蜜柚直播

Game info

Who: No. 24 蜜柚直播 (11-3, 1-0) at No. 9 Oregon (12-3, 1-1)

Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Ore.聽

When: Thursday, 7 p.m.

罢痴:听贰厂笔狈听

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

贵辞濒濒辞飞:听聽on Twitter /聽聽on Facebook

Probable starters: 蜜柚直播

G Nico Mannion (6-3 freshman)

G Dylan Smith (6-5 senior)

F Josh Green (6-6 freshman)

F Zeke Nnaji (6-11 freshman)

C Chase Jeter (6-10 senior)

Probable starters: Oregon

G Payton Pritchard (6-2 senior)

G Anthony Mathis (6-4 senior)

F Chris Duarte (6-6 junior)

F Shakur Juiston (6-7 senior)

C Francis Okoro (6-9 sophomore)

How they match up

The series: The Ducks have beaten the Wildcats in six of the past eight matchups, including two overtime Oregon wins. The UA also has lost its last three games in Eugene, not beating the Ducks there since their Elite Eight season of 2014-15. Last season, the Ducks beat the Wildcats 59-54 at McKale Center when the UA shot just 36.5% and 73-47 in Eugene, where the Wildcats had 12 turnovers in the first half and shot just 19.2 percent in the second half. 蜜柚直播 is 8-9 against Oregon since Dana Altman took over the Ducks in 2010-11 but 51-32 overall in the all-time series.

This season: The Wildcats and Ducks will meet again Feb. 22 at McKale Center.

Oregon overview: Picked to win the Pac-12 this season after Altman reloaded the Ducks well into last summer, Oregon took five straight wins and a No. 4 ranking into Colorado last weekend before losing. But the Ducks hung on to win at Utah and still have considerable upside remaining, considering that five-star freshman center N鈥橣aly Dante has played only five games and senior forward Shakur Juiston missed all of December after suffering a lower leg injury against North Carolina on Nov. 29. Dante was not admitted for the fall quarter at Oregon after deciding last summer to reclassify and skip his senior season of high school, but he enrolled last month at the end of the academic quarter. The relatively agile 250-pound freshman has been playing off the bench behind 235-pounder Francis Okoro, while Juiston adds size and experience at power forward as a grad transfer from UNLV.

The Ducks also mix in 6-8 forward Chandler Lawson off the bench, though versatile freshman forward C.J. Walker is not expected to play Thursday because of back and knee injuries.

While Oregon鈥檚 frontcourt is improving, the Ducks鈥� strength early has come from a backcourt led by Payton Pritchard. Oregon shoots 39.9% from 3-point range, the eighth-best mark in the country, but does so carefully: Only 34.9% of its total field goals are taken from long range. Grad transfer Anthony Mathis, a high school teammate of Pritchard鈥檚 who transferred from New Mexico, is shooting 48.7% from 3 while making 2.5 per game. Juco transfer Chris Duarte is making 36.2% of his 69 3s, while Pritchard has hit 38.8% from 3 while taking an average of 4.4 trips to the free-throw line and leading the Ducks in scoring at 18.7 points on average.

Defensively, Oregon continues to mix it up, sometimes on the same possession, with a combination of zones, presses and man-to-man.

He said it

"They鈥檙e one of the nation鈥檚 best teams. I think that鈥檚 obvious, and you can really put an asterisk next to that too, because N鈥橣aly Dante has only been playing for five games, and some of their biggest wins came without him and he is a terrific talent, a game changer around the basket.

鈥淭hey have much bigger size and a lot of times they have two bigs on the court. In the past they鈥檝e had maybe that one shot-blocker or big and maybe four perimeter players. And Payton Pritchard 鈥� there aren鈥檛 any guards in the country that are playing at a higher level or mean more to their team than what Payton Pritchard means to Oregon.

Defensively 鈥渢hey play a matchup zone, they press and drop to a matchup zone, and they mix in their full-court pressure. They can play man-to-man. They seem to do that at some point each game. They really try to protect the rim and create turnovers. This year, they鈥檙e not creating as many turnovers, but they also have more size.鈥� 鈥� UA head coach Sean Miller

Key player (蜜柚直播): Josh Green

Green鈥檚 athleticism and length have long been apparent offensively, but the Wildcats may need it most applied defensively against the Ducks. Green will likely be asked to guard versatile Oregon scorer Chris Duarte and it wouldn鈥檛 be a surprise if he had to help out with Pritchard or long-range shooter Anthony Mathis.

Key player (Oregon): Payton Pritchard

Faces come and go all the time in high-major college basketball, but not Pritchard鈥檚. The Ducks鈥� senior point guard started in the 2017 Final Four as a freshman and has developed into a national player-of-the-year candidate this season. His talent, longevity and intensity have put him on pace to become Oregon鈥檚 career leader in assists, steals, wins and games played.

Sidelines

Cinnabons, anyone?

Under coach Sean Miller, 蜜柚直播 almost always stays at a full-service hotel on the road, where there鈥檚 in-house catering for team meals, meeting rooms for film or coursework studies and a well-equipped gym for coaches to work out in.

The Eugene Hilton is one of those places.

Except, through no fault of that downtown business hotel, the Wildcats haven鈥檛 had the best of memories there lately, losing games during their past three stays. That includes blowout losses last season and in 2016-17 plus the UA鈥檚 unforgettable overtime game loss in 2017-18 鈥� the one in which Miller didn鈥檛 coach after ESPN reported he discussed paying then-star Deandre Ayton $100,000, the one in which Oregon students waved 鈥�100 Grand鈥� candy bar signs and booed Ayton 鈥� and the one that the Ducks won 98-93 in overtime despite 23 points and 18 rebounds from the UA鈥檚 unquestionably angry 7-footer.

鈥淗ave to change our karma in Eugene,鈥� said Ryan Reynolds, the UA鈥檚 director of basketball operations.

If changing hotels is a superstitious move, though, Miller acknowledged that might only go so far.

鈥淎t the end of the day, when the jump ball goes up, you鈥檙e still going to be playing at Oregon and you鈥檙e still going to have Dana Altman over there in a white shirt and green tie. And you鈥檙e going to have great crowd and really good team to play against.鈥�

The other problem is there aren鈥檛 a lot of full-service hotels in Eugene, so the Wildcats instead opted to camp along Interstate 5 in nearby Springfield at one of those limited-service chain hotels known for free continental breakfasts.

But, never fear, the Wildcats鈥� pregame fuel won鈥檛 be limited to cinnamon rolls, oatmeal packets and vials of Froot Loops: Reynolds said the hotel does have a private meeting room, and that outside restaurants will bring catering to them.

Scout team gets real

Already with Nevada transfer Jordan Brown and walk-ons who could have played college basketball elsewhere, the 蜜柚直播 scout team is gaining significant strength behind the scenes this month.

Georgetown transfer James Akinjo is expected to join the Wildcats in practice next week while former Phoenix Pinnacle standout Jordan Mains was added to the active roster last week after recovering from a knee injury. Both are likely to practice with the scout team, which mimics the upcoming opponent.

A 6-6 forward, Mains had low-major Division I offers before injuring his knee and, because he played with Nico Mannion at Pinnacle, he was familiar to the UA staff.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a very good player,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淲ith the guys that are walk-ons, it always helps when you have guys with size. He鈥檚 a good shooter as well and more important, he鈥檚 a really good kid. So we鈥檙e happy to have him.鈥�

Payton鈥檚 place

There鈥檚 another bad memory about Oregon that the Wildcats won鈥檛 be able to forget Thursday no matter where they stay.

Because Payton Pritchard is occupying Matt Knight Arena for another season.

鈥淚 feel like he鈥檚 played against us 20 times,鈥� Miller said.

Last season at Knight Arena against the Wildcats, Pritchard had 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals with no turnovers. In the 2017-18 overtime game, he had 13 points, five rebounds and eight assists to only one turnover.

This season, Pritchard is leading the Ducks in scoring (18.7 points) and dishing an average of 5.9 assists.

鈥淭here aren鈥檛 any guards in the country that are playing at a higher level or mean more to their team than what Payton Pritchard means to Oregon,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淗e is a stud. He鈥檚 a monster to deal with. He鈥檚 already won them a lot of games and he鈥檚 gonna win them plenty more here in the next couple of months. He鈥檚 a handful.鈥�

Numbers game

4

Quadrant 1 wins so far this season by Oregon (Memphis, Seton Hall, Michigan, Colorado).

4听

Oregon鈥檚 highest-ever AP Top 25 ranking, reached on Nov. 14, 2016, by its eventual 2017 Final Four team and last week before the Ducks lost at Colorado.

14

Points Max Hazzard needs to hit 1,000 for his career between UC Irvine and 蜜柚直播.

124

聽Straight Oregon games Pritchard has started.