Utah @ Oregon preview
Matthew Knight Arena
Last Meeting ( Feb 16, 2017 ) Utah 61, Oregon 79
Oregon has won or shared the last three Pac-12 regular-season championships and is now eyeing a fourth with a retooled roster. That pursuit begins Friday night when the Ducks tip off conference play with a home game against Utah.
In compiling a 10-3 record, Oregon is surrendering 70.9 points per game and limiting the opposition to 38.5-percent shooting from the field – a mark that tops the Pac-12. But the Ducks allowed 84 and 82 points in two of their last three wins, and that’s had the team’s attention over the nine days it had to prepare for the conference opener. “I think we did a lot of things well, but we also need to work on a lot of things,” Oregon sophomore wing Keith Smith told reporters following a 96-82 win over Central Arkansas on Dec. 20. “They outscored us in the second half, and that’s not good enough. And we let them get 80 points – that’s not going to slide in conference.” Utah, meanwhile, also will have had nine days since its last game, but the end of the nonconference season was more uneven as the Runnin’ Utes are 3-2 in December with double-digit road losses to Butler (81-69) and BYU (77-65).
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS1
ABOUT UTAH (8-3, 0-0 Pac-12): Opening conference play with the two-game Oregon swing poses a challenge for the Utes, who are 2-3 in road/neutral-site games so far and have had an average margin of defeat of 17 points in their three biggest tests – losses to UNLV (85-58), Butler and BYU. Four of the team’s five starters and sixth man Donnie Tillman (10.7 points per game) are averaging double figures, led by forwards David Collette (13.5) and Tyler Rawson (11.6) and guard Justin Bibbins (12.1). Rawson (6.5 boards) and Tillman (6.2) are the leading rebounders for Utah, which is pacing the conference in scoring defense (67.9 points) and 3-point percentage defense (29.1).
ABOUT OREGON (10-3, 0-0): Only fourth-ranked and undefeated Arizona State, with 91.8 points per game, is scoring at a higher rate than the Ducks’ 85.3 average in the conference, and seven Oregon players are producing at least 8.3 points per outing. Point guard Payton Pritchard, the only returning starter from the Ducks’ Final Four squad a year ago, is leading the way with 16.3 points and 4.6 assists per outing while backcourt mate Elijah Brown is contributing 13.3 points and freshman forward Troy Brown is averaging 11.8 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds. The Ducks have been so-so from long range, hitting 37.7 percent of their 3-point attempts, but they lead the conference with a plus-8.1 average rebound margin and are second with a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.
TIP-INS
1. Oregon leads the series 19-9 and has won nine straight after 73-67 and 79-61 wins a year ago.
2. Controlling the glass will be key as both the Ducks (10-0) and Utes (6-0) are undefeated when outrebounding the opposition and a combined 2-6 when they don’t.
3. Oregon 6-foor-9 freshman F Kenny Wooten leads the Pac-12 and ranks 10th nationally with 3.15 blocked shots per game.
PREDICTION: Oregon 75, Utah 70