Ducks Back Home to Host No. 16 Utah

EUGENE, Ore. — Having played seven of its last nine games away from home, the Oregon women's basketball team returns to Matthew Knight Arena this weekend, beginning with a Friday night bout with No. 16 Utah at 7 p.m.

GAME #21
Oregon (11-9, 2-5) vs. No. 16 Utah (14-5, 4-3)
Friday, Jan. 26 | 7 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV: Pac-12 Oregon
Play-by-play: Ben Creighton | 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 returns home to Matthew Knight Arena following a trip to the Bay Area schools. The Ducks, who have played seven of their last nine games away from home, look to extend their home winning streak to seven games while snapping a two-game skid after dropping games at Stanford and California last weekend.

The Ducks seek their 14th win in the last 16 meeting against Utah, and their ninth in the last 10 at home. Overall, UO leads the all-time series 24-11, with an 8-2 record at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Utes won a shootout, 100-92, in Eugene in last season's only meeting between the teams. Utah has won two straight in the series after Oregon had won the previous 13 matchups.

LAST TIME OUT
To wrap up its trip to the Bay, Oregon fell to California 66-57 at Haas Pavilion Sunday. The loss snapped the Ducks' eight-game winning streak against the Golden Bears, and six-game road winning streak in the series.

Phillipina Kyei paced the Ducks with her 17-point, 14-rebound double-double to go with two assists and two blocks. Chance Gray added 11 points and two assists while Grace VanSlooten finished with 10 points, six rebounds and tied her career high with six assists.

Cal forced 20 Oregon turnovers, converting them into 28 points. The Bears owned a 45-35 rebounding edge, including 22 offensive rebounds, which produced 24 second-chance points.

SCOUTING UTAH
Utah (14-5, 4-3) moved up to No. 16 in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll and has won three straight games after a 94-81 overtime win over then-No. 5 UCLA on Monday. The Utes swept both of the Los Angeles schools at home last week, taking down sixth-ranked USC 78-58.

The Utes are led by Alissa Pili, who ranks second in the Pac-12 and sixth in the country in scoring at 22.4 points per game while shooting at a 45.5 percent clip. Gianna Kneepkens is second on the team at 17.8 points per game and Kennady McQueen rounds out three in double figures with 10.6 a game.

As a team, Utah leads the conference in scoring margin (plus-28.1), scoring offense (86.0), 3-point percentage (39.1), assists per game (21.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.48).

McQueen leads the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting at 43.0 percent and Ines Veira is the league's assist leader at 6.4 per game. Both Veira (third, 2.67) and McQueen (fifth, 2.38) rank in the top five in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio.

INSIDE THE SERIES
In a series that dates back to 1981, Oregon holds a 24-11 lead in the all-time series with Utah. The Ducks are 15-3 at home all-time against the Utes, with an 8-2 mark at Matthew Knight Arena after then-No. 7 Utah earned a 100-92 victory in the only meeting a season ago. Oregon has claimed eight of the last nine meetings in Eugene and 13 of the last 15 matchups overall. Head coach Kelly Graves is 13-3 against UU in his Oregon career and since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12, Oregon is 15-6 in the series.

In last season's only meeting, the Ducks got 18 points and four assists from Chance Gray in addition to 16 points, five rebounds and four assists from Grace VanSlooten. Utah was led by Alissa Pili's 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Kennady McQueen added 16 points behind 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. The Utes shot 62 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three while UO shot 50 percent from the field and 47 percent from the 3-point line. The game held 14 tie scores and a dozen lead changes.

OREGON vs. RANKED TEAMS
No. 16 Utah marks the fifth top-25 team Oregon will face this season - and the first at home - and fourth in the Ducks' last eight games after facing then-eighth-ranked Stanford last week. UO is 0-4 against top-25 teams this season with an average scoring margin of minus-21.3 points. Last season, Oregon went 2-8 against the nation's top 25, picking up wins over No. 17 Arkansas (85-78) and No. 14 Arizona (73-59). The 14-point scoring margin over the Wildcats was the largest by an unranked UO team against a ranked team since beating No. 4 Maryland 77-63 on March 25, 2017. It tied the second-largest ranked win by an unranked Duck team in the Kelly Graves era, trailing only an 88-55 win over 24th-ranked Michigan State on Nov. 22, 2016.

In Graves' tenure, the Ducks have piled up 45 ranked wins over his previous nine seasons. The Ducks are 42-71 all-time at home against ranked teams and 20-26 at Matthew Knight Arena. Including Friday, Oregon's next seven games are against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll.

CLOSING TIME
Oregon has been at its best when it counts this season, averaging 34.5 points in the second halves of games compared to 29.3 points in first halves. The Ducks average 17.3 points in the third quarter, most of any single quarter with a plus-19 scoring margin, and boast a plus-13 scoring differential in the second half compared to a minus-25 differential in the first halves of games. As a team, UO has a higher field goal percentage (43.8%), 3-point percentage (32.5%) and free throw percentage (76.3%) in the fourth quarter than overall for the season.

» The Ducks have outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter in six of their last 13 games, and nine times on the season.
» Against Arizona on Jan. 14, Oregon staved off the Wildcats' comeback bid by going 8-for-10 from the free throw line, all coming over the final 5:03, with Grace VanSlooten going 6-for-6 from the stripe.
» 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 80.6 percent from the free throw line (54-for-67) while Gray is a perfect 22-for-22 from the line.
» Oregon is 4-2 this season in games decided by less than 10 points and have won five of the last eight such games, dating back to last season. The Ducks are 11-6 in games decided by three points or less since the start of the 2016-17 season, and have won two straight games decided by two points or less.
» The Ducks have played seven "clutch games" - games that are within five points with five minutes or less to play - and have won five of those six: Grand Canyon, Idaho, UTSA, Oklahoma State and Arizona.