The Oregon Ducks are on a slide, having lost two games in a row, but they can bounce back and get their confidence back if they could beat the Colorado Buffaloes at home this Thursday. The Buffaloes have defeated the Ducks once this season, but they will be the visiting team this time around. The Buffaloes and the Ducks are +7000 and +2200 to win the national title, respectively.
Betting on the Colorado Buffaloes (19-5 Overall / 8-3 Conference)
It’s only Spencer Dinwiddie of the Brooklyn Nets who’s doing a fine job of putting the Buffaloes n the map. It’s the Buffaloes themselves who are turning the heads of many, as they are now the solo leader in the Pac-12 conference standings. Colorado is on a three-game winning streak, a stretch that includes its 81-74 home win over the Stanford Cardinal last Saturday. Colorado waxed hot from the 3-point area in the Stanford game, nailing 11 of 21 3-point attempts. Colorado is averaging 7.7 threes per contest on a solid 37.2 percent accuracy. The Buffaloes are not the team opposing defenders should forget to cover from behind the arc, though, they only went 7 of 22 in their 74-65 win over the Oregon Ducks at home back in January. In that game, junior guard McKinley Wright IV led Buffalo with 21 points. Wright, who leads the Buffaloes with 13.8 points per game, had 21 points in the win over Stanford.
The over is 2-0 in the Buffaloes’ last two games.
Betting on the Oregon Ducks (18-6 Overall / 7-4 Conference)
The Ducks could be without one key player in the rematch with the Buffaloes. Oregon forward Francis Okoro missed the team’s last game, a 63-53 loss to the Oregon State Beavers on the road last Saturday to be at the funeral of his father in Nigeria. Okoro has made 18 starts for the Ducks this season, averaging 3.5 points and 4.6 rebounds on 18.1 minutes per game. The Ducks, at least, still have Payton Pritchard, who is the team’s most important player. Pritchard is putting up 19.5 points and dishing out 6.0 assists per contest. Pritchard shot just 7 of 21 for 16 points in the loss to the Beavers, but that won’t stop Oregon from letting him take over whenever he wants to. Against the Buffaloes, Pritchard scored 21 points to go with six rebounds and three assists while also getting two steals in 34 minutes. The Ducks just need to regain their shooting from deep. They are 15th in the nation with a 38.3 percent shooting from the 3-point area, but went just 3 of 18 in the loss to Colorado.
