How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins at Oregon Ducks

Dec 30, 2023

Dylan Andrews and the Bruins have a reason to be smiling after snapping their four-game losing streak on Thursday against Oregon State. (Photo Credit: Jan Kim Lim/uclabruins.com)

On Thursday night, the UCLA Bruins ended their four-game losing streak by beating the Oregon State Beavers, 69-62, but they cannot rest on their laurels today because they will be facing an Oregon Ducks team which defeated Southern Cal on Thursday by a score of 82-74.

Head coach Dana Altman always seems to have his Ducks ready to play and I’m sure that he would like to start off conference play with a weekend sweep of the LA schools.

This series has been full of streaks lately. UCLA beat the Ducks all three times they played last season while Oregon had beaten the Bruins in their previous four matchups.

Despite the Bruins’ struggles of late, they are still 14th in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game with an average of just 62 ppg. But UCLA has been struggling on the offensive side of the court.

This afternoon’s game may come down to whether the Bruins can keep the Ducks under 66 points. Only one team has been able to do that this season and that was Syracuse who held Oregon to 63. The Ducks have scored at least 67 points in 11 of their 12 games this season and they have won nine of those 11 games.

But since the Bruins have had issues scoring enough points to beat opponents, keeping the Ducks from scoring more than 66 will go a long way towards a UCLA win this afternoon.

Let’s look at Altman’s starting five.

Starting Five

Against Southern Cal on Thursday night, Oregon relied on their two freshman starters, Kwame Evans Jr. and Jackson Shelstad, for more than half their points. Evans scored 22 while Shelstad put up 21.

Altman will probably start a lineup consisting of three guards, a forward and a center.

The Ducks are a team which has had three big injuries.

Technically, center N’Faly Dante leads the Ducks in scoring with an average of 16 ppg, but he hasn’t played since Oregon’s season opener against Georgia due to a knee injury. He may be close to coming back at this point, but there’s no indication that he will be back today. In his place, look for Mahamadou Diawara to play since Nate Bittle is also injured. Diawara has only been averaging 16.1 minutes per game and just 3.9 ppg. He’s just fifth on the team in rebounds with 4.7 per game and he’s tied for third in blocks with five. Look for Altman to sub in another guard for him early and frequently, probably Kario Oquendo, in order to get a guy with more production onto the court.

Speaking of production, Shelstad has been the most consistent Duck since Dante went down. He’s averaging 14.0 ppg, but the freshman guard has also averaged 17.4 ppg in Oregon’s last four games.

Redshirt senior Jermaine Couisnard has the next highest scoring average on the team with 13.1 ppg. Couisnard leads the Ducks in assists with 33 and he’s second among today’s probable starters in rebounds with an average of 5.1 rpg as well as blocks with 22. Overall, he is probably Oregon’s best all-around player.

Brennan Rigsby has been Altman’s third starting guard since losing Jesse Zarzuela for the season with an ankle injury. While Rigsby is only averaging 8.0 ppg, he’s the best three-point shooter on the team of anyone who's tried more then 27 threes. His three-point percentage is 48.6%.

While Evans had a big night against the Trojans on Thursday, he’s averaging just 9.5 ppg. But he leads the team in blocks with 15 and his average of 5.7 rpg makes him the best rebounder of the guys who will likely play today. Only Dante and Bittle have been better on the boards.

The other guy worth mentioning is Oquendo. While he’s played in all 12 games that the Ducks have played, he hasn’t started once yet. Despite this, he’s averaging 11.5 ppg while playing an average of just 19.5 minutes per game. He’s also shooting 54.2% from the field and 38.5% from behind the arc. He’s also second on the team in blocks with eight. Given Oquendo’s production, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dana Altman give him his first start of the season today instead of Diawara who just hasn’t contributed much when he’s been on the floor.

Analysis

Somehow, Altman has kept the team together despite losing three important guys to injuries early this season. That’s a testament to both Altman’s coaching as well as his team’s resilience.

Today’s game is certainly going to be a tough one and I won’t be surprised if the Bruins go home with just a split of the weekend.

But UCLA will have a shot to win this one if they can keep the high-flying Ducks from putting up more than 65. The question, of course, is whether or not than can accomplish that today on the road.

Listen to the Game With TMB

Today’s game will be on CBS with Rich Waltz and Clark Kellogg calling the game. If you prefer, you can listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray. Just be sure to right-click on it so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.

This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. Oregon Ducks game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream this afternoon’s game:

UCLA Men’s Basketball (6-6, 1-0)

Opponent: Oregon Ducks (9-3, 1-0)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 93-40.
When: 1:00 pm PT, Saturday, December 30, 2023
Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, OR
TV: CBS with Rich Waltz and Clark Kellogg
Live Stream: CBS.com and the CBS Sports app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 387 (UCLA Call)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Oregon

Go Bruins!!!

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