Arizona men's basketball scouting report: No. 9 Arizona at Oregon, 3:30 p.m. Saturday

No. 9 Arizona (14-5, 5-3) at Oregon (14-5, 6-2) | Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Ore. | 3:30 p.m. Saturday | FOX | 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Probable starters

OREGON

G Jackson Shelstad (6-0 freshman)

G Jermain Couisnard (6-4 senior)

F Jadrian Tracey (6-5 junior)

F Nate Bittle (7-0 junior)

C N’Faly Dante (6-11 senior)

ARIZONA

G Kylan Boswell (6-2 soph.)

G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)

F Pelle Larsson (6-6 senior)

F Keshad Johnson (6-7 senior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 senior)

How they match up

The series: Arizona leads Oregon 53-37 overall but has won just two of the last 10 matchups and lost the last six straight at Matthew Knight Arena. Last season, Arizona lost 87-68 at Oregon on Jan. 14, when UA shot just 37.5% while guard Jermaine Couisnard hit 6 of 9 3-pointers en route to 27 points for the Ducks, alongside center N’Faly Dante's 22 points and 10 rebounds. But UA won the return matchup at McKale Center 91-76 on Feb. 2, when Azuolas Tubelis poured in 40 points on 16-for-21 field goal shooting and made 8 of 9 free throws.

Oregon overview: Long before the transfer portal was a thing, Ducks coach Dana Altman built a reputation in the Pac-12 for pulling in all manner of grad transfers, juco transfers, four-year transfers and freshmen, then sometimes stumbling early before it all began bonding together sometime in January. That reputation took a hit over the previous few seasons, with Oregon suffering from injury troubles and chemistry issues, but the Ducks are back in true Altman-style fashion this season.

Oregon lost nonconference neutral-site games to Santa Clara, Alabama and Syracuse before charging to sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 on Thursday when the Ducks beat ASU and Oregon State beat Arizona. Oregon lost at Colorado and at Utah last week but has also beaten USC, UCLA, Washington, WSU and Cal, while the Ducks are 10-0 at home (4-0 in home Pac-12 games).

This time, Altman returns a high-end inside-outside combination with high-powered wing Jermaine Couisnard and rugged big man N’Faly Dante while adding in freshman scoring point guard Jackson Shelstad, junior college transfer wing Jadrian Tracey and five-star freshman forward Kwame Evans, among others.

Couisnard is averaging 16.8 points in Pac-12 games, while the oft-injured Dante is back in top form after missing 14 games with a knee injury.

The Ducks returned junior stretch-five Nate Bittle on Thursday against ASU after he missed nine weeks following surgery on his left wrist and are getting significant production from guards Keeeshawn Barthelemy and Brennan Rigsby after both missed nearly half of last season with injuries.

However, Oregon starting guard Jesse Zarzuela was lost for the season last month with an ankle injury, and the Ducks are also again without four-star freshman Mookie Cook, a one-time UA recruiting target who missed the first 13 games of the season after ankle surgery and injured his foot last Sunday at Utah.

Oregon is second in the Pac-12 in offensive efficiency during conference games, shooting 41.8% from 3-point range against Pac-12 teams — and the Ducks rank first in defending the 3 in conference games, with Pac-12 teams hitting just 34.5% against them. Pac-12 teams have the best success heading inside, where Oregon is allowing them to shoot 55.0% from two.

He said it: “They’ve had a lot of big-time injuries ... and now this is the first week they're all together, so I think they're finding their identity, and (beating ASU) was the first step for them. I'm sure they're excited, and I think they are a really good team with everybody playing.

“They’re kind of back to the format that was successful before the last years. They have size, they have skills, they're shooting the 3 certainly better than in the past. They have guys who have been there in the system and they have talent.

“They’re a team that really lives high on emotion and transition. They don't run as much as we do but they are very good, especially home at attacking, they get 3s in transition and get Dante under the rim, rim running, they get drives from (Kario) Oquendo and Couisnard and those guys attacking the rim. In that regard, they're a little similar to Michigan State. Kind of what gives them their energies is those plays and in the halfcourt, they have their sets that they're very comfortable with and a big guy with Dante who, when he's in shape and healthy, is arguably as good as anybody in the country playing the post.

“(Shelstad) is an incredibly talented young point guard. He’s grown up here, so it means something for him to play with Oregon jersey, and he's been fearless. He has great talent, great swag. I'm sure (Saturday) he wants to come to prove that he belongs to the higher end of point guards in this conference.”

“They’ll stretch Bittle. They played like that last year and when Bittle was out KJ Evans is a very similar player. Dante will play in the post and those guys will be more pick-and-pop guys, attack the rim and offensive rebound.

— UA assistant coach Riccardo Fois, who scouted the Ducks.

Key players

OREGON — Jermaine Couisnard

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The Ducks’ fifth-year senior held a coming-out party at Arizona’s expense after struggling with an injury last season, and he’s on a roll now, having made 17 of 31 3-pointers over his past four games.

ARIZONA — Oumar Ballo

The Wildcats' center struggled on both ends of the floor Thursday at Oregon State. But while Oregon State sent their big men on a 3-point shooting spree, Ballo this time is expected to mostly face a true big man down low in Dante, a fellow native of Mali.

Sidelines

Bandaged Ballo

Ballo wore tape over two fingers on his left hand Thursday, but UA coach Tommy Lloyd wouldn’t say if he was hurt or if the issue affected his shooting.

“I dunno. Make layups, make dunks,” Lloyd said. “Try to make your free throws. I'll give you (Ballo) a little grace on those, but make the other stuff because you're too good of a player not to.”

Ballo was 2 of 4 from the field and 3 of 8 from the free-throw line. On one trip to the line early in the second half, Ballo’s first shot barely touched the outside of the net, and the second one banked in. Fans chanted “air ball” before he missed both free throws he took with 2:58 left, leaving OSU with a six-point lead.

After Ballo missed his final two free throws, Tyler Bilodeau gave OSU a nine-point lead, 77-68, when he hit a 3 just as the shot clock expired before the Beavers eventually went on to win 83-80.

Smooth chemistry

Because Oregon historically mixes together so much new talent from different levels, the Ducks often have chemistry challenges to work out.

But that may not be happening this season if freshman Kwame Evans is any indication.

The former McDonald's All-American, who drew Arizona’s recruiting interest, volunteered to come off the bench after starting 16 games and wound up igniting Oregon during its second-half comeback win over ASU on Thursday.

“He did a nice job off the bench and made a couple nice plays for us,” Altman said afterward, according to the Eugene Register-Guard. “You know, he really wants to help the team. He knew he wasn’t really playing good, so he came to me and said ‘Coach, maybe I can come off the bench and try and get something going,’ and I like that unselfishness.”

Beavers emerge

OSU may have entered its upset win over Arizona on Thursday ranked just 231st nationally with a 3-point shooting percentage of 32.5, but Pope wasn’t surprised to see them hit 12 of 20 against the Wildcats.

“The potential was there,” Pope said. “We’ve seen it in a couple of games. We just got to stay in tune to it every single day. We know we had potential and if we stick together, we know what we can do.”

Oregon State lost five straight entering Thursday’s game but played four of them on the road and lost a fifth at home to Stanford in overtime.

“We’ve proved it,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. “Against UCLA, against USC, on the road at Washington State, Washington and home against Stanford, we had moments we played like this. The problem was we didn't carry it for the full 40.

“This is what we're capable of … and it was all about finishing one off  and the guys did that. I'm super proud of them.”

Numbers game

35: Seasons Dana Altman has been a Division I head coach (one at Marshall, four at Kansas State, 16 at Creighton and 14 at Oregon, counting this season)

95: Games Arizona has played since last losing two in a row.

303: Oregon’s rank in Kenpom’s calculation for average height, which factors in minutes played (though the 7-0 Bittle has been injured for 14 games).

— Bruce Pascoe

Photos: Oregon State buzzer 3 drops No. 9 Arizona, 83-80, men's college basketball