Oregon bolstered its NCAA Tournament resume last week by sweeping the Los Angeles schools, including an upset of No. 18 UCLA.
That makes the Ducks a virtual lock for the NCAA Tournament — if the rest of the Ducks’ season unfolds as expected. That means getting two victories on their final regular-season road trip, starting with Friday’s contest at Utah.
“That’ll take care of itself by just us taking one game at a time and doing the best we can against Utah,” said coach Kelly Graves, who is trying to lead Oregon to March Madness for the first time since 2005. “We talked about that big picture last week. We haven’t really mentioned it this week. I think they know what’s ahead of them and that we have work to do.”
The Ducks continue to be paced by a dynamite freshman class, as Sabrina Ionescu has already set an NCAA freshman record with four triple-doubles this season and Ruthy Hebard averages 14.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while leading the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage at 65.2. Lexi Bando also still leads the country in three-point field-goal percentage (51.8).
Utah has lost six of its last eight contests but split in the Bay Area last weekend, notching a 73-64 win over California. Emily Potter averages 14 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
What: Oregon Ducks (17-9, 7-7 Pac-12) at Utah Utes (15-10, 4-10 Pac-12)
When: 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17
Where: Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
TV channel: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: KUGN 590 AM in Eugene; KBNP 1410 AM in Portland; TuneIn.com/Ducks
Live stream: Pac-12.com/live
Series history: Oregon leads the all-time series 15-9, including an 84-66 win earlier this season.
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