Oregon @ Washington St. preview

Oregon at Washington St.

Last Meeting ( Jan 27, 2019 ) Washington St. 58, Oregon 78

Oregon took care of business last week, dominating Arizona State and Arizona to improve its home win streak to five games. Now, though, the Ducks close out the regular season with a pair of road tilts, beginning with Wednesday night’s game at struggling Washington State.

While Oregon finished 6-3 in Pac-12 home games, it has won only two of seven road contests so far and has dropped four straight. And that’s a big reason why the Ducks, the preseason conference favorites, enter the last week of the regular season in a three-way tie for sixth place in the standings at 8-8 but still only a game out of a coveted fourth-place finish and a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. There are no such hopes for 4-12 Washington State, which is locked into 11th place in the Pac-12, ahead of only 2-15 California. The Cougars have dropped three straight after road losses at Stanford (98-50) and Cal (76-69) last week.

TV: 11 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT OREGON (17-12, 8-8 Pac-12): Two nights after holding Arizona State to a season-low 51 points, the Ducks did the same to Arizona in a 73-47 home romp in which the Wildcats shot 31.3 percent from the field and Oregon committed a season-low three turnovers. “(It) was our best night of the season, even better than Thursday,” Ducks coach Dana Altman said in his post-game news conference. “There was really a connection with all the guys.” Forward Louis King (13.3 points per game, team-leading 5.6 rebounds), guard Payton Pritchard (12.0 points, team-most 4.3 assists) and forward Paul White (10.3 points) are the top scorers for Oregon, which stands out on the defensive end, allowing opponents 64.4 points (second best in the conference), a 41.1 field-goal percentage (tied for first) and 30.6 3-point accuracy (first).

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (11-18, 4-12): With guards Carter Skaggs, Viont’e Daniels and forward Jeff Pollard all in the concussion protocol, the Cougars only had eight players available on their Northern California road swing. Leading scorers Robert Franks (18 points, 11 rebounds) and CJ Elleby (20, 10) both posted double-doubles against Cal, but Washington State lost 20 turnovers and was outshot 16-6 at the free-throw line in the seven-point loss. Franks (21.8 points) and Elleby (15.4) own the only double-digit scoring averages and combine for 14.2 rebounds per contest, but the Cougars have an average rebound margin of minus-2.4 and surrender a league-high 78.5 points per outing.

TIP-INS

1. Oregon has won 16 of the last 19 meetings in the series, including a 78-58 home win on Jan. 27.

2. King scored a game-high 22 points in that first meeting as the Ducks shot 54.5 percent from the field. Franks scored 19 as Washington State shot 54.3 percent, but the Cougars committed 17 turnovers.

3. Oregon freshman C Francis Okoro returned to the starting lineup three games ago and has provided a spark in the paint, averaging 7.0 points and 6.3 rebounds with four blocked shots over that span.

PREDICTION: Oregon 74, Washington State 68