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Game Preview: No. 23 Oregon Ducks at No. 18 Arizona Wildcats

The Ducks will look to stay atop the Pac-12 by snapping Arizona's 49-game home winning streak.

Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

No. 23 Oregon Ducks at No. 18 Arizona Wildcats

6:00 PM PT - McKale Center - Tucson, AZ

TV; ESPN2 - Stream: WatchESPN

After dropping their Pac-12 opener against Oregon State, the No. 23 Oregon Ducks have won five out of their last six games to quietly move into a first place tie on top of the conference with Washington. Tonight, the Ducks will look to continue that momentum when they head to Tucson to face the No. 18 Arizona Wildcats

Oregon Category Arizona
77.4 Points Per Game 87.4
.466 Field Goal Percentage .517
.343 3-Point FG Percentage .482
.691 Free Throw Percentage .747
37.2 Rebounds Per Game 39.7
14.3 Assists Per Game 15.6
12.5 Turnovers Per Game 12.6
7.6 Steals Per Game 4.7
6.3 Blocks Per Game 5.6

Oregon Notes

PROBABLE STARTERS

Position Player
F Elgin Cook
F Dillon Brooks
F Chris Boucher
G Casey Benson
G Tyler Dorsey


The Ducks are flying high as of late, winning five of their last six Pac-12 games since falling to Oregon State on January 3. Oregon's only loss in that stretch came on the road against Colorado where the Ducks fell in a close one, 91-87.

Dillon Brooks has been on a tear lately, scoring 20 or more points in three of his last four games, including 25 points against UCLA on Saturday. Oregon will need Brooks to have another big night if they hope to beat Arizona tonight.

Another key for the Ducks tonight will be Chris Boucher, Oregon's leading rebounder. He'll be challenged against Arizona's big men, Ryan Anderson and Kaleb Tarczewski. Boucher is averaging 7.9 rebounds per game this season, but he'll need to turn in a much better performance tonight. Arizona is a high-scoring team, so when they do miss, Boucher will need to be ready to grab those rebounds.

Arizona Notes

PROBABLE STARTERS

Position Player
G Kadeem Allen
G Gabe York
F Mark Tollefsen
F Ryan Anderson
C Kaleb Tarczewski

The Wildcats are coming off a tough 74-73 loss to California on Saturday, and you can bet Arizona is hungry to get back in the win column. What's even scarier is the fact that the Wildcats are back on their home court at the McKale Center, where they have won 49 straight games. Arizona's last loss at home came nearly three years ago against California on February 10, 2013.

Arizona may already have four losses this year (they only lost four games all of last season, including post-season tournaments), but when you take a closer look at those losses, you could see just how easily Arizona could be the only undefeated team in the nation right now. Arizona's average margin of defeat in their four losses this season is just 2.5 points.

Tonight's game could be won or lost on the boards. On average, Arizona has 39.7 rebounds per game compared to 37.2 rebounds per game for Oregon. Kaleb Tarczewski and Ryan Anderson are the guys to look out for tonight. Anderson leads the team with 10.0 rebounds per game while Tarczewski is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game. This year, Arizona has grabbed 78.4 percent of available defensive rebounds, which ranks second in the nation.