Having yet to earn a victory against a top 25 team, the Arizona Wildcats will have their hands full when they come into Eugene to face the No. 9 Oregon Ducks.
It was a rocky start to the new year for the Ducks as they lost to the Colorado Buffaloes and dropped to 0-9 all time in Boulder.
Despite the loss, senior point guard Payton Pritchard moved into second all time on Oregon’s assist leaderboard, passing Ron Lee. Pritchard needs just 18 points and 24 assists to become the first Pac-12 player to ever reach 1,500 career points, 500 career rebounds and 600 career assists for their career.
Another early encounter with the Utah Utes showed that the Ducks still have areas for improvement.
“Our rebounding numbers aren’t what they should be, and our defensive numbers aren’t what they should be,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said.
Altman is right. The Ducks rank last in the Pac-12 in steals and are letting opponents score more than 66 points per game. Arizona is also struggling to get steals and block shots. The Wildcats rank second to last in both categories in the Pac-12.
Losing three of its last four games heading into conference play, Arizona struggled to find a flow. Arizona coasted through the first portion of its preseason. The Wildcats won their first nine games in a row by an average of 22 points, until they matched up with with No. 18 Baylor. The Bears proved too much for the young Wildcats. The then-No. 12 Arizona Wildcats fell to the No. 18 Baylor Bears, 63-58.
A 50-point win over Omaha was followed by consecutive losses to No. 6 Gonzaga and unranked St. John’s. But a commanding win over in-state rival Arizona State have given the Wildcats a new sense of confidence heading into their first of two matchups with the Oregon Ducks.
Arizona is led by three talented freshmen: Zeke Nnaji, Josh Green and potential top 10 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Nico Mannion. The trio is averaging 44 points per game. Nnaji is scoring 16.6 points on 69% field goal percentage, which leads the conference and is fifth in the nation.
The Ducks’ sixth man, Will Richardson, has been aggressively attacking the basket more this season. The sophomore has scored in double digits in six of the past eight contests. Richardson is one of three different Ducks who are averaging double-digit points on the season. Forward Shakur Juiston has also been contributing in all facets for the Ducks. Juiston has missed five games this season, but is still averaging 8.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Arizona’s three talented freshmen will look to get its first road win against a top 10 team since 2017. The Ducks are trying to keep their conference record above .500, and will once again have all players rested and healthy.
