Oregon Ducks Facing off Against Oregon State Beavers in Crucial Home Game

Get up to speed ahead of Saturday night's hoops contest.

All good things must come to an end, as the Oregon men’s basketball team learned Tuesday following an 82-78 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes at home, seeing their six-game win streak broken. However, the Ducks must focus on what lies ahead — a meeting with the in-state rival Oregon State Beavers at home.

The Ducks and Beavers met two and a half weeks ago in Corvallis where the Ducks prevailed with a close 78-76 win on the backs of a 16-point performance from Jacob Young, and a 14-point performance from Eric Williams Jr. Since that game, both teams have shared common opponents in USC, UCLA, and Washington, with the one exception being Oregon’s match up with Colorado. While the Ducks would prevail over each of those opponents, the Beavers lost all three of their respective match ups.

While this would typically indicate two programs going in different directions, the Beavers are a team that has still given Oregon fits historically. Dana Altman’s ever-changing crew is 3-4 against the Beavers since 2018.

Offensively, the Ducks have been a machine since the New Year, averaging 80.3 points per game compared to the Beavers' 71 points per game over the same stretch. The improved play of Will Richardson, De'Vion Harmon, and Young has been a driving force for the team’s newfound success, as each player is now averaging double digit points on the year. 

Richardson in particular has seemed to finally find his form, a talking point earlier in the season as expectations were much higher than what he was delivering. So far in January the leading man for Oregon has averaged nearly 20 points a game, and tallied a career high 28 points against USC two weeks ago.

The loss of Ethan Thompson, one of the driving forces for Oregon State’s miracle run during March Madness last year, has proven to be a tough hurdle to overcome for the Beavers. Despite solid individual performances from Jarod Lucas and Warith Alatishe, it hasn’t been enough as the Beavers sit in 11th place in the PAC-12 with a 3-14 record.

Players to Watch:

Outside the names listed above, Quincy Guerrier is coming off his best game of the season against Colorado, where he scored 22 points and went three-of-eight from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-8 junior wing from Montreal has been a valuable addition for the Ducks this season, and despite his lackluster numbers at first glance, he's been a large part of the Ducks' offensive ball movement. Another 20-point performance could see the Ducks adding another strong scoring weapon for the important upcoming stretch.

JUCO transfer Dashawn Davis has been a solid addition for the Beavers as well. The 6-foot-2 guard from New York is averaging 10 points a game and over five assists this season, providing an intriguing back court option for Coach Wayne Tinkle. He’s also been Oregon State's leading scorer over their last two losses, tallying 12 points against UCLA and 17 against Washington. 

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