Oregon Looks To Push The Tempo Against No. 7 Arizona
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
For the second year in a row, the Oregon men’s basketball team is looking to extend a six-game winning streak with mighty Arizona coming to town. For similarities between last spring and the 2014-15 season, that’s about where things end.
A revamped UO roster will take on the seventh-ranked Wildcats on Thursday in Eugene (7:35 p.m., Pac-12 Networks). The freshman-heavy Ducks (11-3, 1-0 Pac-12), with three veteran scholarship players, look to upset the program ranked No. 2 in the preseason polls.
“It’s going to take an extraordinary effort for our guys to hang in there and try to figure out a way to win the game,” UO coach Dana Altman said.
The Ducks got just that a year ago, using 10-of-19 three-point shooting to beat the Wildcats at home, 64-57. That helped propel Oregon into the NCAA Tournament, for the second straight season.
This time out, Altman doesn’t anticipate the Ducks having so much success from long range against Sean Miller’s Arizona squad. “They do such a good job, Sean and his staff, of getting them to guard,” Altman said. “Any basketball coach knows, to get a consistent effort defensively is hard to do. All the film I watch on Arizona, just so impressed with the way Sean and his staff get them to guard.”
Oregon’s answer to Arizona defense – don’t give the Wildcats time to set it up. Thursday night will be a war of wills: Oregon’s is No. 22 nationally in possessions per game, at 73.2, while the Wildcats are No. 108, at 69.6. The Ducks want to play uptempo, never more so than Thursday.
“We know they’re big, but we’re obviously really fast,” UO point guard Casey Benson said. “So we just have to impose our will on them, get out in transition. And mainly rebound – if we rebound we can get out and run. I think that’ll give us a really good opportunity to win. So we’ve just got to outwork ‘em.”
Altman said the Ducks “aren’t playing anywhere near where we can” in terms of tempo. Oregon will try to rectify that Thursday night.
The Ducks will attempt to do so against the Pac-12’s most talented roster. Aaron Gordon is off to the NBA, but the Wildcats (13-1, 1-0) boast super recruit Stanley Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound specimen who leads the team in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounds (6.9 rpg).
Heady point guard T.J. McConnell is the court general, and post Kaleb Tarczewski is backed up by another 7-footer, Dusan Ristic. Arizona’s front line also includes Brandon Ashley, 6-9, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, 6-7.
Oregon can’t match that size, though phenomenal freshman shot blocker Jordan Bell should feel right at home athletically. Bell enters the evening with 48 blocked shots, three shy of the UO single-season record held by Tony Woods.
The Ducks got an infusion of size this week, in 6-10 Belarussian Roman Sorkin. He began practicing with the team Monday, and Altman said Wednesday that Sorkin was doubtful to play against Arizona.
“We’ll just see how it goes here,” Altman said. “He’s a really good kid. He really wants to be a part of it, really coachable. Can shoot it. But he’s just 18; he turned 18 in August. So he’s a really young freshman. He’s got a lot of learning to do. I don’t anticipate him playing for a while, but we’ll see.”
Thursday night is also a chance for Benson, a native of Tempe, Ariz., to take on a team from his home state. He’ll face his hometown Sun Devils on Saturday (2 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).
“It’s exciting,” Benson said. “Just looking at it as two big games in the conference. We want to come out with energy, (and) obviously we want to take care of our homecourt. Just want to come out and give ourselves the best opportunity to win.”
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