to take on those runs and just fight back.”