Oregon can maintain at least a share of first place in the Pac-12 with a win at last-place Southern California on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
The Ducks, however, go into the game having lost three of their past four. Oregon needs to start stacking wins to keep a hold on a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament in March, as well as make a case for an NCAA Tournament spot.
Oregon (14-6, 6-3 Pac-12) has already defeated the Trojans this season, an 82-74 win Dec. 28 in Eugene, Ore.
USC (8-12, 2-7) is mired in a five-game losing streak.
At that time, USC had potential NBA lottery pick Isaiah Collier in the lineup. Collier has since missed the past four games with a hand injury, and if his 4-to-6 week prognosis for a return remains, he doesn’t seem likely to suit up against the Ducks.
USC’s leading scorer is guard Boogie Ellis, who averages 18.1 points per game.
“Sometimes, we gotta have some more pride at the end of the day,” Ellis told the Orange County Register. “We had a lot of guys on last year’s team who really knew how much it meant to us. I feel like we just gotta establish a culture. We got a lot of young guys now, we got to want it more.”
The Ducks also have a couple of injuries, just when it seemed they might finally be close to full strength.
After getting back big men N’Faly Dante and Nate Bittle from long-term injuries, Oregon is now facing season-ending injuries for key rotation player Keeshawn Barthelemy (leg) and promising freshman Mookie Cook (foot).
“Injuries are the one thing that really takes away from the fun,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman told the school’s athletics website after the Ducks’ loss to No. 11 Arizona last Saturday, during which Barthelemy was carried off the court.
“Seeing him like that … he really was playing good, really had a flow going there. Just really sad to see.”
Since his return five games ago, Dante is averaging almost 15 points a game for the Ducks. Guard Jermaine Couisnard is scoring 17.1 points per contest in conference games.
–Field Level Media