By Cuinn Huber
The University of Oregon men's basketball team is set to face the Rocky Mountain teams at home this weekend in its final regular season games as a Pac-12 squad. The team is coming off a devastating 20-point loss to the Arizona Wildcats and a win against Oregon State in last weekend's games. Jermaine Couisnard has surpassed N’faly Dante as the leading scorer on the team with 15.5 points per game. He also is averaging more minutes played per game than anybody with 32.8 minutes of playing time. Despite being passed in scoring, Dante still is averaging 8.5 rebounds a game, nearly double that of the second-best.
The mountain teams are looking to capitalize on Oregon's injuries. Colorado has a 20-9 record coming into the weekend. KJ Simpson is currently averaging 19.9 points per game. On the defensive side, Eddie Lampkin Jr. is averaging seven rebounds a game with an overall strong squad.
Utah has an 18-11 record with Branden Carlson being the team's major star. Carlson has 16.7 points and seven rebounds per game proving to be a strong all-around talent. Gabe Madsden has also been key with 1.4 steals and 2.3 assists on the Utes’ squad.
The main factor is going to be depth and motivation. These are the final regular season Pac-12 games for all of these teams. Oregon has been plagued with injuries all season which leaves them limited in its bench. This could allow Colorado and/or Utah to take advantage and use whatever depth they have to ruin the duck's spirit. On the flip side, if Oregon can utilize Couisnard and Dante and not exhaust them with too much playing time they will be a very difficult team to beat on their home court.
Oregon has a difficult weekend ahead. Both of these teams either have better or similar records to them and appear to be going strong for the final weekend of the regular season. The team is coming off a disappointing loss and is very motivated to close off the season well. However, Injuries are a major issue and have been for the last couple of seasons which could be an inhibitor. Colorado has been very strong with their 20-victory season and seems likely to win again. Utah on the other hand is Oregon's best bet for a win.
Predictions:
Oregon 72, Colorado 80
Oregon 75, Utah 66