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Oregon Ducks Can’t Overlook Washington State

By Justin Phillips

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 21: Head coach Ernie Kent of the Washington State Cougars directs his team during the second half of their game against the Utah Utes at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on January 21, 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah took the win 86-64. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 21: Head coach Ernie Kent of the Washington State Cougars directs his team during the second half of their game against the Utah Utes at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on January 21, 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah took the win 86-64. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /
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Oregon enters a critical road trip facing Washington State and former Head Coach Ernie Kent on Thursday night.

The Oregon Ducks(19-10, 9-7 Pac-12) are on the cusp of making the NCAA Tournament for the eight-year but need some help to get there. Wins over the Washington Schools is about the only place left to start. For the Washington State Cougars(11-17, 3-13 Pac-12) and Head Coach Ernie Kent, the team would like nothing more than to outshoot Oregon and earn just their fourth Pac-12 win of the year.

Oregon has played hard over the last month, but at times have not played well enough to win. The road has been a key area of concern, especially for Freshman Troy Brown and Kenny Wooten who certainly looked the part in Los Angeles against USC and UCLA and earlier this season against Arizona and Arizona State.

The Oregon Ducks are coming off their biggest Pac-12 Conference win of the season against the Arizona Wildcats last Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena. The game was the most physical game the team has played all season. Senior Leadership took over with Elijah Brown scoring 30 points. MiKyle McIntosh also made his presence felt and Elijah Brown and McIntosh will need to play well against Washington State.

The Washington State Cougars have been a three-point threat all season which will continue Thursday against the Oregon Ducks. WSU had made over 300 three-pointers this season, just the seventh team All-Time to complete the feat in the Pac-12 Conference.

There have been times this season that Oregon has shown positive strides in three-point Defense. Kenny Wooten has been a blocking machine and has played a key role with deflections on the Defensive end, but he has found foul trouble too.

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The Oregon Ducks and Washington State Cougars tip off at 6 pm Pacific Time on ESPN2,

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