Oregon At Oregon St. Civil War Round 2 Game Thread

Oregon (19-8, 10-5) at Oregon St. (15-12, 5-10) at Gill Coliseum at 4:30 PM PST / Fox Sports Net & ROOT Sports Northwest / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

The second round of this year's Civil War is a Sunday showdown shown nationally by Fox Sports on their network of regional channels and affiliates, including ROOT Sports NW. It's also the 337th meeting, with Oregon St. leading in Corvallis 99-60, and 184-152 overall.

The Ducks bounced back from a narrow, competitive, and controversial 86-83 loss at California to take a 68-64 win Sunday evening at Stanford. E.J. Singler scored 10 consecutive points for Oregon, half of his co-game high 20, in the last 6 minutes of the game, including the go-ahead 3 pointer, to spearhead a Duck comeback against the Cardinal.

As a result, Oregon has won 3 of their last 4 games, and 4 of 6 since being beaten 76-71 by Oregon St. in the first Civil War, putting themselves in the race for a top 4 finish in the Pac-12 regular season, and the first day bye in the conference tournament that goes with one of those upper third spots in the standings.

The Beavers didn't fair as well against either Bay Area opponent, losing 87-82 at Stanford, and then falling 77-63 at California. Jared Cunningham led the Beavers against the Cardinal, with 22 points, but was well controlled by the Golden Bears, who limited him to 10 points. Devon Collier and Roberto Nelson shared the scoring game high in Berkeley, with 14 points apiece.

While Oregon has bounced back from their Civil War setback, the win hasn't propelled Oregon St. to anything. Getting swept in the Bay area meant a second consecutive lost weekend, after being beaten by both the Washington teams in their last games at Gill. The Beavers have now lost 4 games in a row, and 5 of their 6 since their comeback win in Eugene. Oregon St.'s 29 point second half against California also lowered their average point per game below 80 for the first time all season.

Oregon is probably on the outside of an NCAA bubble berth, but no so much so that they can't still play their way in, though a win today is probably mandatory unless the Ducks can win the Pac-12 tournament.

Oregon St.'s losing streak has made even an NIT bid a long shot, and the Beavers are bound for an opening day game in the Pac-12 tournament as well. But with their last 3 games at home, starting with this one, a turnaround that could salvage a 20 win season and some post season play are still potentially attainable if they can find some defense (the Beavers are last in the Pac-12 in points allowed, and after allowing an average of 80 per game in their latest losing streak, are now outside the top 300 nationally in scoring defense), which could allow them to find another Civil War win.

Here's the place to share Civil War stories and analyze both teams' prospects going down the stretch toward the Pac-12 tournament.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com