Oregon has embarked on a season-saving run, while Utah is thrilled that its program-record 10-game losing skid has concluded.
It is a case of two teams headed in different directions when the Ducks and Utes battle Saturday night in Pac-12 play at Salt Lake City.
Oregon (14-7, 7-3 Pac-12) has recovered from a shaky 6-6 start with eight wins in its last nine games to spark hopes of an NCAA Tournament bid.
The run continued with Thursday’s 66-51 win over Colorado, the Ducks’ first triumph in 11 visits to Boulder. Oregon coach Dana Altman was 0-for-8 during his 12-season tenure at the school.
“I don’t get too high after a win or too low after a loss,” Altman said after the victory. “It’s been written but I haven’t thought that much about it. I think the biggest thing is we have to move on.”
Jacob Young scored 21 points against the Buffaloes for his third 20-point effort of the season. He said his squad has no margin for error.
“Like Coach said, we took a lot of punches at the beginning (of the season) but we can’t take any more,” Young said. “Every game we’re going into it 1,000 percent knowing that we have to win and we have to fight to win.”
Oregon is a spectacular 20-2 against the Utes during the Altman era. The most recent success was a 79-66 home win on Jan. 1 when Will Richardson scored 23 of his 26 points in the second half.
That was a career high at the time for Richardson, who averages a team-high 14.8 points. He surpassed it with 28 points in a 79-69 win over then-No. 5 USC on Jan. 15.
Meanwhile, Utah (9-14, 2-11) ended its ugly slide with an 84-59 rout of visiting Oregon State. It marked the Utes’ first win since beating Fresno State 55-50 on Dec. 21.
Utah lost by double digits six times during the funk but gave a solid effort that included a season-high 15 3-pointers and a season-low five turnovers against the Beavers.
“We haven’t won for a long time, but we keep fighting and working hard, and stayed the course,” the Utes’ Both Gach said afterward. “This team easily could have given up, but we didn’t. Great things happen when you work hard, and you end up with a win, so it feels good.”
Lazar Stefanovic scored 15 points on five 3-pointers to help fuel Utah.
“I think (the losing streak) made us so much stronger, and so much better, and we improved tremendously during this stretch,” Stefanovic said.
Branden Carlson (13.3) and Gach (10.0) are the only Utes scoring in double digits.
–Field Level Media
