Cougars-Ducks: Washington State Looks to Sweep Oregon

Saturday evening, Washington State will play the second of their two games in Oregon, facing the dangerous Ducks in Eugene.

Both teams are coming off routine wins Thursday evening. Oregon took care of defending their home court against the inconsistent Washington Huskies. WSU kept the Beavers' winless streak alive in the Pac-10, dropping OSU to 0-12 in conference play.

The Ducks have been a hot and cold team this season. Coach Ernie Kent has seen his troops sweep Cal and Stanford one week, then turn around and lose to both Washington and Washington State the next. The following week, Oregon dropped two games at home to UCLA and USC. They rebounded with a convincing win over Oregon State.

Then again, the Beavers have been the whipping boy for everyone in the Pac-10 this year.

WSU vs Oregon

Site: McArthur Court, Eugene, OR

Tipoff: 6pm

Television: FSN

Online: Gametracker

Will the Ducks be ready to play defense against the Cougars? Oregon gave them all they could handle in Pullman last month.

Though the final was 69-60 WSU, Coach Kent’s team was in it right up to the end.

Oregon was leading 34-30 at halftime because of terrific shooting from beyond the arc. The Ducks were 5-10 from three point country.

Coach Tony Bennett made defensive adjustments at halftime, something he is brilliant at, and Oregon went 2-10 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes.

There’s the lesson on how to beat Oregon: Limit their sharp-shooters' good looks from outside, and Oregon will be in trouble. Ask Coach Romar after his Huskies let the Ducks bomb away from outside. They were a sizzling 56 percent from "deep-deep-deep" last night.

Churchill Odia, the transfer from Xavier who played just one year of high school basketball before stepping into Division I, came off the bench and lit Washington up by going 4-5 on his three-point attempts. Bryce Taylor , a career 1,000-plus point scorer, went 3-5 and the diminutive dynamo Tajuan Porter was 2-5. Porter, at 5-6, has a big shot from three-point range as witnessed by the 110 he poured in last season.

And I almost forgot—big man Maarty Leunen stepped out to knock down both of his three-point attempts.

Oregon is a team built for speed. They are at their best when they can run and gun…then run some more. Washington State forces their opponents to play a half court game. The Cougs will be challenged to keep the Ducks below their scoring average for the season, 79 points per game. Coach Bennett’s team proved they can do just that on their home court in front of the Zzu Cru. The question is, can they do that on the road in Eugene? Simple answer: Yes.

If you want to see this game in it’s entirety, suggest that you power down a couple of Red Bulls before tipoff and have at least a six-pack of Mountain Dew within easy reach. There will be no surprises in what Coach Bennett wants his team to do Saturday on McArthur Court.

On defense, the Cougs will pressure the ball to force the Ducks deep into the shot clock before launching a shot. WSU will run their half-court offense to do the same thing.

The difference in the game may very well turn on offensive rebounding. Given the Ducks' propensity for shooting from outside, misses will typically sail off the rim into the hands of players with the most hustle.

Oregon State had their way with the Cougs on the offensive boards, out-hustling them 13-5. Grabbing 13 offensive rebounds in a game qualifies as a job well done.

Oregon is probably the most experienced team in the conference, with five seniors. The Cougs match up well in that category, with three senior starters of their own. In other words, home court advantage shouldn’t be much of an issue. Though the Ducks are better than their 6-6 conference record might suggest, they are slightly outmatched by the 7-5 Cougars.

WSU will return to Pullman with their 20th win on the season, a magic number that should clinch an invitation to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

GO COUGS!!!