The Star's Bruce Pascoe previews game day essentials, from projectedΒ starting lineups to storylines and series history, ahead of the Arizona Wildcats' road game against Oregon on Monday.
Who: Arizona (17-8, 11-8) at Oregon (16-5, 11-4)
Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon.
When: 7 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Social media:Β @TheWildcasterΒ on Twitter /Β TheWildcasterΒ on Facebook
PROBABLE STARTERS
ARIZONA
G James Akinjo (6-0 junior)
G Kerr Kriisa (6-1 freshman)
F Bennedict Mathurin (6-7 freshman)
F Azuolas Tubelis (6-10 freshman)
C Christian Koloko (7-0 sophomore)
OREGON
G Will Richardson (6-5 junior)
G Chris Duarte (6-6 senior)
F LJ Figueroa (6-6 senior)
F Eric Williams Jr. (6-6 junior)
C Eugene Omoruyi (6-6 senior)
HOW THEY MATCH UP
Arizonaβs Jordan Brown goes up for a shot in the Wildcatsβ loss to Oregon at McKale Center. The teams will meet again next week.
The last time: Chris Duarte hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to give the Ducks a 63-61 win over Arizona on Feb. 13 at McKale Center. Eugene Omoruyi led Oregon with 19 points, while Azuolas Tubelis had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.
The last time at Matthew Knight Arena: Nico Mannion had 20 points but couldnβt inbound the ball to Josh Green at the end of overtime to set up a potential game winner, and Oregon won 74-73 on Jan. 9, 2020. Will Richardson scored seven of Oregonβs eight points in overtime, including a game-winner with 15 seconds left. Green led Arizona with 17 points, while Zeke Nnaji had 11 points and 14 rebounds. Payton Pritchard had 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead the Ducks.
Series history: Oregon has won six straight games against Arizona and nine of the past 11, though four of those losses were in overtime and this seasonβs first matchup was decided by only two points. Arizona leads the overall series 51-35, but the Ducks are 12-10 against UA in the Sean Miller era.
Whatβs new with the Ducks: After two pandemic-related pauses, Oregon is attempting a mad dash for the Pac-12 title. The Ducks are trying to cram in eight games over the final 18 days of the regular season, a stretch that started five days after Oregon beat Arizona at McKale Center on Feb. 13. The Ducks are 4-1 in that span, their lone loss coming last week at USC. They swept Stanford and Cal over the weekend in the Bay Area before returning home to prepare for Arizona.
While the Ducks are pushing for a title, guard Chris Duarte has been elevating himself into the Pac-12 Player of the Year conversation. His 17.9 points per game in conference play are the fourth-highest, behind only ASUβs Remy Martin (23.8), Stanfordβs Oscar da Silva (18.9) and WSUβs Isaac Bonton (18.3). Duarte has also been named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award given to the top shooting guard in the country. Heβs the only player in the country to average 17 points and two steals while shooting at least 50% from the field.
Oregonβs Chris Duarte tries to pass the ball during the second half of Saturdayβs game. He later played the hero, hitting a 3-pointer.
The Ducks have not changed their lineup since facing Arizona except to start forward Eric Williams instead of Chandler Lawson at Cal on Saturday. Williams missed nearly a month of the season (Jan. 23-Feb. 20) because of COVID-19 related issues and a sore knee, but has returned to normal. Williams had 14 points and nine rebounds at USC, and has pulled down at least six rebounds in 13 of 17 games this season.
Forward L.J. Figueroa, who had 21 points in St. Johnβs 70-67 upset of Arizona last season in San Francisco, led the Ducks to a 74-63 win at Cal on Saturday, scoring 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting with 14 rebounds. He has shot over 50% from 3-point range in his past six games (16 of 31).
Guard Will Richardson, who has dished the game-winning assists in the Ducksβ past two wins at McKale over Arizona, has been steady since returning from a thumb injury on Feb. 4. Center Frank Kepnang, who reclassified from being a high school senior and joined the Ducks in December, is a shot-blocking presence off the bench.
KEY PLAYER: OREGON
Eugene Omoruyi
Oregon Ducks forward Eugene Omoruyi (2) takes the ball to the basket during a game against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center, on Feb. 13, 2021.
Is he a press-breaking guard? A big 3-point specialist? A post-up guy? A rebound specialist? The Rutgers transfer with a fitting first name for Oregon is a little bit of everything, which is one reason why Arizona had so much trouble handling him on Feb. 13 at McKale Center despite having quieted Ducks standout Chris Duarte until the final minutes of the game.
KEY PLAYER: ARIZONA
Azuolas Tubelis
Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin (0), top, celebrates with forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) after his game winner from the corner in the in the final seconds against Washington in the second half of their game at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., February 27, 2021.
The Wildcatsβ Lithuanian power forward has proven a quick study throughout his freshman season, picking up 20 points and 12 rebounds against the Ducks on Feb. 13. But one of his few weaknesses has been guarding the leagueβs more mobile big men. Oregon has a ton of those guys, and Tubelis will need to help more this time if Arizona hopes to pull off an upset.
SIDELINES
For sale: Quad 1 opportunity
Arizonaβs season will end Monday unless the Wildcats can somehow fill their one remaining nonconference spot over the next week, a prospect UA coach Sean Miller says is not very probable.
The Wildcats would only have between Wednesday and Sunday to squeeze in a game and, at that point, many other teams are either busy or resting for their conference tournaments.
Plus, Miller has said he doesnβt want to just add a game for the sake of adding one, and adding a typical mid-major nonconference opponent after 20 Pac-12 games could feel anti-climatic.
But thereβs a remote chance the Wildcats might catch the eye of somebody who needs a better NCAA tournament resume.
Arizona was No. 40 in the NET rankings as of Sunday. That number probably wonβt fall much even if the Wildcats lose to Oregon, meaning the Wildcats represent a Quadrant 1 opportunity if they are played at McKale Center or on a neutral court, and a Quadrant 2 chance if the game is played on their homecourt.
Still, Miller isnβt expecting anyone to bite. And if they did, the Wildcats might not accept anyway.
βI wouldnβt say itβs completely at 0% because we have the capability of playing,β Miller said. βItβs just that teams donβt have a lot of room to schedule us. Theyβre either in their conference tournament, their seasonβs over, theyβre at their full allotment of games, or theyβll play us but they want us to play there.
βI donβt know, especially on the heels of going to Oregon, if we want to fly now to another place. So thereβs a lot that weβre looking at. Is it a possibility. It is, but I donβt think itβs a very probable.β
NBA-style scheduling
The way Miller looked at it, the 26 points and seven assists guard James Akinjo posted against Washington on Saturday werenβt the only numbers that mattered.
So was this: 38 minutes played, on top of 36 against Washington State on Thursday, and before a quick trip to Oregon.
βOur guys walked out of McKale, quarter after midnight (after playing WSU). They got COVID tested at 6:30β Friday morning, Miller said. βSo they got a good five-and-a-half hours sleep β¦ practice, bounce back. James pretty much played the entire game on Thursday, plays the entire game here today, and at the 38-minute mark, he makes a 3-pointer. He is definitely an all-conference player.β
Things are even more hectic for the Ducks. On Monday, theyβll be playing the sixth of eight games over an 18-day stretch to finish the season, having to cram in early week games at USC and against the Wildcats between their regular two-game weekends.
Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman talks with his players during a timeout in a game against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center, on Feb. 13, 2021.
βCollege guys just arenβt used to playing four games in seven days and weβre gonna finish up with eight in 18,β Oregon coach Dana Altman said Saturday after the Ducks beat Cal. βThatβs just not a normal college schedule. Iβm not used to it. The players arenβt used to it. So weβre just kind of playing it day by day.β
Late-blooming Ducks
College basketball heads into March this week, but forgive the Ducks if it still feels like January. Their two COVID-19 pauses left them behind, and after winning five straight games from Feb. 6-20, a 14-point loss at USC on Feb. 22 reminded them that winning the league wonβt be easy.
βI know the team was embarrassed,β Altman said of the USC game. βThey were upset with the way they played. I think that Eugene (Omoruyi) and some of the seniors got together and decided that sense of urgency has to be there. So we did play harder against Stanford. We werenβt always locked in focused β¦ (but) I thought our activity was really good.β
Oregon beat Stanford 71-68 on Thursday and Cal 74-63, giving Altman hope that thereβs still more potential ahead.
βYou know, I donβt think weβve put it all together,β he said. βWeβve had those stretches where weβre not connected. We give up a few easy baskets. So I think thereβs a lot more in the tank. I think we are making progress. I think weβre a better team now than we were definitely coming out of both pauses.β
Historically, Altmanβs teams improve as the season goes on. The Ducks have won 70.8% of their games during the second half of Pac-12 play over Altmanβs 11 seasons, the best second-half mark in the league.
Numbers game
37
Oregon’s national rank in experience out of 353 active Division I teams, a Kenpom.com metric that is weighed by minutes played.
35.1
Percent of Oregonβs scoring that comes from 3-point shots, the second-highest point distribution from beyond the arc in the Pac-12.
63.4
Chris Duarte’s shooting percentage within two-point range, the 91st best two-point percentage mark nationally according to Kenpom.com.
800
Straight games Oregon has made at least one 3-pointer, a streak dating since a 1996-97 game against Washington.
