Oregon Ducks vs Washington Huskies Cheat Sheet

The Oregon Ducks(15-8, 5-5 Pac-12) need to protect the ball and rebound against the Washington Huskies(17-6, 7-3).

The Washington Huskies are good at forcing turnovers – in fact, they are the best in the Pac-12. Washington swipes an average of 8.5 steals per game entering Thursday. Washington also knows how to play on the road beating a highly ranked Kansas Team as well as USC, and Colorado on the road.

Jaylen Nowell is the Player to Watch for Washington. He is averaging 10 points per game and close to double that in Pac-12 play. The Freshman leads the team in scoring with 16.5 points per game hitting over 48 percent from the field.

The Huskies finished last season at the bottom of the Pac-12 Conference and this season are closer to the top with a 7-3 Conference mark. Washington has also won their last four games where the Ducks have won three of their last four games, losing on the road at Stanford over the weekend.

The Oregon Ducks have done a better job rebounding the ball in their last four games, but face a bigger challenge against the Washington Huskies. Noah Dickerson averages 8 rebounds per game and the Huskies average 33 rebounds on average per contest. Dickerson and Sam Timmons are hitting over 56 percent from the floor.

The Ducks Defense will have to step up early and stay out of foul trouble. Troy Brown has rediscovered the basket over the last four games after suffering a rough series of outings last month starting on the road against the Arizona schools. Oregon will have to play a complete game. Washington is one of the better teams in the country at making a second-half comeback, doing it in seven games this season for the win.

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The Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies tip off at 7:15 pm Pacific Time on Fox Sports 1.