It’ll be up to the No. 11 Ducks (17-4, 6-2 Pac-12) to dictate the tempo and speed up the Bears tonight (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network) at Haas Pavilion.
Cal (9-10, 3-3 Pac-12) ranks 323rd in adjusted tempo with 64.6 possessions per 40 minutes, according to KenPom, which is lowest in the Pac-12 and allows it to stay competitive by keeping the score low. Case in point, the Bears dug out of an 11-point hole in the second half to edge Stanford 52-50 on Sunday and have already matched their conference win total from a year ago despite being the only Pac-12 team with a losing record overall.
Only Fresno State, which ranks 337th out of 353 teams, plays at a slower tempo among Oregon’s opponents this season and UO won its season opener against the Bulldogs 71-57.
Getting to 70 points would likely be more than enough for Oregon, as Cal is averaging a Pac-12 low 62.6 points (335th).
“We’re going to play our game regardless,” guard Anthony Mathis said. “We’re going to try to get them running down, defend as hard as we can and see how it goes.”
Anybody watching this game? Cal is on an 8-0 run to go ahead 42-40. I hate teams that lose in non-league games and then all of a sudden figure out how to play just in time to spoil stuff for the rest of the conference.