EUGENE, Ore. -- UCLA coach Steve Alford had no problem with Oregon being named the preseason favorite in the Pac-12 Conference.
"They have pretty much everyone back and they are so athletic and long," Alford said. "They drive the ball very hard and have a team that is hard to play against on both sides. They are a hard team to score against and hard to guard."
Alford said he had just one complaint about the Ducks.
"I wish we only played them once," he said.
The second-ranked Bruins and No. 21 Oregon face off in the first of two meetings this season to open the Pac-12 schedule Wednesday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
While Oregon was the preseason favorite in the conference, UCLA has taken over that label entering conference play after going 13-0 to move up to No. 2 in The Associated Press poll.
"I've got a really good group of guys to coach, they're a pretty good basketball team right now," Alford said. "We're trying to become a great basketball team, and that's a process. That's a journey."
Oregon coach Dana Altman has seen UCLA a few times on television.
"I enjoy watching UCLA, they are must-watch TV," Altman said. "Their ball movement is unbelievable, the best I've seen in years. They're leading the country in field-goal percentage and third in 3-point percentage so we'll find out if we can guard or not. Those are unbelievable percentages. We will have our work cut out for us defensively."
UCLA is shooting 55 percent from the field, including 42.8 percent on 3-pointers, while ranking second in the country with 95.8 points per game. The Bruins lead the country with 23.6 assists per game.
"I know they are explosive offensively," Oregon guard Casey Benson said. "It's a tough game and we need to get ready and go take care of it."
Oregon has won 33 straight home games, the third-longest active streak in the NCAA.
"We know we have the No. 2 team on our court and they're playing well and scoring a lot of points, so it will be a big night defensively for us," Benson said. "We have to take care of our home court. Last year, we didn't lose at home and we want to do the same thing this year."
After a disappointing 15-17 record last season, UCLA has been sparked by a couple of freshmen. Six-foot-ten TJ Leaf leads the Bruins with 17.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while point guard Lonzo Ball averages 13.7 points, 8.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Senior guards Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford averaged 16.8 and 16.4 points per game, respectively, while sophomore guard Aaron Holiday is at 14.5 points per game. UCLA has six players scoring in double figures including 7-foot junior Thomas Welsh at 11.1.
Oregon hopes to have its leading scorer, 6-10 senior center Chris Boucher, back to face the Bruins after he missed the previous two games with a sprained ankle. He also averages 7.8 rebounds and ranks among the nation's leaders with 3.2 blocked shots per game.
Junior forward Dillon Brooks, a preseason All-American, has replaced Boucher in the starting line-up during the past two games after playing in a reserve role in his first eight games following offseason foot surgery. The 6-7 Brooks ranks third on the Ducks with 12.7 points per game.
Oregon has gotten solid contributions from a couple of players who grew up near UCLA. Sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey, an L.A. native, averages 13.5 points on 47.1 percent shooting while Long Beach native Jordan Bell leads Oregon with 8.3 rebounds to go with 10.3 points per game.
Oregon was ranked as high as No. 4 this season, but started 2-2 with losses to Baylor and Georgetown before closing out nonconference play with nine straight victories before taking off four days for Christmas.
"I told the guys to go home and clear their heads and come back to get to work," Altman said. "We're a much better team than we are showing and that is the disappointing thing to me as a coach."
