UCLA @ Oregon preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 23, 2019 ) Oregon 83, UCLA 90

Oregon coach Dana Altman relies heavily on his seven-man rotation, so he welcomed an extra day of rest following Thursday’s 79-70 double overtime win over USC. The 13th-ranked Ducks return to action Sunday against visiting UCLA, which lost three straight before recording back-to-back wins over California and Oregon State.

Junior guard Chris Duarte turned in a career performance in the win over USC, finishing with 30 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals as the Ducks overcame a rough stretch in the second half and escaped with its third overtime victory in Pac-12 play. “We had some really bad offensive possessions," Altman said. “We’ve got to get a lot smoother; our ball movement’s got to get so much better. Lots of things to work on. But we got some big defensive stops, got some rebounds and found a way to win the game.” Duarte is averaging 15.2 points over his last 15 games for the Ducks, who can secure their 10th straight winning season with a victory over UCLA. Coach Mick Cronin ripped into his squad after a loss to Stanford two weeks ago, and his team responded with a 50-40 win over Cal ahead of Thursday’s impressive 62-58 victory at Oregon State.

TV: 5 p.m. ET. TV: FOX

ABOUT UCLA (10-9, 3-3 Pac-12): Junior guard Chris Smith was limited to 17 minutes due to foul trouble but scored 15 points in the win over Oregon State while freshman wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Smith has averaged 15.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in Pac-12 play to pace the Bruins, who lead the conference in rebounding margin at plus-7.05. Cronin is looking for more consistency from 6-10 sophomore forward Jalen Hill, who scored at least 11 points in three straight games before battling foul trouble and finishing with four points in 22 minutes against Oregon State.

ABOUT OREGON (16-4, 5-2): One key reason for the Ducks’ success in overtime this season is senior point guard Payton Pritchard, who averages 19.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists and needs 12 more assists to break the school’s career record. Pritchard and Duarte each played 46 minutes in the win over USC while freshman forward Chandler Lawson made his first career start and finished with nine points and five rebounds in 45 minutes. Sophomore guard Will Richardson is looking to break out of a shooting slump after scoring a total of nine points on 2-of-21 shooting over his last four games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. UCLA has won the last three meetings and holds a 90-36 lead in the all-time series.

2. Oregon is 138-12 over the last six seasons when holding opponents under 70 points.

3. UCLA senior guard Prince Ali has averaged nine points on 50 percent shooting in five career games against the Ducks.

PREDICTION: Oregon 83, UCLA 67