The 364th all-time meeting between Oregon and Oregon State will be the final one as Pac-12 Conference mates.
The rivals located just 42 miles apart on Route 99 have played more times than any other college basketball programs as they enter Saturday’s contest on Oregon’s home floor in Eugene.
With the Pac-12’s coming breakup, the Ducks are leaving for the Big Ten after this season while Oregon State will join the West Coast Conference for the next two seasons.
So it remains to be seen how any future matchups will be handled, particularly since the programs have played a home-and-home series every season since 1920-21.
Oregon State leads the series 192-171, but the Ducks scored a 60-58 road win on Feb. 17 when N’Faly Dante slammed home a tiebreaking dunk with one second left.
Oregon (18-9, 10-6 Pac-12) resides in third place in the Pac-12 and can’t afford a stumble when it comes to its NCAA Tournament hopes. The Ducks missed March Madness in each of the past two seasons.
Oregon State (12-16, 4-13) has endured a tough season but snapped a seven-game losing streak with Saturday’s 85-73 win at Stanford. It also marked the Beavers’ first road victory in nine attempts this season and just the second time Oregon State has won in its last 42 games on road and neutral courts.
Jordan Pope scored 30 points on 10-of-17 shooting to pace the Beavers against Stanford. It is his second-highest output of the campaign for Pope, who averages a team-leading 17.5 points per game.
“Everyone played their part,” Pope said.
Michael Rataj had a stellar outing against the Cardinal. He scored a career-best 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and also collected 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
Oregon is 11-2 at home, with the losses coming to then-No. 9 Arizona and Washington State.
The Ducks are coming off a 69-64 road loss to Cal, but a second-half drought in which Oregon went more than 10 minutes without a field goal hurt the cause.
“Defensively holding them to 69, we should have given ourselves a chance,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Our guys played hard; didn’t hit any shots. Our ball movement wasn’t nearly as good as it should have been.”
Jermaine Couisnard scored 19 points and Dante added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Though the Ducks have beaten Oregon State six straight times, Altman is concerned.
“Big game Wednesday night,” Altman said. “We’ve got to find a way to get it, and keep swinging away.”
–Field Level Media
