Oregon Preview: Ducks Looking the Part of Favorites

After a ten-day hiatus, Cal’s basketball team resumes play Thursday night at Oregon. This will be a tough way for Cal to ring out the old.

The Ducks (6-1, 1-0 Pac-12) were a preseason favorite in the conference and are living up to the billing. Ranked 21st in the latest AP poll, Oregon has won six straight after a close season-opening loss to Missouri. Their anticipated showdown with another conference favorite UCLA last week was postponed because if a coronavirus issue with one of the officials. The Bears (5-4, 0-2) were shellacked by the Bruins, 76-56, on Dec. 6.

The good news for the Bears is that coach Mark Fox expects Matt Bradley, who has missed the last two games, to play. Just how much is uncertain. The junior guard was injured against USF on Dec. 13 and missed two weeks of practice. “He is on the mend,” Fox said. “It might take a while for him to get back into rhythm.”

Grant Anticevich, who suffered an emergency appendectomy and also missed the last two games, is not close to being ready. 

Cal’s trip north is scheduled to conclude Saturday with a visit to Oregon State, which has already beaten the Bears. The Beavers (4-3, 0-1) knocked off Cal, 71-63, in a hastily-arranged season opener after Cal’s original foe, Colorado State, had to cancel because of COVID issues. Before the Bears get another crack at the Beavers they must deal with the Ducks. 

Oregon is minus one important player but should get another one back. Center N’Faly Dante, a 6-11 sophomore, suffered a season-ending knee injury two games ago. 

“I thought he was really starting to come along and then this happens,” head coach Dana Altman told the Oregon media. “He’s a wonderful young man; I love being around him. One of the most pleasant guys we have. I love being around him. I feel terrible for him.

To date, Dante, who was averaging 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game,  is the only Duck to see action who stands taller than 6-6. 

Guard Will Richardson, who injured his thumb on Dec. 2, could be cleared for his first appearance of the season this weekend. If he does he is expected to start. With Richardson, all members of the Ducks’ starting lineup, stand 6-5 or 6-6. That puts Oregon at something of a height disadvantage but also creates matchup problems for the opposition. All the Ducks starters can handle the ball and are quick on their feet. They can give opposing wing players and posts trouble with their mobility and most guards are bothered by the Ducks’ length. They are tough to defend.

Anticevich, who is a versatile defender, would have been a big help to the Bears. 

In his 11 years as head coach in Eugene, Altman has never been hesitant about using newcomers early in the season and this year is no exception. Forward Eugene Omoruyi (2, above), a senior transfer from Rutgers, leads the Ducks in scoring at 18.1 points per game. Although he is a forward, he is most effective when he posts up. If his opponent keeps him from backing down, he can either twist for a fadeaway jumper or spin and head to the hoop for a layup. Teams have tried to double-team him, but he is adept at finding the man left open with a thread-the-needle pass.

A pair of transfers LJ Figueroa (St. John’s) and Eric Williams Jr. (Duquesne) do the heavy lifting under the basket, They average 7.2 and 7.1 rebounds respectively.

Guard Chris Duarte is the primary outside threat. The senior from the Dominican Republic, a country better known for baseball players than basketball, averages 15.4 points per game and is hitting 53.5 percent (38-for-75) from the floor, 42.5 (16-for-38) from 3-point range. He can create his own shot and also moves well on the pick-and-roll. 

Coming off the bench, freshman guard Jalen Terry, has shown flashes of explosiveness. Junior Amauri Hardy, who has been starting in Richardson’s stead, is a hard-nosed defender.

The Ducks are expected to add some height, although it might not be in time for Cal. The 6-11 freshman Franck Kepnang who came to Oregon from Cameroon via Westtown School in Norristown, Pennsylvania, was originally ticketed to be a member of the 2021 recruiting class. But he plans to enroll for the spring semester, and with the fall term ended he is eligible and wants to play this season.

ESPN.com says Kepnang would be the 22nd best player overall in the 2021 class. The website gushingly described him as “one of the most imposing big men in the class and physically ready for the next level right now. He’s powerful, very athletic for his size and plays with a high motor. Offensively, he's an emphatic finisher, good rim-runner and capable vertical spacer,”

Kepnang was on the bench but did not play when the Ducks beat Portland last Saturday/

“He just wants to get into practice right now and see how everything goes,”  Altman said. “He’s a young man that needs to play a lot of basketball, needs to work on a lot of things, but he is an athlete, he is a bright young man, and the thing I love, he wants to be at Oregon.”

The Bears lead the overall series, 84-64, but Oregon has won the last seven. The Ducks have won 26 consecutive games at Matthew Knight Arena, the fourth-longest home win streak in NCAA Division I.  Cal incidentally is 0-3 as the visitor this season and 3-23 the last two-plus seasons,

© Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Ethan Thompson

Oregon State

• The Beavers scheduled game against Stanford on Thursday was postponed because of COVID issues. They are still scheduled to play the Bears. .
• The Beavers win over the Bears in November went into the books as a non-conference game. 
• Beavers guard Ethan Thompson leads the team in scoring at 17.3 ppg. He was a difference-maker in the first game with 15 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
• Thompson is averaging 39.6 percent from the floor. His 3-point percentage of 43.8 is higher than his overall number.
• Oregon State leads the Pac-12 in assists (17.14) and is second in free throw percentage (.729) and assist/turnover ratio (1.48).
•  Forward Maurice Calloo, a 6-10 junior, leads the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (56.3%), 
• Warith Alatishe, who scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the first game against the Bears, is second in the conference in rebounding (9.14) and fourth in blocked shots (1.71).
• As guard Zach Reichle goes, so go the Beavers. They are 4-1 when he scores in double figures; 0-2 when he doesn’t. He averages 9.6.
• In the three losses, Oregon State had second-half leads of 10 points (Washington State), 11 (Wyoming) and eight (Portland). 
• Since the start of the 2018-2019 season, the Beavers are 26-12 at home