After breezing past through teams in other conferences, head coach Steve Alford and his boys will now look to continue wrecking college basketball up in their own division: the PAC-12.
The second-ranked Bruins are sure to bring their explosive scoring ability, which allows them to rank second in points (95.8 PPG) and offensive efficiency overall. With a trio of active guards – Lonzo Ball, Bryce Alford, and Isaac Hamilton – the team is also punishing opponents with crisp ball movement. Their nation-leading 307 assists (23.6 APG) is 39 more than what the team behind them has, which is the largest gap in the stat’s rankings.
Another stat worth-mentioning is the great shooting. They have shot 50 percent or better in 10 of their 13 games this season, and currently own a nation-leading 55-percent field goal percentage.
Helping the Bruins have an impressive shooting clip, aside from the guards, is big man TJ Leaf. The freshman is making 65.5 percent of his shots and also leads the team in points (17.5) and rebounds (9.6).
With their defensive anchor Thomas Welsh (knee) still questionable for the game, the rest of the team will have a much wider task on D. Kenpom.com has the Bruins’ defense ranked 67th overall and it’ll be interesting how well they can make adjustments against the Ducks’ big lineup.
The Bruins have won both of their road games this season (2-0 ATS).
Betting on the Oregon Ducks (11-2)
The Ducks have responded well to the unexpected 65-61 loss they took against the Hoyas some weeks back, as they won their next nine games. It is a good momentum to bring now that their PAC-12 matchups will be on the way.
Surprisingly, though. It is not their number one guy, Dillon Brooks, that’s been leading the pack, as he is averaging less points and rebounds than last year, while also shooting worse. As a result, sophomores Chris Boucher (14.1 PPG) and Tyler Dorsey (13.5 PPG) have taken over the top two spots in facilitating the offense.
Boucher is also the team’s top defender, particularly in the paint. He and scrappy forward Jordan Bell form one of the nation’s most intimidating shot-blocking duo today. The two are combining for six blocks per contest and leads the Ducks to a nation-leading 107 swats (8.2 per game).
It can be hard to imagine that they can go toe-to-toe with the Bruins in scoring. However, with their size advantage and defensive efficiency (second in PAC-12 and 16th overall according to Kenpom.com), a scenario where they can be truly competitive and cause problems offensively is foreseeable.
The Ducks give up 63.2 PPG (30th overall) and only allow opponents to shoot 37.3 percent from the field (14th overall).
