The Utah Utes will look to get back into their winning ways when they host the Oregon Ducks this coming Sunday in Salt Lake City. The Ducks are the only ranked team in the Pac-12 right now, so they’ll be a hot target for the Utes, who are in search of a quality victory to boost their March resume.
Utah is coming off a 79-72 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes on the road Thursday night. The Utes entered that game on a roll, having won their last two games against the California Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal, whom they both dominated, though they only went 1-1 against the spread in those games. For the most part of the season, Oregon is not having much of a problem on offense. The Ducks are 21st in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency with 112.2 points per 100 possessions. This team is led by versatile Eugene Omoruyi, who only stands 6-6, but is being used as a center by Oregon. Omoruyi is averaging 18.7 points per game while shooting 37.8 percent from deep. Chris Duarte is second on the team with 16.7 points per contest. Duarte had 27 points, four steals, and two blocks in the loss to Colorado, while Omoruyi had 18 points and six rebounds.
The over is 3-0 in Oregon’s last three road games.
Utah’s got a bit of a long rest heading into the match with the Ducks, as the Utes’ scheduled meeting with the Oregon State Beavers last Wednesday was postponed. Perhaps the Utes need that extended layoff to get it together after back-to-back losses to the UCLA Bruins on the road and to the USC Trojans, also away from home. One thing about the Utes is that they have been relatively amazing in taking care of the leather. Although they have plenty of freshmen and sophomores (11 in total), they are only averaging 10.6 turnovers per game, 16th-best in the nation. Utah’s shots weren’t falling in the loss to the Trojans, making just 27.9 percent of their field goal attempts, but the Utes only had six turnovers. The Utes will look to get their offense working again against Oregon, which is allowing opponents to shoot 47.0 percent from the field. The Ducks are not great in covering the spread on the road, as they are just 3-7 against the spread in their last 10 games away from Eugene.
As for Utah, it is 5-5 against the spread in its last 10 games overall.
