Oregon Ducks men's basketball team back on NCAA Tournament bubble heading into home series

Chris Hansen, Register-Guard
·3 min read
The Oregon bench celebrates a three-pointer as the Oregon Ducks host the Arizona Wildcats Jan. 14.
The Oregon bench celebrates a three-pointer as the Oregon Ducks host the Arizona Wildcats Jan. 14.

Oregon Ducks men's basketball

Oregon (14-10, 8-5 Pac-12) vs. Southern California (17-6, 9-3)

8 p.m. Thursday at Matthew Knight Arena

TV: ESPN2

Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3)

About the Ducks

  • Oregon has won five of its last seven games — including Quadrant 1 wins against Arizona and Arizona State to get its NET Ranking up to No. 55 as of Wednesday — and appears to be back on the NCAA Tournament bubble. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Ducks among his first four teams not to make the 68-team field. Jerry Palm of cbssports.com also has Oregon as one his bubble teams. Wins against USC and No. 7 UCLA this weekend would go a long way to boost the Ducks’ chances of an NCAA berth come March.

  • The Ducks have been able to maintain their place in the middle of the Pac-12 standings these past few weeks and will now have a chance to move up a spot or two and into position for a first-round bye at the Pac-12 Tournament. Oregon is fifth in the standings, 2½ games behind conference-leading UCLA. The Trojans are in third place and just one game behind the Bruins. The top four teams avoid playing on opening day March 9 in Las Vegas.

  • Oregon and USC have been the two best shooting teams in the Pac-12 during conference play. The Ducks have made 45.6% from the field in their 13 games. The Trojans have made 45.5% of their shots in 12 games. Neither team has shot well from deep, however. Oregon has made 30.5% of its 3-pointers and USC has made 31% to rank 11th and 10th in the conference, respectively.

  • USC is one of the few teams Oregon has struggled to defeat over the past several seasons. It beat the Trojans 14 straight times between 2009-14, but are 3-7 against them ever since. The only other Pac-12 team to have a winning record against the Ducks in their last 10 games is Colorado, which is 6-4.

About the Trojans

  • USC started the season 4-3 but has gone 13-3 since the end of November and at times has looked impressive doing it, splitting the season series against UCLA and beating Utah by 15. However, the Trojans’ three Pac-12 losses have all come on the road and they’re 2-8 all-time at Matthew Knight Arena.

  • The Trojans have had the best shooting defense in the Pac-12 during conference games, holding opponents to 39.2% from the field. They also lead the Pac-12 with 5.6 blocks per game.

Statistical comparisons

  • Scoring average: Oregon, 70.8; USC, 72.3

  • Opp. scoring average: Oregon, 67.2; USC, 66.7

  • FG percentage: Oregon, 44.9%; USC, 45.9%

  • Opp. FG percentage: Oregon, 41.4%; USC, 38.9%

  • 3-point FG percentage: Oregon, 31.2%; USC, 32.5%

  • 3-point FG per game: Oregon, 7.1; USC, 5.9

  • FT percentage: Oregon, 69.4%; USC, 73.9%

  • Rebounds per game: Oregon, 36.9; USC, 35.0

  • Rebounding margin: Oregon, +4.5; USC, -0.8

  • Assists per game: Oregon, 13.3; USC, 14.3

  • Turnovers per game: Oregon, 13.0; USC, 13.0

  • Blocks per game: Oregon, 5.2; USC, 5.5

  • Steals per game: Oregon, 6.1; USC, 7.4

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. 

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks face USC Trojans in Pac-12 men's basketball game