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Southern California Trojans vs. Oregon Ducks Preview and Predictions 2019-01-13
NCAAB Predictions 12th January 2019 by Gracenote
by Gracenote on 01/12/2019
Oregon was the pick to win the Pac-12 in the conference's preseason media poll. But the injury-plagued Ducks, who host USC on Sunday night, are off to a 0-2 start to league play and could be looking at a second straight season of missing the NCAA Tournament.
It's been a rough 10 days for Dana Altman's squad, which first learned that star 7-2 freshman center Bol Bol - considered a probable high NBA lottery pick next June - had decided to end his college career and undergo season-ending foot surgery. The Ducks, who are also without 6-9 shot-blocking forward Kenny Wooten (broken jaw), opened Pac-12 play with a home loss to "Civil War" rival Oregon State, the first time the Beavers won in Eugene since 2012, and followed that up with a crushing 87-84 overtime home loss to UCLA on Thursday, blowing a nine-point lead in the final 51 seconds of regulation which tied for the sixth-largest deficit overcome in the final minute in Division I history. "No easy way to spin that one, that's a gut punch," Altman told reporters afterward. "I told the guys, I've never had one like that and I know they haven't. It's tough on all of us." USC, which swept California (82-73) and Stanford (77-66) at home to open Pac-12 play, also comes into Sunday's contest off a tough overtime loss - a 79-74 decision at Oregon State on Thursday night.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU
ABOUT USC (9-7, 2-1 Pac-12): The Trojans lost to the Beavers despite a career-high 37 points from 6-10 senior Bennie Boatwright, who also had a team-high eight rebounds and was 4-of-9 from 3-point range. The good news was that explosive 6-5 freshman guard Kevin Porter Jr., - another potential NBA lottery pick - returned to action after being sidelined for six weeks with a bruised quad but showed his rust, finishing with just five points on 2-of-7 shooting and four rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. Boatwright leads the team in scoring (17.4) followed by 6-11 junior forward Nick Rakocevic (15.1) with guard Jonah Mathews (12.1) and Porter (10.7) also averaging in double figures.
ABOUT OREGON (9-6, 0-2): The losses of Bol, who led the team in scoring (21 points per game), rebounding (9.6) and blocks (2.7) while shooting 52 percent from 3-point range, and Wooten (6.6 points, 4.9 boards, 1.6 blocks) have cost the Ducks their two best interior defenders while a third forward, 6-7 Abu Kigab, decided to transfer to Boise State at the start of the year, leaving Altman with just eight healthy scholarship players and a pair of walk-ons. "We've got to get somebody," Altman told Oregonlive.com when asked about the possibility of getting players from other athletic teams at the school, including football, to perhaps join his squad. "We had tryouts early and we had a couple of guys we really wanted, but they didn't meet the NCAA standards for time and (credit) hours and all that. The easiest thing right now is to either get athletes off other teams or guys that are cleared so that we can practice." Junior point guard Payton Pritchard is the only player averaging in double digits (11.9), while 6-9 senior forward Paul White (9.9) and sophomore guard Victor Bailey Jr. (9.7) are flirting with double digits.
TIP-INS
1. Pritchard needs 11 points to become the 37th player in program history to score 1,000 points and is just 20 assists shy of 400 for his career.
2. Rakocevic leads the Pac-12 in rebounding with an average of 9.9 and in double-doubles with seven.
3. USC won at Oregon last season 75-70 to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Ducks.
PREDICTION: USC 73, Oregon 69
NCAAB Predictions 12th January 2019 by Gracenote
by Gracenote on 01/12/2019
Oregon was the pick to win the Pac-12 in the conference's preseason media poll. But the injury-plagued Ducks, who host USC on Sunday night, are off to a 0-2 start to league play and could be looking at a second straight season of missing the NCAA Tournament.
It's been a rough 10 days for Dana Altman's squad, which first learned that star 7-2 freshman center Bol Bol - considered a probable high NBA lottery pick next June - had decided to end his college career and undergo season-ending foot surgery. The Ducks, who are also without 6-9 shot-blocking forward Kenny Wooten (broken jaw), opened Pac-12 play with a home loss to "Civil War" rival Oregon State, the first time the Beavers won in Eugene since 2012, and followed that up with a crushing 87-84 overtime home loss to UCLA on Thursday, blowing a nine-point lead in the final 51 seconds of regulation which tied for the sixth-largest deficit overcome in the final minute in Division I history. "No easy way to spin that one, that's a gut punch," Altman told reporters afterward. "I told the guys, I've never had one like that and I know they haven't. It's tough on all of us." USC, which swept California (82-73) and Stanford (77-66) at home to open Pac-12 play, also comes into Sunday's contest off a tough overtime loss - a 79-74 decision at Oregon State on Thursday night.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU
ABOUT USC (9-7, 2-1 Pac-12): The Trojans lost to the Beavers despite a career-high 37 points from 6-10 senior Bennie Boatwright, who also had a team-high eight rebounds and was 4-of-9 from 3-point range. The good news was that explosive 6-5 freshman guard Kevin Porter Jr., - another potential NBA lottery pick - returned to action after being sidelined for six weeks with a bruised quad but showed his rust, finishing with just five points on 2-of-7 shooting and four rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench. Boatwright leads the team in scoring (17.4) followed by 6-11 junior forward Nick Rakocevic (15.1) with guard Jonah Mathews (12.1) and Porter (10.7) also averaging in double figures.
ABOUT OREGON (9-6, 0-2): The losses of Bol, who led the team in scoring (21 points per game), rebounding (9.6) and blocks (2.7) while shooting 52 percent from 3-point range, and Wooten (6.6 points, 4.9 boards, 1.6 blocks) have cost the Ducks their two best interior defenders while a third forward, 6-7 Abu Kigab, decided to transfer to Boise State at the start of the year, leaving Altman with just eight healthy scholarship players and a pair of walk-ons. "We've got to get somebody," Altman told Oregonlive.com when asked about the possibility of getting players from other athletic teams at the school, including football, to perhaps join his squad. "We had tryouts early and we had a couple of guys we really wanted, but they didn't meet the NCAA standards for time and (credit) hours and all that. The easiest thing right now is to either get athletes off other teams or guys that are cleared so that we can practice." Junior point guard Payton Pritchard is the only player averaging in double digits (11.9), while 6-9 senior forward Paul White (9.9) and sophomore guard Victor Bailey Jr. (9.7) are flirting with double digits.
TIP-INS
1. Pritchard needs 11 points to become the 37th player in program history to score 1,000 points and is just 20 assists shy of 400 for his career.
2. Rakocevic leads the Pac-12 in rebounding with an average of 9.9 and in double-doubles with seven.
3. USC won at Oregon last season 75-70 to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Ducks.
PREDICTION: USC 73, Oregon 69
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