Missouri Tigers basketball vs. Oregon Ducks: Prediction, TV, tipoff, line, lineups
THE DETAILS
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
Where: CHI Health Center, Omaha, Nebraska
TV: FS1
Betting line: Oregon by 5
Radio: KMBZ (98.1 FM)
PROJECTED LINEUPS
P | No. | Oregon | Ht. | Yr. | PPG* |
F | 1 | N’Faly Dante | 6-11 | So. | 5.8 |
F | 2 | Eugene Omoruyi | 6-6 | R-Sr. | 13.8 |
F | 50 | Eric Williams Jr. | 6-6 | R-Jr. | 14.0 |
G | 5 | Chris Duarte | 6-6 | Sr. | 12.9 |
G | 0 | Will Richardson | 6-5 | Jr. | 11.0 |
P | No. | Missouri | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 23 | Jeremiah Tilmon | 6-10 | Sr. | 8.0 |
F | 24 | Kobe Brown | 6-7 | So. | 5.0 |
G | 13 | Mark Smith | 6-5 | Sr. | 18.0 |
G | 1 | Xavier Pinson | 6-2 | Jr. | 17.0 |
G | 12 | Dru Smith | 6-3 | R-Sr. | 16.0 |
*stats from most recent season played
About Oregon (0-0): The Ducks were supposed to open their season against Eastern Washington, but COVID-19 within the Eagles’ program forced an adjustment. Oregon coach Dana Altman has the difficult task of replacing guard Payton Pritchard, who graduated after finishing with a whopper of a senior season. But the Ducks bring back guards Chris Duarte and Will Richardson, who rounded out their top three in scoring. Altman’s team is loaded with transfers who make up an experienced roster. The Ducks are reloading, aiming for another Pac-12 title after finishing first last year. KenPom ranks them No. 20.
About Missouri (1-0): The Tigers cruised to a comfortable season-opening win over Oral Roberts. If MU coach Cuonzo Martin wants to match up in experience, the Tigers won’t back down. They feature battle-tested upperclassmen looking for an NCAA Tournament appearance. MU ran all over the Golden Eagles in its season-opening win, showcasing a renewed emphasis on pushing the ball. The Tigers’ three starting guards combined for a stellar 51 points while forward Jeremiah Tilmon brought down 12 rebounds. Expect Mizzou to continue tinkering with depth and rotation combinations. KenPom has them No. 56.
Prediction: Mizzou and Oregon were supposed to meet in Connecticut, but complications forced both teams out of the multi-team event. Now they’re facing off in Nebraska, where Altman’s former Creighton ties helped him land a host site.
While college basketball has been dominated by youth so far this year, both the Tigers and Ducks feature deep, veteran squads. Oregon finally gets to play some one-year sit-out transfers in Williams and Omoruyi, who will make their Ducks debuts. While losing Pritchard is a blow, they’ve had Richardson waiting in the background to take the reins at point guard.
A game between these two teams last year would’ve been a slog. They were among the slowest teams in the nation. Expect the Tigers to try to run it more Wednesday in their new style of play.
We’ll say the Tigers show some grit by hanging around with the Ducks. It helps that Mizzou has a game under its belt just to get a feel for what it’s like to play during this pandemic-influenced season. But Oregon should have a little more play-making at its disposal and should therefore be able to pull away from MU late.
Oregon 67, Missouri 63