A year ago the story for Oregon heading into the Bay Area was about the Ducks’ struggles on the road.
Undefeated at home on the season, the Ducks went into that mid-February trip with concerns about their play away from Matthew Knight Arena.
They lost both games that week, including a 20-point loss to Cal — Oregon’s opponent this Wednesday.
A year later, the narrative is similar. The Ducks just completed the home portion of the 2016-17 schedule undefeated again. Now, sitting a game behind the Arizona Wildcats in Pac-12 play, the Ducks must find some consistency on the road, where the Ducks have lost two of their last three games.
“Two tough road games,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “On the road, not here in the friendly confines of home. It will definitely give us a different look.”
All four of Oregon’s losses have come on the road this season. In the Ducks last three games away from Eugene, Oregon lost to Colorado and UCLA before winning at USC earlier this month.
Those two losses really hampered Oregon’s chances at winning the Pac-12 crown, as the Ducks’ blowout win at home over the Wildcats to pull into first was quickly negated by their loss at UCLA after Oregon led by 19 points in the first half.
And historically, things haven’t been easy for the Ducks in the Bay. The Ducks have only one sweep on the road of Cal and Stanford since 1976. That came two years ago on a team that had some of Oregon’s current pieces like Dillon Brooks, Jordan Bell and Casey Benson.
But last year, the Ducks went into the trip favored to win both games and came back to Eugene with losses in both. Fortunately for Oregon, the Ducks had three games left at home to regroup before going back on the road.
That isn’t the case this time.
“They punched us in the mouth and we didn’t really respond,” Benson said of last year’s Cal game. “We can’t let that happen this year. We have to come out with a lot of energy.”
The Ducks are coming off a relatively easy sweep of the Mountain schools, having closed out their home schedule with wins over Utah (79-61) and Colorado (101-73.) Oregon continues to rise in the AP rankings, coming in at No. 6 this week and KenPom.com projects the Ducks to win both games this week.
The Bears are fighting for their postseason lives, however. As of now, the Bears are seen by experts around the country as a “bubble” team for the NCAA Tournament and a win over a team as highly-rated as Oregon would be a boon for their resume. So while the Ducks are favored, the Bears will likely be hungry — especially after the Ducks’ 86-63 win earlier this year.
“We have to play well. We have to take care of business,” Altman said. “Cal is fighting for an NCAA berth and they’ll give us everything. Stanford is on Senior Day. It’s a tough road trip to take at this time of the year and we’ll have to play awfully well.”
— Tyson Alger
talger@oregonian.com
@tysonalger
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