The Pac-12 conference arguably has the tightest race in the standings with No. 23 Oregon Ducks sharing the first place with Washington. The Ducks look to make a little breathing room atop the conference when they travel to Tucson to face No. 18 Arizona Wildcats, who are tied with five other teams in second place of the conference standings.
Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our preview Iowa vs. Maryland.
One road win against a ranked opponent would be big for the Ducks, who are just 1-3 SU away from home thus far this season.
The Ducks could get one this Thursday in Tucson, as they take on Arizona—a team Oregon hasn’t beaten in three meetings going back to January of last year.
Oregon’s losing skid against Arizona, however, could end tonight with emerging Pac-12 star Dillon Brooks leading the Ducks’ balanced offense and a well-rounded defense on the other side of the ball. Brooks paces the Ducks with 16.2 points per game, while three other Ducks chip in at least 12.3 each contest. Brooks led all scorers in Oregon’s 86-72 win over UCLA on Saturday, producing 25 points on 10-for-21 shooting. Thus far this season, the Ducks are averaging 77.4 points per game.
Defensively, the Ducks are going to lean on their stout defense to contain Arizona’s big men. Oregon is averaging 6.1 blocks per game. With Chris Boucher patrolling the middle, Oregon opponents make just 51.1 percent of their shots at the rim.
Boucher, who scored 18 points and plucked down 10 rebounds against UCLA, is putting up 12.3 PPG while leading the team in boards with 7.9 RPG.
The under is 7-2-1 in Oregon’s last 10 road games.
Betting on the Arizona Wildcats (16-4, 4-3 Pac-12)
Arizona hasn’t scored more than 73 points in its last two games, but the Wildcats’ offense remain an asset for the team.
Although the Wildcats’ recent form on offense isn’t up to par with their season average of 81.9 points per game, they’ll at least be facing Oregon’s defense that has sagged off a bit lately. Oregon has allowed 88.6 points over the its last three outings.
Moreover, Oregon’s defense hasn’t been as tight when it’s playing away from home, as the Ducks have given up 72.4 points in their last five road contests.
Arizona has a number of offensive weapons in its arsenal. The Wildcats’ backcourt has the pair of Allonzo Tier and Gabe York, who are averaging 14.8 and 13.9 points, respectively. The team’s best scorer, however, resides in the frontcourt with transfer Ryan Anderson putting up 14.9 PPG. Aside from Anderson, Arizona also gets sufficient production in the paint from big man Kaleb Tarczewski, who’s averaging 10.7 PPG and 8.3 RPG.
Arizona is 6-1 SU and 4-3 ATS in its last seven home games against the Ducks.
