Ducks Ring in New Year vs. USC

EUGENE, Ore. — No. 17 Oregon kicks off 2023 with an afternoon clash against USC Sunday, as the teams meet at 2 p.m. PT at Matthew Knight Arena on Pac-12 Network.

The Ducks look to end their first losing streak of the season after an 82-74 setback against No. 10 UCLA Friday night. The Bruins handed UO its first home loss of the season, while all three Oregon losses have come against teams ranked in the nation's top-10.

Endyia Rogers paced three Ducks in double figures with 18 points, adding a team-leading five assist. Te-Hina Paopao and Grace VanSlooten each scored 17 while Taylor Hosendove and Phillipina Kyei both hauled in 10 boards.

USC picked up a 69-58 win at Oregon State Friday for its first Pac-12 victory. Both teams enter the New Year in a fifth-place tie in the conference standings at 1-1.

Oregon seeks its 12^th straight victory against the Trojans and 13^th win over the last 14 meetings overall. USC leads the all-time series 45-29 with the Ducks winning seven of 10 games held at Matthew Knight Arena.

GAME #14
No. 17 Oregon (10-3, 1-1) vs. USC (11-2, 1-1)
Sunday, Jan. 1 | 2 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Play-by-play: Rich Burk | Analyst: Jennifer Mountain
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Terry Jonz | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats

AT A GLANCE
Oregon concludes its first full conference weekend and rings in the new year Sunday against USC at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks suffered their second straight loss Friday to No. 10 UCLA, 82-74. The loss marked UO's first consecutive losses of the season - both coming to Associated Press top-10 teams. All three Oregon losses this season have come at the hands of the nation's top 10.

The Ducks seek a weekend split against the Los Angeles area squads while USC is after a 2-0 weekend after a 69-58 victory at Oregon State Friday night. Both UO and USC are tied for fifth in the Pac-12 standings at 1-1.

After putting up 26 and 29 points against Arkansas and Ohio State, respectively, at the San Diego Invitational last week, Grace VanSlooten swept the Pac-12's weekly awards on Monday. It marked her second straight and third freshman-of-the-week honor this season while she garnered her first player-of-the-week accolade. VanSlooten is just the third player in Pac-12 history to sweep both conference weekly awards and the first since Sabrina Ionescu did so during the 2017 season.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon suffered its first home loss of the season Friday night to No. 10 UCLA, 82-74. The Bruins snapped the Ducks' two-game winning streak in the series while also handing UO its first back-to-back defeats.

The Ducks were forced into a season-high 20 turnovers Friday behind 15 UCLA steals. Endyia Rogers led three players in double figures with 18 points while Te-Hina Paopao and Grace VanSlooten each added 17. Taylor Hosendove and Phillipina Kyei both hauled in 10 rebounds.

UCLA owned a 20-9 edge in bench points along with 20-16 lead in second-chance points. Offensively, Oregon collected just 12 assists, which matched its season-low output.

SCOUTING USC
After opening the season 9-0, USC finishes its Oregon road trip splitting its last four games after a 69-58 win at Oregon State Friday. Rayah Marshall led the Trojans with a game-high 33 points on 13-of-26 shooting to go with 16 rebounds.

The Trojans are led by three players averaging double-digit points in Kadi Sissoko (15.3), Marshall (14.8) and Destiny Littleton (12.4). The trio account for 59.4 percent of USC's offense, combining for 41.7 of the team's 70.1 points per game.

Marshall ranks second in the Pac-12 at 10.3 rebounds per game. The Trojans defensively force 20.0 turnovers a game behind 11.6 steals a game, both the second-best rates in the Pac-12. The USC defense allows its opponents to shoot just 33.3 percent from the field, the sixth-best rate in the nation. Additionally, the 22.1 percent given up from three is third-best in the country.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Sunday's matchup marks the 75th all-time meeting between Oregon and USC, with the Trojans holding a 45-29 lead in the all-time series which began in 1981. The Ducks claimed the only meeting a season ago, an 80-44 victory at Matthew Knight Arena on Jan. 30, 2022. The win extended Oregon's winning streak against USC to 11 games, the Ducks' longest such streak in the series' history. UO has won 12 of the last 13 matchups, dating back to Feb. 2, 2015.

The Ducks are 18-18 at home against USC, with a 7-3 record at Matthew Knight Arena. Head coach Kelly Graves is 12-2 in his UO career against the Trojans, including a 7-0 mark at home.

RING IN THE NEW YEAR
UO will play on New Year's Day for just the fourth time in program history, all coming since 2010 and all have been at home. The Ducks are 2-1 on Jan. 1, with the last game coming on Jan. 1, 2021 against USC (92-69). Oregon also defeated Washington in 2010, 82-71, with its only defeat coming in 2017 against Washington State, 75-59.

OREGON vs. RANKED TEAMS
No. 10 UCLA marked the third straight top-25 opponent Oregon faced, and fourth in total this season. All three Duck losses have come to the nation's top 10, as UO has suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season. Oregon is 1-3 against top-25 teams this season after the Ducks defeated No. 17 Arkansas 85-78 to kick off the San Diego Invitational last week, marking the 44th ranked victory under ninth-year head coach Kelly Graves. UO last faced three consecutive ranked opponents during the 2020-21 season, taking on No. 10 Arizona, No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 UCLA (lost all three). Graves' squad picked up four straight top-25 wins during the 2019-20 campaign, taking down No. 4 UConn, No 12 Arizona, No. 19 Arizona State and No. 7 UCLA in succession.

A season ago, the Ducks collected a pair of top-10 wins, including a 68-66 win over No. 7 Arizona. The Ducks have picked up 16 victories over teams in the nation's top 10 in Graves' tenure, with seven coming in the 2019-20 campaign.

THE "O" STANDS FOR OFFENSE
Oregon's 114.9 offensive efficiency rating (points per 100 possessions) is the fourth-highest mark in the country and third-best in the Pac-12 behind Utah (118.6) and Stanford (118.0). The Ducks' 83.1 points per game rank as the 11th-best mark in the country and third-highest in the conference.

UO has scored at least 75 points in 10 of 13 outings while reaching the 90-point mark four times. Under ninth-year head coach Kelly Graves, the Ducks are 52-0 when scoring at least 90 points. This season, Oregon is 4-0 when reaching the 90-point plateau, surpassing the total number of 90-point efforts during the 2021-22 and 2020-21 seasons (three games each). At Matthew Knight Arena this season, the Ducks are averaging 85.0 points per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from behind the arc.

In 13 games, five different players have led the Ducks in scoring this season, including Ahlise Hurst twice off the bench. Grace VanSlooten has finished as the team's leading scorer (or tied) a team-best five times, while Endyia Rogers have each done so four times and Te-Hina Paopao three times.

PROTECTING HOME COURT
Matthew Knight Arena has proved to be one of the top home-court advantages in the country during non-conference play, as the Ducks won the first seven home games this season until their loss to No. 10 UCLA Friday. Additionally, Oregon has won 55 of its last 56 home games against non-league opponents. UO owned a 44-game home non-conference winning streak that began Dec. 29, 2014, a streak that was snapped with a 64-57 setback to UC Davis on Dec. 1, 2021. In that same span, the Ducks have won nine times against non-conference Power 5 teams and four times in the NCAA Tournament.

» Oregon is 60-3 at home in non-conference play under head coach Kelly Graves, with two of the three losses coming in his first year at the helm of the program in 2014-15.
» The Ducks have lost just 11 times against non-Pac-12 teams at MKA, owning an 82-11 record all-time.
» Since the start of last season, Oregon is 19-4 at Matthew Knight Arena with a 7-1 record this season.
» Under Graves, the Ducks average 80.1 points per game at Matthew Knight Arena while averaging 18.7 assists a game with 29.8 made field goals.
» Since the 2017-18 season, Oregon is 36-9 at home during Pac-12 play.

GRACE VANSHOOTIN'
Grace VanSlooten is one of two freshmen in the country averaging at least 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game - and the only player in the Pac-12 to produce those numbers. VanSlooten swept the Pac-12's weekly awards Monday after helping the Ducks to a second-place finish in a loaded field at the San Diego Invitational last week. She averaged 27.5 points over two games against No. 17 Arkansas and No. 3 Ohio State, including a career-best 29 against the Buckeyes in the title game.

VanSlooten became the first player to claim both player and freshman of the week awards since the conference began handing out two weekly awards in 2012-13 and first since Sabrina Ionescu did so in the 2017 season. On the year, the Toledo, Ohio, native leads the league with four weekly awards (3 freshman, 1 player).

She has scored 26 points or more in three of her last five games, with her second career double-double coming Dec. 15 against Eastern Washington (26 points, 10 rebounds). Her 29 points against Ohio State marked the most points by an UO freshman since Jaz Shelley's 32 points against UC Riverside on Dec. 16, 2019. VanSlooten now leads the team with three 20-point efforts and has scored in double digits in 10 straight games.

» Averaged 27.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 60.0 percent from the field last week.
» Four Pac-12 weekly honors (3 freshman, 1 player)
» Just the third player in conference history to sweep both Pac-12 Player and Freshman of the Week awards and first since Ionescu did so on Feb. 13, 2017.
» Ranks first among Pac-12 freshman at 16.4 points per game this season (seventh among all players).
» One of two freshmen nationally with at least 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
» Only freshman in the country to produce those averages and shoot better than 50.0 percent from the field.
» Scored 26 or more in three of her last five games.
» Averaging 22.5 points, 8.0 rebounds a game while shooting 57.5 percent from the field over her last five games.