Runnin' Utes Square Off Against No. 4/6 Oregon Saturday

Saturday, January 4

Salt Lake City, UT

3:00 PM

University of Utah

Oregon

Runnin' Utes Square Off Against No. 4/6 Oregon Saturday

1/3/2020 3:29 PM | Men's Basketball

Utah Game Notes Oregon Game Notes

The Utah men’s basketball team wraps up the opening week of Pac-12 play against No. 4/6 Oregon Saturday.

OPENING TIP
The University of Utah men's basketball team faces its third AP Top-25 team this season and second top-10 team when it hosts No. 4/6 Oregon this Saturday, Jan. 4, at 3 p.m. (MT) inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. J.B. Long will have the call on the Pac-12 Network broadcast while Don MacLean serves as the analyst in the 33rd meeting between the Utes and Ducks.

GAME DAY PROMOTIONS
The first 1,000 fans in attendance for Saturday's game against No. 4/6 Oregon will get an 11x17 poster of a variety of former Runnin' Utes greats. In addition, the first 5,000 fans will also get a red light stick.

AGAINST THE ODDS
Heading into this Saturday's showdown with No. 4/6 Oregon, Utah is 10-35 (.222) all-time against AP Top-5 teams and 3-9 (.250) overall against teams ranked No. 4 in the AP poll. Below is how the Utes have fared against No. 4-ranked AP teams…

Last GAME vs. No. 4 (HOME): Arizona State – L, 80-77 on January 7, 2018
Last WIN vs. No. 4 (HOME): Cincinnati – 76-68 on January 1, 1964
Last WIN vs. No. 4: Elite 8 vs. Arizona – 76-51 on March 21, 1998
Last GAME vs. AP Top-5 Team: #4 Arizona State – L, 80-77 on January 7, 2018
Last WIN vs. AP Top-5 Team (HOME): #1 Alabama – 51-49 on December 30, 2002
Last WIN vs. AP Top-5 Team: #1 Alabama – 51-49 on December 30, 2002

SCOUTING THE DUCKS
The No. 4/6 Oregon Ducks opened Pac-12 play with a 75-65 loss at Colorado this past Thursday and moved them to 11-3 on the year. Player of the year candidate Payton Pritchard led the Ducks with 21 points and six rebounds. In addition, Chris Duarte chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds while Will Richardson and Shakur Juiston each added eight points and four rebounds apiece.

Saturday's game between the Utes and Ducks will be the eight time Utah has faced off against a ranked Oregon team. In the previous seven games, Utah is just 1-6 against the Oregon Ducks and 1-1 when playing at home. The lone win against a ranked Ducks team came on March 9, 2013, in the final game of the regular-season 72-62 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Saturday's game will also be the first time the Utes have played the Ducks on the backend of a trip.

Pritchard, who is averaging 18.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.8 steals, leads Oregon in the scoring and assists column while owning a .505 shooting clip. Duarte, the reigning player of the week, is second on the team with 12.1 points per game to go with 5.0 boards per game. Transfer Anthony Mathis, who leads the team with 37 triples, is third on the squad with a 10.5 points average and is eighth in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage with a .493 clip. Richardson rounds out the double-digit scorers for Oregon, averaging 10.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

The Ducks opened the season with six-straight wins before picking up a pair of losses in the Battle 4 Atlantis against Gonzaga and North Carolina before reeling off five-straight games to wrap up non-conference play. UO enters conference play 3-2 against AP ranked teams, picking up wins versus #13 Memphis, #13 Seton Hall and at #5 Michigan.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah's offense had to shake off the rust after an 11-day break between games before finally finding its rhythm Thursday night midway through the first half. The Utes relied on their 3-point shooting the first 20 minutes of the game, knocking down 6-of-9 from deep to take a 39-32 lead at the half. Timmy Allen (11 points), who had a game-high 25 points, Both Gach (10 points) and Rylan Jones (9 points) accounted for 30 of the team's 39 in the first half of action.

It took a while for Utah to finally get over the hump and take a double-digit lead against Oregon State. But, when it finally happened the Utes were able to pull away and walk away with the 81-69 victory over the Beavers.

Allen finished with his third double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Gach had 17 points and six rebounds of his own. Jones added 14 points and five assists on 4-of-7 from 3-point range as well while Riley Battin and Mikael Jantunen chipped in with eight points and four rebounds apiece.

UP NEXT
Utah will get a whole week to prepare for Colorado and won't play the Buffs until Sunday, January 12, at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. Roxy Bernstein will have the call in the conference showdown in Boulder, Colo. while Corey Williams serves as the analyst.

LOOKING AHEAD
The arduous stretch of playing four ranked teams in seven games continues for Utah as it stays on the road and faces #25/24 Arizona (Jan. 16) and Arizona State (Jan. 18). Both games are scheduled to air on the Pac-12 Network. Daron Sutton will have the call alongside Matt Muehlebach between the Utes and Wildcats in Tucson with Roxy Bernstein and Bill Walton guiding fans through the action in Tempe against the Sun Devils.

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