Oregon vs Washington State Preview

The Oregon Ducks take on the Washington State Cougars this afternoon in Wallis Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum.  Oregon pulled out a close win against the Cougars on the Ducks’ home court on January 23rd, 68-61.

Washington State now sits at the bottom of the conference, but with the Pac-12 being so up and down this year, Oregon can’t afford to take any opponent lightly.  After losses by Arizona and UCLA, the Ducks are once again atop the conference.  In their last meeting, Oregon was able to hold most of the Cougars’ players under double digits, with the exception of Mike Ladd with 19, and Brock Motum with 14.

Oregon will have its hands full with Motum, who currently averages 18 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.  Washington State is not a great rebounding team, so if the Ducks - with a strong effort from Arsalan Kazemi – can crash the boards, they should leave the State of Washington with a sweep.  A question mark for the Ducks, however, will be Johnathan Loyd, and how badly he actually injured himself last game.  Without Artis and Lloyd, Oregon could be in for some trouble.  If this is the case, the Ducks will need Willie Moore to step up and also may rely on E.J. Singler and Damyean Dotson to bring the ball up the floor.

To watch the game, tune in to the Pac-12 Network at 4pm PST.