The Arizona State Sun Devils have already won and lost a handful of close games this season. Their four losses have taken place against their best opponents, so a win over #2 Oregon would be a much needed confidence booster as they dive into conference play.

Can the Sun Devils upset the mighty Oregon Ducks? We’ll find out at 5 PM today on the PAC-12 Network, but until then, let’s take a deeper look at this conference foe.

SEASON THUS FAR

RECORD: 11-4, 1-2 (7-1 Home)

BEST WINS: Creighton (11-4), USC (8-6)

WORST LOSSES: Minnesota (11-4), Purdue (11-5)

COMMON OPPONENTS: N/A

LAST 5 GAMES:

• W (12/18) @ New Mexico State, 70-47
• W (12/20) Creighton, 70-55
• L (12/29) Arizona, 53-58
• L (1/3) @ UCLA, 66-68
• W (1/5) @ USC, 63-54

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STAT COMPARISON

• SUN DEVILS score 67.5 PPG
• DUCKS allow 54.9
• SUN DEVILS shoot .396% from the floor
• DUCKS allow .349%
• SUN DEVILS shoot .270% from three
• DUCKS allow .247%
• SUN DEVILS average 43.1 rebounds
• DUCKS allow 31.0
• SUN DEVILS allow 55.2 PPG
• DUCKS score 89.3
• SUN DEVILS allow .391% from the floor
• DUCKS shoot .503%
• SUN DEVILS allow .272% from three
• DUCKS shoot .364%
• SUN DEVILS allow 31.2 rebounds
• DUCKS average 42.8
• SUN DEVILS average 8.1 assists/17.8 turnovers

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SEASON RECAP

The Sun Devils kicked off the season by disrespecting our troops, winning their first non-conference games at home against Air Force (87-56) and then Army (83-51). But the Minnesota Golphers defended their home court well against the invading Sun Devils, taking down #19 ASU 66 to 80 by limiting them to 34 percent from the floor.

A 66-41 victory over Cal Poly featured a career-high 23 points from Ja’Tavia Tapley and got the Sun Devils in fighting shape for the Florida Gulf Coast Showcase. Arizona State’s defense shutdown Maine in round one, 57 to 31, but an unbeaten Purdue held back ASU’s furious comeback attempt and the Sun Devils suffered their second loss of the season, 60 to 52. Freshman Robbi Ryan’s 13 points helped salvage their mini-tourney run in their third-place game victory against Middle Tennessee (61-60).

The Sun Devils’ next comeback attempt was successful as senior Ja’Tavia Tapley scored 11 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds in a 12-point comeback 60-to-52 comeback victory against BYU in Tempe. The close games continued as ASU barely escaped the clutches of the Idaho State Bengals in a 74-69 overtime home victory.

The state of New Mexico fell flat against the Sun Devil’s and the PAC-12 team beat both New Mexico (84-47) in Tempe and then New Mexico State (70-47) on the road. Perhaps their best win took place over Creighton in their final non-conference game of the season. Jamie Ruden came back for her first game since her injury against Army and helped defeat the Bluejays by a score of 70 to 55.

Arizona State lost their first two conference games by a combined seven points; first to #18 Arizona at home in a 53-58 loss in which they nearly overcame a nine-point deficit against their most hated rivals, then in a crushing 66 to 68 defeat when they traveled to Los Angeles to take on the #10 UCLA Bruins. However, their luck improved as the level of competition dropped and they were able to earn their first PAC-12 victory of the season in their most recent matchup against the USC Trojans, ultimately winning 63 to 54.

ARIZONA STATE STARTERS

• #33 Ja’Tavia Tapley

15/13 GP/GS - .493% FG - .250% 3PT - .636% FT - 7.3 REB - 11.5 PPG

• #11 Robbi Ryan

14/13 GP/GS - .387% FG - .317 3PT - .800% FT - 3.1 REB - 8.4 PPG

• #32 Jayde Van Hyfte

15/15 GP/GS - .526% FG - .143 3PT - .577% FT - 6.2 REB - 6.5 PPG

• #4 Kiara Russell

13/9 GP/GS - .438% FG - .400% 3PT - .571% FT - 4.3 REB - 6.0 PPG

• #1 Reili Richardson

15/15 GP/GS - .305% FG - .309% 3PT - .800% FT - 2.4 REB - 7.0 PPG

PANIC LEVEL

6.66 out of 21 Triple-Doubles

The Sun Devil’s tenacious defense may be able to keep the Ducks from reaching triple-digits, but Ionescu and crew are by far the better overall team.

SCORE PREDICTION

DUCKS 93 - SUN DEVILS 62