Betting on the California Golden Bears (21-11, 10-8 Pac-12)
The strong push for a March Madness berth for the California Bears continues, as they eliminated the Utah Utes from the Pac-12 conference championship tournament on Thursday, 78-75.
The Golden Bears avenged their brutal 30-point loss to the Utes earlier in this season by getting a couple of double-digit scoring performances from guards Jabari Bird (26 points) and Charlie Moore (21).
What came as a bit of surprise, though, is that they managed to out-rebound Utah, who led the Pac-12 in rebounding margin during the regular season. Cal won the battle of the boards on Thursday, 33-25, giving the team some much-needed confidence heading into Friday’s clash against top-seeded Oregon.
However, another solid rebounding night may not be enough to upset the Ducks if the Golden Bears don’t fix their shooting woes. They shot just 43.6 percent from the field on Thursday compared to Utah’s 51.8-percent clip, and that subpar efficiency simply will not do against a defensively-sound Oregon squad ahead. They’re also a dismal 276th in the country with a 42.4-percent field-goal percentage during the regular season, all the worse.
Betting on the Oregon Ducks (29-4, 16-2 Pac-12)
The 80-57 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday puts another exclamation point to the No. 5 Oregon Ducks’ already-impressive 2016-17 campaign.
Star forward Dillon Brooks finished with a team-high 22 points in the win, and sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey chipped in 21 points and nine boards of his own. Oregon was just if not more dominant on the glass as Cal was that same day, with the team out-hustling the Sun Devils to a massive 48-29 rebounding margin.
The Ducks’ defensive prowess doesn’t stop there. As the top-blocking nation this season (6.8 BPG), they swatted four more crucial shots on Thursday to inch closer to a couple of records that’ll likely be broken before the tournament ends. The team needs just five more blocks to tie the school;s single-season record and nine more to break the Pac-12 record.
Expect Oregon’s D to step up tremendously again this Friday against California, who’s merely ranked 294th in the nation at just 68 points scored per contest. And not only did the Ducks sweep the season series against the Golden Bears by a combined 26 points, they’ve also won four of the last five meetings against their West Coast rivals from Berkeley (2-2-1 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction
Oregon easily advances to its second-straight Pac-12 title game, 79-66.
