Scouting report: Arizona Wildcats vs. Oregon Ducks

The Star's Bruce Pascoe previews game day essentials, from projected starting lineups to storylines and series history, ahead of the Arizona Wildcats' game against Oregon on Saturday.

Game info

What: Oregon (11-4, 6-3) at Arizona (14-6, 8-6)

Where: McKale Center

When: Thursday, 6 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Arizona

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Social media: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

Probable starters: Arizona

Arizona basketball starters — Arizona Athletics

G James Akinjo (6-0 junior)

G Kerr Kriisa (6-2 freshman)

F Bennedict Mathurin (6-7 freshman)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-10 freshman)

C Christian Koloko (7-0 sophomore)

Probable starters: Oregon

Oregon basketball starters — (Oregon Athletics)

G Will Richardson (6-5 junior)

G Chris Duarte (6-6 senior)

F LJ Figueroa (6-6 senior)

F Eugene Omoruyi (6-6 senior)

C Chandler Lawson (6-8 sophomore)

How they match up

University of Arizona vs Oregon — Arizona center Christian Koloko (35) pursues a carom against Oregon in the first half of their Pac12 game at McKale Center, February 22, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

The series: Arizona has lost five straight to Oregon and eight of the past 10, though four of the past seven losses were decided in overtime, including both games last season. Oregon won 74-73 in Eugene, when Will Richardson scored seven of Oregon’s eight points in overtime that included a game-winner with 15 seconds left, and 73-72 at McKale Center, when Josh Green and Christian Koloko each missed a pair of potential game-winning free throws, Green near the end of regulation and Koloko with 1.4 seconds left in overtime.

This season: Arizona and Oregon were scheduled to first play on Jan. 16 in Eugene, but that game was postponed because of the Ducks’ first of two COVID-related pauses. It has not been rescheduled but, if it is, will likely be played during the final week of the regular season between March 1 and March 6.

Oregon overview: Picked to finish third in the Pac-12’s official preseason poll and ranked for most of the season before a home loss to Oregon State on Jan. 23, the Ducks have suffered from their COVID-related pauses and some key injuries. The loss to OSU was the Ducks’ only game between Jan. 9 and Feb. 4, but they have played three since last returning on Feb. 4: A loss to Washington State at home, a win over Washington at home and a 75-64 win on Thursday at ASU.

Oregon Arizona St Basketball — Oregon guard Chris Duarte (5) shoots as Arizona State guard Jaelen House (10) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball basketball game, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Matt York

Against the Sun Devils, the Ducks had all five of their leading scorers available for the first time all season, with Chris Duarte returning from an ankle injury that kept him out against Washington while part-time starter Eric Williams missed the WSU and Washington games because of COVID protocols and had a knee issue.

Guard Will Richardson was playing his third game of the season after missing the first 11 with a thumb injury that required surgery just before their opener.

Now at full strength, the Ducks are back to their usual offensive mismatching, defensively switching ways, starting a lineup with four players all of comparable height plus 6-8 Chandler Lawson. Richardson is the Ducks’ primary point guard, averaging 14.7 points in the three games that he’s played. Chris Duarte is an efficient scorer and all-around force who had 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, plus seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a blocked shot against ASU.

As always, the Ducks also have a number of talented combo forwards that coach Dana Altman can mix and match to create advantages on the perimeter or inside, and they’ll even move Lawson from center to the perimeter in some situations when Eugene Omoruyi plays the five. One of their combo forwards, L.J. Figueroa, is the same guy who had 21 points, four rebounds and three steals to lead St. John’s to a 70-67 upset of Arizona last season in San Francisco.

The scout says

“Seems like for the first time they’re at full strength and it looked that way last night (in Oregon’s 75-64 win at ASU). They are arguably the most talented team in our conference.

“Will Richardson is left-handed, good driver with long arms and wide shoulders. He’s crafty around the rim. He’d be an all-conference player if he had a full season. Duarte is arguably the best player in our conference. I love watching him on film. He has an unbelievable triple-threat game. His efficiency is through the roof. He’s a very, very good player. If they weren’t on pause, he would probably be the frontrunner for player of the year in the conference.

“Figueroa hasn’t been a 3-point threat but he shot (well at St. John’s). Omoruyi is a capable 3-point shooter who can drive the ball and get to the rim, and when he’s at the four you gotta be ready for the tricks they run for him. They try to get mismatches.

“Omoruyi can play the four or five. He’s their Draymond Green. I’ve seen him break the press as a guard, I’ve seen him get the defensive rebound and lead the break. I’ve seen seen him post up in the half court and throw in a jump hook. I’ve seen him on the perimeter drive. I’ve seen him make a 3. He is a good, good player. You got to be ready for him and when they play him at the five now you’re guarding five different combo guards or five different combo forwards. You have to have your rules and schemes in place to adjust throughout the game.”

Lawson “is very good. He’s improved a lot from last year. I think he’s adding more perimeter aspects to his game. (Eric Williams) is like their sixth starter, left handed, very physical driver but he can shoot the ball. You have to be able to guard him one on one.

“(Defensively) they have their two different presses. They have two different half-court defenses, and the switching, that’s what they’ve primarily done against us in the past. We have to be organized. You can’t turn to the bench and (ask) ‘Well, what are they in and what are we running?’ You have to be able to play and figure it out. You can’t waste time.” — UA assistant coach Danny Peters, who scouted the Ducks

Key player (Arizona): Azuolas Tubelis

University of Arizona vs Oregon State — Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) comes away with a rebound from Oregon State forward Warith Alatishe (10) in the first half of their Pac 12 game at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., February 11, 2021.
Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

Limited with foul trouble in a physical game with Oregon State on Thursday, Tubelis isn’t likely to catch a break this time, either. The Ducks have a host of versatile, experienced combo forwards who will keep Tubelis busy defending them inside or stretching him out to the wing. And their defensive switches will test Tubelis’ ability to produce on the other end.

Key player (Oregon): Chris Duarte

Already the junior college player of the year in 2018-19, the well-rounded Dominican Republic native is becoming one of the top players in Division I as a senior this season. He made only 1 of 8 field goals in McKale Center last season, and missed all five threes he took, but that isn’t too likely Saturday considering that Duarte is shooting 55.6% overall and 45.6% from 3 this season. He ranks 22nd nationally in effective field goal percentage (67.5), which gives 50% more credit for 3s.

Sidelines

No guarantees

UA coach Sean Miller will pick up his 300th win at Arizona if the Wildcats can beat the Ducks on Saturday, having a 299-106 record since taking over the UA program before the 2009-10 season.

But the UA has lost its last five games to Oregon and is scheduled to play up to four of its final six Pac-12 games against the conference’s top four teams.

While Miller said he appreciated being asked about it after the Wildcats beat OSU on Thursday, he took nothing for granted.

“Who knows when that comes or if that comes, right? You’ve got to get it,” Miller said. “But thanks for pointing that out. I didn’t realize that. Every coach is only as good as the staffs that he’s had, the players, teams. We’ve had quite a few really, really good players and coaches that have helped along. And if I’m being candid I wish we’d have won more.”

Brothers-in-pause

Nobody in the Pac-12 knows how difficult it can be to return from a COVID-19 pause more than ASU and Oregon, who have both done so twice and have both fallen out of the AP Top 25. So Oregon coach Dana Altman said he wasn’t sure the Ducks’ win at ASU on Thursday was a “great indicator” of where his team actually is.

“I know how hard that’s been on our team with coming off pauses, and they didn’t have (Marcus) Bagley,” Altman said about the Sun Devil forward who was out with an ankle injury. “It’s really tough and Arizona State’s been hit as bad as we have. We (faced) a team that was a little out of sync.”

That said, the Ducks have three games in since they last paused while starting guards Will Richardson (thumb) and Chris Duarte (ankle) have both returned from injuries.

At 6-3, Oregon is actually only one loss out of first place though the Ducks still have up to nine games left to play if they can all be crammed in.

“What I’m really excited about is (that) we didn’t hit on all cylinders,” Altman said. “If we keep everybody healthy, avoid any more pauses, I think we can get better and better. (There’s) four or five weeks here try to make a run. It’s exciting to get all together and I think we have a lot of upside.”

Lumberjacks forever

Arizona Wildcats guard Bennedict Mathurin (0) looses control over the ball while being fouled by Northern Arizona Lumberjacks guard Luke Avdalovic (21) during the second half of Arizona Wildcats vs NAU Lumberjacks men's basketball game at McKale Center, 1721 E. Enke Dr., in Tucson, Ariz. on Dec. 7, 2020. Arizona won 96-53 against NAU.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star

Arizona already has started a three-year contract with NAU to have the Lumberjacks visit for their first game of the season, though this season’s game was postponed from Nov. 25 to Dec. 7 because of the Lumberjacks’ COVID pause.

But the UA’s announcement Friday that it has arranged for a multisport 10-year deal with the Lumberjacks could mean the contract is extended through at least 2030-31.

The UA’s release said the UA and NAU will “open each season” against each other, though UA director of basketball operations Ryan Reynolds said he did not know if the current contract would be extended.

Currently, NAU is next scheduled to appear at McKale on Nov. 9, 2021, and Nov. 8, 2022, receiving a $90,000 guarantee from the UA each time.

Numbers game

11.4

Percent of Pac-12 opponent possessions in which Oregon records a steal, the highest in the conference.

36.4

Percent of Oregon’s points in Pac-12 games that come from 3-pointers, the most in the conference.

325

Arizona’s rank out of 353 Division I teams in minutes continuity, a Kenpom metric measuring what percentage of a team’s minutes are played by the same players from last season.