Oregon vs. California
California (10-4, 1-0) visits Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday to open Oregon’s Pac-12 home season. The Bears are led by seniors Richard Solomon and Justin Cobbs and junior David Kravish. Solomon is averaging a double-double per game this season with 11.5 points and a Pac-12-leading 10.5 rebounds. Solomon (6’10”) and Kravish (6’9”) will be tough matches for the undersized Ducks’ front court.
Oregon manages to out-rebound its opponents by 3.2 boards per game but could have trouble keeping Cal’s size off the glass and off the scoreboard. Kravish and Solomon have the best shooting percentages on the team at 56.7 percent and 54.7 percent. Cobbs is among national leaders in assist to turnover ratio (2.86) and assists per game (5.9) and leads the team in scoring with 14.4 points per game. California freshman Jabari Bird suffered a sprained ankle and will be out for Thursday night’s game, as will Ricky Kreklow, severely hampering Cal’s perimeter defense. Bird was averaging 11.3 points per game and shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. Kreklow was scoring 6.4 points per game.
Key for Cal: Slow down Oregon’s offense.
The only way to do is to outscore the Ducks and hope they have a poor shooting night. Their size in the middle won’t affect Oregon’s outside shooting success.
The Ducks (13-1, 1-1) are coming off their first loss of the season and will play a much-needed home game for the first time since Dec. 29. Their scoring average is third in the nation, falling percentage points short of first at 89.4 points per game. Senior Johnathan Loyd hasn’t looked back since taking over starting duties for the suspended Dominic Artis. The 5’8” guard ranks in the top 20 nationally in assist to turnover ratio (3.18) and assists per game (6.4) and is shooting career-best percentages from the field (49.3), threes (37.0) and the charity stripe (87.0). Oregon ranks in the top 15 nationally in all three shooting categories. Loyd and Cobbs will match up well and surely be competing against one another. Junior transfer Joseph Young leads the team in scoring at 19.1 points per game and rarely misses from anywhere. Fellow transfers Richard Amardi and Mike Moser will be dealt the task of containing Cal’s big men down low.
Key for Oregon: Convert perimeter shots.
With Kreklow sidelined and a significant height advantage in the post for Cal, Oregon will need to rely on their sharp shooting from distance.
Oregon vs. Stanford
The Cardinal (9-4, 0-1) wrap up Oregon’s brief homestand Sunday afternoon. Stanford has suffered four early losses but played a tough non-conference schedule, beating No. 10 UConn on the road and losing to Pittsburgh, BYU and Michigan. Junior Chasson Randle leads the scoring attack with 18.4 points per game and shoots well, as does junior Anthony Brown, who leads the team in three-point shooting (54.3 percent) and free throw shooting (80 percent). Senior forward Dwight Powell is having a down shooting year from the outside but is still dropping 14.4 points per game and pulling down 7.5 boards. Powell and Stefan Nastic are towers in the middle, with the front court anchored by one of the nation’s best shot blockers in senior Josh Huestis, who leads the team in rebounding with 8.2 per game.
Key for Stanford: Use size to its advantage. The Cardinal’s front court severely outsizes Oregon’s, and they have tons of athleticism to go with it.
Oregon struggled to contain Huestis last year, as he recorded double-doubles in each meeting. Huestis, Powell and Randle carried Stanford offensively but Oregon managed to split the season series. Moser, Amardi, Elgin Cook and Waverly Austin will all need to guard down low and step up defensively. Randle, Brown and Huestis can all let it fly from deep, so Oregon’s perimeter defense will have its work cut out.
Key for Oregon: Keep a consistent big man rotation. Fresh legs will help keep Stanford’s size in check, as Oregon will need to rely on its athleticism and speed to out-hustle the Cardinal.
Follow Madison Guernsey on Twitter @guernseymd
