Written by Austin Meek at Register Guard.com
A bad trip to the Bay Area served as the springboard for Oregon’s run to the Pac-12 basketball title last season.
A similar result this week could be the death knell for Oregon’s chances of a repeat. The No. 6 Ducks (24-4, 13-2 Pac-12) trail Arizona by one game with three remaining in the regular season, leaving little margin for error when Oregon faces California at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.
“If we want to continue to try to accomplish some things we set out early to do, we’re going to have to play well and take care of business,” coach Dana Altman said. “Cal is fighting for an NCAA berth and they’ll give us everything. Their physicality is a tough matchup for us.”
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Cal as a No. 10 seed in his latest mock bracket, one of five Pac-12 teams projected in the field. At 18-8 and 9-5 in conference play, the Bears will be looking to snag a marquee victory after stumbling Friday at Stanford.
Playing at home should give the Bears a boost. Cal is 32-2 at Haas Pavilion over the past two seasons, including an 83-63 drubbing of the Ducks last February.
“They punched us in the mouth early and we didn’t really respond,” guard Casey Benson said. “We can’t let that happen this year. We’ve got to come out with energy, come out with focus and be ready to go from the tip.”
Oregon got the better of Cal earlier this season, beating the Bears 86-63 at Matthew Knight Arena. Forward Ivan Rabb, a projected first-round pick in many mock drafts, went 2-for-10 from the floor and scored six points, well below his season average of 14.8.
Cal has one of the Pac-12’s most imposing front lines with the 6-foot-11 Rabb, 7-0 Kingsley Okoroh and 7-1 Kameron Rooks. Boucher said he and Jordan Bell are looking forward to the challenge.
“Me and Jordan, whoever we play, we play hard,” Boucher said. “We’re trying to show that we’re the best. Me and Jordan take that really personally. We want to show that we’re capable of guarding anybody in the league.”
The Ducks can expect a grind-it-out game plan from the Bears, who lead the Pac-12 in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense. Cal also leads the league in offensive rebounding, which could expose an issue Altman has been harping on the Ducks to correct.
“Cal killed us with offensive rebounds last time,” Altman said, referencing the Bears’ 19 offensive boards in the first meeting. “We’re going to have to do a much better job than we did the first time.”
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