What to know about Oregon Ducks men's basketball's big matchup vs. Michigan Wolverines
Oregon (4-2) vs. Michigan (4-3)
Time/date: 12:30 p.m. Saturday
Site: Matthew Knight Arena
TV: FS1. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3).
About the matchup: The future Big Ten opponents will get an early glimpse of each other in a game that was initially suppose to take place in 2020 before the pandemic canceled the Wolverines' trip to Eugene. As far as nonconference opponents go, a home game against a marquee program like Michigan is as big as it gets for the Ducks. Both teams will be looking to get back on track Saturday. Oregon is coming off its first two losses of the season after being defeated by Santa Clara 88-82and Alabama 99-91 at the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida, last weekend. The Wolverines have lost three of their last four, including 73-57 to Texas Tech last Friday at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas. Their only win in that stretch is 83-78 against Stanford on Nov. 23.
About the Ducks: With the longterm injuries to centers N'Faly Dante and Nate Bittle, the Ducks have had to alter their offensive strategy. The plan was to play an outside-in game this season, regularly and deliberately feeding Dante and Bittle in the post. Now they have to be more inside-out, coach Dana Altman said. It hasn't hurt the Ducks' scoring, as they averaged 86.5 points in their last two games. Defense was an issue in Florida, as they averaged 93.5 points allowed in the losses — the two highest point totals of the season. With its two leading scorers on the bench, Oregon is led by guards Jermaine Couisnard (12.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg), Keeshawn Barthelemy (11.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and Jesse Zarzuela (10.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg). The Ducks did get a boost last week with the debut of freshman point guard Jackson Shelstad, who was sidelined by an injury through the first four games. The West Linn grad averaged 9.0 points and 20.5 minutes in his first two games. He shot 43.8% (7-for-16) from the field and made four of his eight 3-point attempts.
About the Wolverines: The Ducks are going to have to figure out a way to contend with Michigan's 1-2 punch of point guard Dug McDaniel (18.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 5.6 apg) and forward Olivier Nkamhoua (17.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg). The Wolverines are shooting 49.8% from the field, 37.5% from 3-point range (63-for-168) and averaging 81.9 points — basically the same as the Ducks' 81.5. Juwan Howard has been on the bench the last three games but hasn't returned to full head coaching duties following offseason heart surgery in September. Still, he was ejected for arguing with officials in Michigan's loss to Texas Tech on Nov. 24. Assistant Phil Martelli has been handling head coaching duties in Howard’s absence.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks men's basketball set to host Michigan Wolverines
