With five games remaining in the Pac-12 regular season, the Oregon men’s basketball team returns to the road for three straight games beginning Thursday night against California.
Although the Ducks (18-7, 9-4) are coming off a polished home stand against the Washington schools this past weekend, there is a sense of relief to be playing away from Eugene during this crucial stretch.
The Oregon players haven’t quite been able to put their finger on the difference between home and away performances this year — E.J. Singler chalks it up to better food on the road — but if the Ducks truly are better at opposing venues, this is the week to prove it.
“Every game for us is big,” sophomore Johnathan Loyd said, “to try and stay in this hunt to be on top of the Pac-12.”
The top five teams in the conference are separated by just one game, with California and Washington sitting in first a 10-3, followed by Oregon, Arizona and Colorado knotted up at 9-4. Stanford and UCLA remain within striking distance at 7-6, though the Bruins won’t be able to make up any ground this weekend as they play at St. John’s in a nonconference matchup on Saturday. @@http://pac-12.org/SPORTS/BasketballM.aspx@@
At the very least, Oregon is getting hot at just the right time. Winners of seven of their last nine outings, including a heartbreaking loss to Colorado two weeks ago, Oregon believes it can compete with anybody at this point in the year.
The Ducks are just two victories away from reaching the 20-win threshold, a mark they didn’t get to until March 30 last year during the fifth game of the College Basketball Invitational. Going through the Bay Area is far from easy, but it’s hard to overemphasize what a pair of road wins would do for Oregon moving forward.
“We’re going to have to play a lot better than we did (on Jan. 8),” second-year head coach Dana Altman said of the California matchup. “They’re a good basketball team, they’re fundamentally sound, (and) Jorge (Gutierrez) makes so many plays instinctively. We’re going to have to play awfully well.”
Both teams have made noticeable strides over the last month, and Altman is quick to point to his veterans for those improvements. Senior guards Garrett Sim and Devoe Joseph remain in control of the offense, and few backcourt combinations are playing better at this point in the season. But it has been the play of reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, Singler, that has taken Oregon a step further.
He averaged 18 points and seven rebounds per contest last weekend, including a game-high 23 points on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc in the win over Washington State. It was the first career Pac-12 player of the week honor for Singler, who is shaping up to be the Pac-12 active leader in points and rebounds by the time he graduates. The junior from Medford is fifth among the Pac-12 active leaders in career rebounds (496) and sixth in career points (987). @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
“I felt very honored and proud,” Singler said of the award. “But it’s definitely a team game. So I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my teammates as well.”
“I’m excited for him,” added Altman. “Those awards, you know, sometimes you have a good week, and someone has just a little bit better, but E.J.’s consistency, he’s played well, he had a good weekend.
“I’m happy for E.J. It’s not that big of a deal, but it’s something that I think he deserved.”
Singler’s 13.4 points are second on the team to Joseph’s 15.7, though he’s tallied 36 more points than Joseph this year (334-298), and his 5.6 rebounds leads the team. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
With Sim adding a dozen points of his own each night, the Ducks have three legitimate options to contend with Cal’s dynamic trio of Gutierrez, Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs. @@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/cal-m-baskbl-mtt.html@@
“When (Sim and Joseph) are playing well, (E.J.) feels like he has to bring his gameplay to the same level of those guys,” senior forward Jeremy Jacob said. “With all those guys fighting to be the best on the team, I think it makes the team better.”