No. 9 Oregon thriving on defense as it hosts Weber State

Oregon has played defense to coach Dana Altman's liking heading into the ninth-ranked Ducks' game Sunday at Eugene, Ore., against a Weber State team that has struggled with its offensive execution.

The Ducks (11-1) and Wildcats (6-7) will play their last nonconference games before competing in their conference schedule the rest of the way -- Oregon in its first year in the Big Ten and Weber State in the Big Sky.

Oregon is coming off a 76-61 victory on Dec. 21 over former Pac-12 rival Stanford at San Jose, Calif., in which the Ducks used their full-court pressure defense to affect the Cardinals' flow on offense.

Stanford shot 37.1 percent from the field (a mark enhanced because the Cardinal made six of their last seven shots with the game no longer in doubt) and 8 of 30 (26.7) percent from 3-point range.

"For a long time we defended pretty well," Altman said. "They're really a rhythm offensive team. We were hoping our press would take that rhythm away; I thought for the most part it did a decent job in that."

Oregon is limiting opponents to 39.6 percent shooting from the field, and 29.6 percent from 3-point range this season. Opponents are also averaging 13.3 turnovers a game.

Four of the Ducks average at least one steal per game, led by Keeshawn Barthelemy's 1.7 a game. TJ Bamba is next at 1.6.

Post player Nathan Bittle has a team-best 22 blocked shots, which is 1.8 a game.

Weber State was in a span of winning four of six games before losing 64-62 at home against in-state rival Utah Valley on Dec. 21.

Nigel Burris made 3 of 5 from 3-point range while totaling 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The rest of the Wildcats were 2 of 15 from beyond the arc.

Weber State did not make a field goal in a stretch of 9:04 in the second half.

The Wildcats made 5 of 20 attempts (25 percent) from 3-point range. They have failed to reach 30 percent shooting from beyond the arc in six games and have lost four of them.

One of those losses was 76-48 at Oregon State on Nov. 8, a game in which Weber State shot 33.3 percent from the field, and 7 of 25 (28 percent) from 3-point range while committing 15 turnovers.

Oregon won at Oregon State 78-75 on Nov. 21.

"I think we've got to trust each other more offensively right now," Weber State coach Eric Duft said. "It's not anything out of selfishness, it's just trying to win, trying to do the right thing.

"We've got to trust offensively what we have, not hold the ball quite so long. ... We're fairly easy to guard when we're holding onto it right now. That's something, before conference, that we've got to get fixed."

Oregon is the first and only Power 4 opponent Weber State will play in the regular season. The Wildcats started 1-4 with losses against Oregon State, Nevada, Hawaii and UC Irvine.

The Ducks are 4-1 against Power 4 opposition, including a 2-1 mark against former Pac-12 rivals USC, UCLA (the loss) and Stanford. They also have victories over Texas A&M and Alabama.

--Field Level Media