Ducks, Wildcats Clash Sunday at MKA

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon women's basketball team finishes its first home Pac-12 weekend Sunday, hosting Arizona for a 12 p.m. PT tip at Matthew Knight Arena on Pac-12 Oregon.

GAME #18
Oregon (10-7, 1-3) vs. RV Arizona (10-6, 2-2)
Sunday, Jan. 14 | 12 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV: Pac-12 Oregon
Play-by-play: Ann Schatz | Analyst: Jennifer Mountain
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (Eugene: KUGN 98.1 | Portland: KPAM 860 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats

AT A GLANCE
Oregon wraps up its first Pac-12 home weekend against Arizona Sunday, with tipoff set for 12 p.m. PT at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks picked up their first conference win Friday with a 65-53 win over Arizona State. UO won its Pac-12 home opener for the fourth seventh straight season and defeated ASU for the third straight time to take a 38-37 lead in the all-time series.

Oregon and Arizona will meet for the 79th time on Sunday, with the Ducks holding a 46-32 lead in the series. The teams have split the season series each of the last two year, with each team winning both on their home floors.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon snapped a three-game losing skid to begin Pac-12 play with a 65-53 win over Arizona State Friday in its conference home opener.

Chance Gray (22), Grace VanSlooten (19) and Phillipina Kyei (14) accounted for 55 of UO's 65 points, with Kyei (14 rebounds) and VanSlooten (11 rebounds) each recording double-doubles.

Gray matched her career-high point total while Kyei is tied for the Pac-12 lead with 10 double-doubles.

The Ducks held a 48-27 rebounding edge, matching their largest rebounding margin of the season (plus-21), resulting in a 34-20 lead in points in the paint.

SCOUTING ARIZONA
Arizona (10-6, 2-2), who is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and WBCA Coaches polls, enters Sunday's contest coming off a 73-70 double-overtime loss at Oregon State. The Wildcats have played three straight games decided by three points or less, and two straight overtime tilts. UA played two one-point games against top-15 teams last week at home, falling to No. 5 Colorado 75-74 before a 71-70 overtime win over No. 15 Utah.

The Wildcats had a pair of 20-point efforts against the Beavers, with Kailyn Gilbert scoring 22 and Esmery Martinez adding 20.

The Cats are led by 16.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game from Gilbert. Maya Nnaji (10.7) and Martinez (10.3) round out three players who average double-figure points.

As a team, Arizona leads the conference and ranks sixth in the nation with 12.6 steals a game while also leading the Pac-12 with 20.6 turnovers forced a contest, with its turnover margin of plus-4.3 ranking second.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Sunday's game will mark the 79th all-time meeting between Oregon and Arizona, with the Ducks owning a 46-32 edge in the series' history. The teams split the season series for the second straight year a season ago, with UO winning the last matchup 73-59 over a then-14th-ranked Arizona team. The 14-point scoring margin over the Wildcats was the largest by an unranked UO team against a ranked opponent since beating No. 4 Maryland 77-63 on March 25, 2017. It tied the second-largest ranked win by an unranked Ducks team in the Kelly Graves era, trailing only an 88-55 win over 24th-ranked Michigan State on Nov. 22, 2016.

UO is 26-9 at home against Arizona, with a 9-2 record at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks have won 12 of the last 16 meetings, dating back to the 2016-17 campaign, and nine of the last 10 in Eugene. Graves is 16-6 against Arizona in his Oregon career.

THE DUCKS' NEW BIG THREE
Oregon's top returning trio of Chance Gray, Phillipina Kyei and Grace VanSlooten have been the driving force for the Ducks this season. The three spearheaded four straight home wins over a nine-day span (Dec. 8-17), including three in four days at Matthew Knight Arena. Against Idaho on Dec. 8, the three accounted for 53 of UO's 59 points in an eight-point victory. The following afternoon, they again combined for 53 total points in a 65-54 win over Portland State. In that 24-hour span, they scored 106 of Oregon's 124 total points - or 85.4 percent of the team's total offense. Friday against Arizona State, the three scored all but 10 of UO's points, scoring 55 of 65 points (84.6 percent).

» Over the last 10 games, Gray, Kyei and VanSlooten have combined to score 439 (43.9 PPG) of Oregon's 617 total points - or 71.1 percent. The trio accounted for 152 points of 191 points (79.6 percent) over three games from Dec. 8-11.
» Gray produced back-to-back 20-point outings, scoring 20 at UTU before a team-high 21 points against Oklahoma State on Dec. 21. It is the first time she scored 20 points in consecutive games and after a season-high 22 against ASU, she now has five this season and seven in her career.
» Gray's five 20-point games are tied for seventh-most in the conference and have already surpassed her season total of two from last year.
» Kyei produced four straight double-doubles during the Duck's 4-0 homestand, scoring a career-high 20 points against Portland State on Dec. 9 and hauling in a career-high 21 rebounds against the Jaguars on Dec. 11.
» Kyei's four straight double-doubles marked a career-long streak, as she now has 10 for the season after 14 points and 14 boards against ASU - which is tied for the Pac-12 lead and tied for seventh in the nation.
» VanSlooten has scored at least 10 points 12 of her last 13 games, including a stretch of 10 straight contests from Nov. 21-Dec. 31, to equal her career-long stretch set last season. She scored a season-high 25 point at Utah Tech for her second 20-point scoring effort this season and seventh of her career (fourth career game with at least 25 points).
» On the season, the three are responsible for 718 of the Ducks' 1,085 points (66.2%), or 42.2 points per game.
» Through four Pac-12 contests, the three have accounted for 147 of 209 points (70.3 percent).

CLOSING TIME
Oregon has been at its best when it counts this season, averaging 34.9 points in the second halves of games compared to 28.9 points in first halves. The Ducks have a plus-22 third-quarter scoring margin and a plus-16 margin in the fourth quarter, for a plus-38 scoring differential in the second half compared to a minus-18 differential in the first halves of games. As a team, UO has a higher field goal percentage (44.0%), 3-point percentage (31.7%) and free throw percentage (78.1%) in the fourth quarter than overall for the season.

» The Ducks have outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter in nine of 17 games, including six of the last 10.
» Leading by just four headed into the fourth quarter against Idaho on Dec. 8, Chance Gray went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the game's final 3:22 to help stave off Idaho and earn an eight-point win.
» Gray knocked down all five of UO's 3-pointers against Portland State, including four in the fourth quarter and three coming on consecutive trips down the floor to help seal the victory.
» Gray scored eight of her 22 points against Arizona State in the fourth quarter, going 3-for-4 from the floor (2-for-3 3PT).
» In the last five minutes of games, the Ducks shoot 88.0 percent from the free throw line (44-for-50) while Gray is a perfect 18-for-18 from the stripe.
» Oregon is 3-1 this season in games decided by less than 10 points and have won four of the last six such games, dating back to last season. The Ducks are 10-6 in games decided by three points or less since the start of the 2016-17 season.
» The Ducks have played five "clutch games" - games that are within five points with five minutes or less to play - and have won four of those five: Grand Canyon, Idaho, UTSA and Oklahoma State.