Oregon (20-12, 11-8) vs. No. 3 seed Utah (17-13, 11-7)
Pac-12 Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas; Thursday, 10:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the Pac-12 semifinals is on the line as Oregon and Utah prepare to do battle. The only regular season meeting came on Jan. 31, when the Ducks forced 17 Utah turnovers and turned the ball over just 10 times en route to a six-point victory.
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED: Utah has been fueled by senior leadership this year while Oregon has relied on freshmen. Seniors Sedrick Barefield, Timmy Allen, Jayce Johnson and Parker Van Dyke have collectively accounted for 57 percent of Utah's scoring this season. On the other side, freshmen Payton Pritchard, Louis King and Bol Bol have scored 39 percent of the team's points this year and 53 percent of all Ducks points over their last five.
POTENT PAYTON: Pritchard has connected on 32.7 percent of the 171 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 8 of 24 over the last five games. He's also converted 83.9 percent of his foul shots this season.
WINLESS WHEN: The Runnin' Utes are 0-6 when they score 63 points or fewer and 17-7 when they exceed 63 points. The Ducks are 0-7 when allowing 73 or more points and 20-5 on the season, otherwise.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Utes have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Ducks. Utah has 45 assists on 86 field goals (52.3 percent) over its past three matchups while Oregon has assists on 40 of 83 field goals (48.2 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The sturdy Oregon defense has held opponents to just 63.3 points per game, the 18th-lowest in Division I. Utah has given up an average of 74.8 points through 30 games (ranked 236th, nationally).
