Eugene, OR (Sports Network) - The 16th-ranked Oregon Ducks will look to
continue their dominance at home when the Washington State Cougars come to
Matthew Knight Arena for a Pac-12 bout on Wednesday night,
The Cougars have really struggled since the conference schedule began.
Washington State has lost four of its five matchups with conference foes
including a 58-49 setback against Colorado on Saturday. The Cougars have
fallen to 10-8 overall after that loss, which came on their home floor. In
away contests, of which the Cougars have had just three, they have yet to earn
a victory. Washington State remains on the road to face Oregon State next.
The Ducks have been absolutely on fire of late with wins in six straight
contests, five of which came against league foes. At 5-0 in league play Oregon
is alone atop the conference standings. Through the first 12 games of the
season at Matthew Knight Arena Oregon has yet to fall. Next up Oregon takes on
Washington at home.
Oregon has won three straight and six of the last seven meetings between these
squads. In all, these teams have met 283 times previously with the Ducks
prevailing in 160 of those contests.
It was a miserable offensive showing from Washington State in its loss to
Colorado. As a team the Cougars managed to connect on just 34.5 percent of
their shot attempts including a 5-of-24 effort from beyond the arc. Leading
score Brock Motum managed to tie for a team-high with 13 points but needed 16
shots to do so.
Motum (19.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg) has been the only reliable offensive threat for
Washington State. The 6-foot-10 forward is tied for third in the conference in
scoring. He has scored in double figures in every game this season and has
reached above the 20-point plateau on seven separate occasions. Mike Ladd
(10.8 ppg) is the only other double figure scorer on the roster though DaVonte
Lacy (9.6 ppg) has shown some flashes of scoring ability. With no real depth
in scoring Washington STate is ranked last in the conference in points per
game (63.3) while second to last in field goal percentage (.428). The only
thing saving the Cougars from an even more dismal campaign has been their
efforts on the defensive end as they let up just 58.5 points per game on 40.1
percent shooting.
In a top-25 matchup on Saturday, Oregon knocked off then No. 24 UCLA, 76-67,
putting and end to the Bruins' 10-game winning streak. In the contest the
Ducks shot a solid 45 percent from the field, while four players scored in
double figures, including Arsalan Kazemi (12 points, 11 rebounds) who had a
double-double off the bench.
Five different players are averaging in double figures for Oregon which has
been rather balanced offensively. Damyean Dotson (11.9 ppg) is the leading
scoring option while connecting on an impressive 48 percent of his shots out
of the backcourt. Dominic Artis (10.3 ppg, 3.8 apg) is Dotson's running mate
in the backcourt. Versatile forward E.J. Singler (10.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg) is
another solid scoring option. Kazemi (8.3 ppg, 9.6 rpg) isn't one of the top
scorers on the roster but is far and away the squad's most productive
rebounder. The balance and depth of scorers for Oregon has helped it rank
second in the conference in scoring (76.4 ppg) while Kazemi's efforts have
powered the league's top rebounding squad (39.8 pg).
The Sports Network