After winning its opening round game against Oregon State 88-74 Wednesday night, the Oregon men’s basketball team (23-8, 10-8 Pac-12) take on the UCLA Bruins (23-8, 12-6) tonight in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 tournament. The two teams split the regular season series with the road team winning each time.
Wednesday night’s win was Oregon’s eighth straight, a streak that started against their Civil War rivals on Feb. 16. A double overtime win against the Bruins kept it going, and now UCLA has its two leading scorers back for the rubber match.
In the double overtime thriller, Jordan Adams (17.5 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game) and Kyle Anderson (14.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.6 assists per game) were suspended for violating team rules. The sophomore starters have been on a tear in three games since the suspension, with Adams averaging 20.7 points and Anderson averaging 15 points, 9.7 rebounds per contest.
Last night against Oregon State, Mike Moser snapped his four-game double-double streak. He put in 13 points but managed just three rebounds, his lowest total since he had zero boards in the first meeting with UCLA. Oregon’s bench contributed 46 points against the Beavers, showing more depth that it has all season. Solid bench play will be key for the Ducks against UCLA, as Bruins head coach Steve Alford routinely uses an eight-man rotation.
Both teams are equipped offensively and rank in the top 11 nationally in points per game. Oregon is tied for eighth and leads in the Pac-12 with 82.5 points per game, and UCLA is 11th and second in the conference averaging 82 points. @@http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/scoring-per-game@@
Last time Oregon and UCLA faced off in the Pac-12 tournament was in last year’s championship game, with Oregon winning 78-69.
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd