TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) No. 11 Arizona considers its televised 57-41 victory over No. 10 Oregon on Thursday night a boost for the program and Pac-12 conference. “From a national perspective,.
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There is a long way to go, but right now the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal are the frontrunners to win the Pac-12 regular season and four other teams are head and shoulders over the bottom seven teams in the conference.
Two of those four teams, the No. 10 Oregon Ducks (9-2, 6-2 Pac-12) and the No. 11 Arizona Wildcats (8-2, 6-2 Pac-12), meet Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
With the other two teams being the battle-tested No. 8 UCLA Bruins and the upstart No. 25 Washington State Cougars, who both have a lot of momentum, the Ducks and Wildcats can ill afford to drop the contest.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - No. 11 Oregon became the first team this season to take a lead into halftime against No. 1 Stanford, but the Cardinal used a big third quarter to win, 70-63, on Friday afternoon at Keiser Permanente Arena. Ultimately, I was really proud of my team, said head coach Kelly Graves. I truly was. I thought we battled these guys all the way to the end.
The Ducks (8-2, 6-2) were unable to bounce back from last Sunday s loss to UCLA with a victory, but Graves young team came out as the aggressors against the nation s top-ranked team and kept fighting down the stretch after getting outscored 28-14 in the third quarter.
Tough Duck Defense Falls Short Against No. 1 Stanford, Cardinal 70 - Ducks 63
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The No. 11 Oregon Ducks (8-2, 6-2) lost their second consecutive game when they traveled to Santa Cruz to take on the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal (10-0, 7-0), ultimately losing by a score of 70 to 63.
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA - Oregon entered the matchup without star player Sedona Prince, who is still recovering from an ankle injury suffered against Colorado in early December, while Stanford was missing three players from their talented roster due to COVID-19 protocol. Still, the contest was a thrilling back-and-forth affair that nearly ended in an Oregon upset of the top team in the Nation.
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The No. 1 Stanford Cardinal will face off against the No. 11 Oregon Ducks at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday. The game will be held in Santa Cruz, Calif. following Santa Clara County’s ban on indoor sports due to COVID-19 problems. The teams will play in Kaiser Permanente Arena, which is the home of the Santa Cruz Warriors, the G League affiliate of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
Although Oregon has beaten Stanford in three-straight meetings and has won six of the last seven meetings, Stanford appears to be the better team. This Oregon team, while impressive, is young and still has a way to go while Stanford is a veteran team with a dash of outstanding young players led by sophomore Haley Jones.