Oregon’s undefeated start has included three wins against teams ranked in The Associated Press top 25 as well as a victory in its Big Ten Conference opener against Southern California this past Wednesday.
Now comes a game against an old rival when Oregon (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten) faces UCLA (7-1, 1-0) at 3 p.m. Sunday in Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks are ranked No. 10 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 10 in the NET rankings (as of Saturday morning).
Though the Bruins aren’t ranked in either poll, they are No. 18 in the NET rankings.
After five straight road games, Oregon will be playing at home for the first time in three weeks on Sunday.
Altman said he is hopeful fans will return to Matthew Knight Arena as well to mark the Ducks’ return.
“We gotta get a home crowd going,” Altman said. “You see in this league you gotta have a home court. We’re gonna have to do a great job as a team, but it would sure be nice if we’d get some enthusiasm going in the building.”
Through four home games this season, the Ducks have had an average attendance of 5,681 in their 12,400-seat arena.
That’s the fifth-lowest attendance average in the Big Ten. Northwestern (5,574), Washington (5,448), UCLA (4,588) and USC (3,544) have lower averages.
Nine teams in the conference are averaging more than 10,000 – Indiana (17,222), Nebraska (14,889), Purdue (14,876), Michigan State (14,797), Illinois (14,335), Wisconsin (14,315), Maryland (11,542), Ohio State (10,873) and Michigan (10,704).
“My biggest thing is I want it to be a great atmosphere for the fellas,” Altman said. “The atmosphere in this building can be really good when the students are involved and everybody’s involved.”
Home court has certainly given Oregon the edge against UCLA, which is 4-9 all-time at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Bruins will come into Sunday’s game having won six straight and ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense at 53.1 points allowed per game and No. 3 in forced turnovers at 18.88 per game.
Oregon has committed the sixth fewest turnovers in the Big Ten at 10.8 and is averaging 79.9 points.
“Defensively they’ll grab and hold and be physical, and offensively they’ll grind you down and try and get the shot they want to get,” Altman said. “You know it’s going to be a physical game and we’re gonna have to play, there’s no doubt about it.”
The Ducks have four players scoring in doubles figures – center Nate Bittle (13.6), guard TJ Bamba (12.2), point guard Jackson Shelstad (11.3) and reserve guard Keeshawn Barthelemy (10.8)
Forward Tyler Bilodeau, the transfer from Oregon State, leads the Bruins in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (6.1). He’s also shooting 49.5% from the field.
How to watch Oregon men’s basketball vs. UCLA
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TV channel: Big Ten Network (BTN)
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Streaming:
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Radio: KUGN (590 AM, 98.1FM), KUJZ (95.3 FM), KFXX (1080 AM, Portland), KYKN (1430 AM, Salem), Sirius: 381
Oregon men’s basketball vs. UCLA game time
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Date: Sunday, Dec. 8
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Start time: 3 p.m. PT
Oregon men’s basketball vs. UCLA predictions, picks, odds
The ESPN Analytics matchup predictor gives Oregon a 59.1% chance to beat UCLA.
Oregon men’s basketball 2024-25 schedule
Next five games
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Dec. 8 – vs. UCLA
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Dec. 15 – vs. Stephen F. Austin
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Dec. 21 – vs. Stanford (San Jose, Calif.)
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Dec. 29 – vs. Weber State
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Jan. 2 – vs. Illinois
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon men’s basketball vs. USC: TV channel, streaming info
