Civil War Preview

The Matt Court will play host to the Civil War game at 3:30 PT, and the Oregon State Beavers women’s team already beat the Oregon Ducks 67-60 yesterday. The men’s team will strive to avoid falling victim to a four minute collapse against their rivals, who average 82.7 points per game and are one of the 25 most efficient offensive teams in the country. The Beavers average 1.12 points per possession and outscore opponents by 10.6 points per game. Ducks coach Dana Altman said he is impressed by the Beavers defense, but they are fairly mediocre on the defensive side of the ball. However, they are a force on offense with Jared Cunningham and Devon Collier.

Collier has a 27.3 PER, and the combination of Collier and Cunningham has been worth about six wins so far this season. They are both skilled defensive players, although Cunningham has the slight advantage in that facet of the game. Cunningham has an impressive 22.8 PER, although it is more human than Collier’s total. After all, Collier has a true shooting percentage of 63.6%.

All seven players on the Beavers who have played in all 20 games have a PER that is above the average (15.0), and Roberto Nelson’s 20.0 PER goes unnoticed at times. Eric Moreland is as good of a rebounder as there is, and he is easily the team’s best defensive player. Moreland has the ability to shut down his opponent and blocks one out of every ten shots against him. Angus Brandt is the team’s most efficient player with a 64.5 TS%, but Brandt is a huge liability on defense. However, Brandt’s insane efficiency numbers have helped him be a two-win player this year.

The Oregon Ducks may not be the sexiest team out there, but they just keep on winning conference games. E.J. Singler is one of the most consistent players in the conference, and he and Garrett Sim both have 20.2 PERs. Sim is arguably the most efficient player in the country and boasts a 70.1 TS%. He has been worth 3.1 wins this season, and that’s more than both Collier and Cunningham. Sim is as poor as Brandt on defense, but he more than makes up for it with his shooting.

Both of these teams are efficient on offense, but the Beavers have more depth and consistency. The Ducks should be able to win this game, but expect this to be a three-point game. Efficiency isn’t everything, and the Ducks are at home, are the better coached team, and they are playing slightly better basketball. The Oregon Ducks will have the slightly better game, but this is yet another Civil War battle to watch intently.

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