Oregon Ducks vs UCLA Bruins: Preview and Open Thread

It may only be round 2 of the Pac 12 Tourney, but it's Round 3 of the Bruins versus the Ducks. In this series Ucla took the first game at Oregon after some questionable officiating and timely buckets down the stretch by Travis Wear. The second game was just as thrilling as it went into double overtime, even though Oregon controlled for most of it.

However, Jordan Adams and Kyle Anderson were absent after being suspended by Coach Alford for one game.

Now the Bruins are at full strength. Now the Ducks are playing some of their best basketball of the season. And now they meet for the chance to go to the semi-finals of the Pac 12 Tourney.

Keys to an Oregon victory are simple. First and foremost they have play good defense. Anderson struggled to score the one time he faced the Ducks, but he will find the open guy as he had 10 assists. Jordan Adams is their go to guy. The Ducks have to know where both of these guys are at all times and force someone else to beat them. The Wear Twins and Tony Parker will keep the Ducks honest down low, although they're not know for lighting up the score board.

The second key is take care of the ball. Amazingly, the Bruins are one of the better defensive teams in the league, and they love to cause turnovers and get out in transition. Oregon did a great job last night of taking care of the ball by only having 5 turnovers. That has to continue tonight if the Ducks want to upset the Bruins.

Both of these teams are going to want to pick up the pace, especially since the Bruins are at full strength again. Expect a rather high scoring affair and I would be surprised if either team were to get much separation throughout.

Use this space to talk about the game and Go Ducks!

Oregon Ducks vs. Ucla Bruins

6:00 PT - MGM Grand Arena - Las Vegas, NV

TV: Pac 12 Net