Oregon at Utah

Sunday, January 21
Noon PT, ESPN

Since 2011, the Utes are 1-21 against the Ducks with the lone win coming in 2017.

To buck the trend, Craig Smith’s team must focus on rebounding the ball. The Ducks are a poor rebounding group, entering the game 10th in the Conference in rebounds per game.

Utah has a stronger field goal percentage defense, too, which could go hand-in-hand with exploiting Oregon’s struggles on the glass.

From a personnel standpoint, slowing down freshman guard Jackson Shelstad is arguably the key. Colorado’s KJ Simpson dominated the matchup on Thursday, holding Shelstad to the second-fewest points of his career.

But Utah doesn’t have a guard on the same level as Simpson. Gabe Madsen or Deivon Smith figure to draw the defensive assignment, but both could struggle to defend Shelstad.

On the other hand, the Ducks don’t have an adequate player to contain Branden Carlson.

N’Faly Dante isn’t built to defend Carlson on the perimeter and the UO true forwards might have problems, too.

Kwame Evans Jr. seems to be the natural fit, but he doesn’t score on offense and has seen his minutes cut back the last few games.

The result could be a high-scoring affair with each team scoring in different ways. The X-Factors are the role players.

If Jermaine Couisnard on Oregon or some combination of Keba Keita/Cole Bajema on Utah go off, their respective teams should like their chances.

Dane Miller’s Game Picks

2023-24 Week 4 Pac-12 Games	Pick
Oregon at Utah Jan 21, Noon	Oregon
Overall Record	124-50-0 (71%)