Noncon Action Concludes Thursday

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon concludes its nonconference schedule and wraps up a four-game homestand against UC Irvine, with the Ducks and Anteaters tipping off Thursday night at 6 p.m.

The Ducks are 5-1 all-time against UC Irvine, who is the defending Big West champion. The teams last met in 2018, with UO earning a 115-69 win at Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon seeks to remain unbeaten at home against nonconference opponents this season after a 98-36 victory over Air Force on Tuesday. Thursday, both Peyton Scott (1,996 career points) and Deja Kelly (1,982) look to join the 2,000-point club, needing four and 18 points, respectively.

Single-game tickets are now on sale and available at GoDucks.com/WBBtix.

GAME #12
Oregon (8-3) vs. UC Irvine (7-3)
Thursday, Dec. 19 | 6 p.m. PT | Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Saul Galvan | Analyst: Lily Crane
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton | Analyst: Bev Smith
Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets

AT A GLANCE
Oregon concludes nonconference action and closes a four-game homestand on Thursday, as the Ducks host defending Big West champion UC Irvine on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Duck duo of Deja Kelly and Peyton Scott are both inching closer to joining the 2,000-point club. Scott needs just four points to achieve the milestone while Kelly needs 18 points for 2,000 in her career.

Oregon holds a 5-1 lead in the all-time series with UC Irvine, with the teams meeting for the first time since 2018. UO is 2-0 at home against the Anteaters, including a 115-69 victory in the last matchup.

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon bounced back from a 66-53 loss to No. 6 USC in its Big Ten opener with a 98-36 win over Air Force on Tuesday. All 11 Ducks who entered the game got into the scoring column and played at least 13 minutes, with 10 players scoring at least eight points.

The 62-point win marked UO's largest margin of victory since defeating College of Charleston by 64 (97-33) on Dec. 18, 2022.

With 14 points, Phillipina Kyei led four players in double figures, with Nani Falatea and Sarah Rambus each finishing with 11 points off the bench. Freshman Katie Fiso added 10 points, helping the Ducks to a season-high 51 bench points.

The Ducks also set season highs in points, assists (31), turnovers forced (29) and steals (17). Seven players registered multiple steals while six recorded two or more assists.

SCOUTING UC IRVINE
UC Irvine (7-3) enters Thursday's contest having won two straight games after a 60-48 win at Oregon State on Sunday. Thursday's game will mark the Anteaters' seventh straight road game, as UCI has won four of its previous six on the road trip. The Anteaters are the defending Big West Conference champions and earned a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament a season ago.

In Sunday's game against the Beavers, Hunter Hernandez and Deja Lee each turned in a game-high 11 points. Hernandez added four rebounds while Lee handed out a team-high four assists.

Hernandez paces the Anteaters on the season with 14.0 points and is second at 5.1 rebounds a night. Summah Hanson is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.6 points per game while leading UCI with 6.3 rebounds. Lee rounds out three players averaging double-digit points, scoring 10.1 per game.

UC Irvine leads the Big West in scoring defense, allowing just 55.7 points, which ranks 46th nationally. The Anteaters are second in the conference in free throw shooting, hitting on 75.8 percent of tries. Hanson is shooting a league-high 92.3 percent from the free throw line, good for 10th in the country.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon and UC Irvine will meet for the first time since 2018 and just the second time since 1984 on Thursday. The Ducks hold a 5-1 all-time series lead, winning the last meeting 115-69 at Matthew Knight Arena on Dec. 21, 2018. UO has won the last two matchups, also claiming an 87-77 win in 2011 after the programs met four times during the 1980s, while Oregon is 2-0 at home against the Anteaters. Against current members of the Big West, the Ducks are a combined 34-13.

RACE TO 2K
Oregon guards Deja Kelly and Peyton Scott are in a battle to see who will be the first to join the 2,000-point club. Kelly, a graduate transfer from North Carolina, amassed 1,858 career points over four seasons (121 games) as a Tar Heel while Scott tallied 1,873 points in 112 career games in four years at Miami (Ohio). Scott is now in her sixth collegiate season after receiving a medical hardship waiver due to her season-ending knee injury suffered in the 2023-24 season opener.

» Scott entered the season No. 7 among active players in career points, while Kelly was next at eighth.
» As of Wednesday, Scott sits in eighth with 1,996 points with Kelly only 14 points behind in ninth, as each are less than 20 points from joining the 2K club.
» The duo is the only set of teammates in the top 10 in scoring among active players, and the pair sits as the top two players in the Big Ten in career points.
» Both have a team-best six double-figure scoring games, with Kelly surpassing the 20-point plateau three times and Scott once.
» Both Kelly and Scott have now authored 101 career games in double figures, while Scott has 37 career 20-point games.

DUCK DEPTH
Oregon's depth, helped by seven transfers among nine newcomers, has keyed the Ducks' 8-3 start this season. Five different players have led (or tied) UO in scoring through 11 games, including two off the bench in Nani Falatea and Elisa Mevius. The Oregon bench is averaging 29.5 points per game and has a plus-160 point differential in bench points on the season. Last year, UO averaged just 9.6 points a night from its bench and opponents outscored the Ducks' bench by 288 points.

» UO's bench has outscored its opponents in 10 of 11 games this season, and six times by double digits.
» The Ducks dropped a season-high 51 bench points on Air Force on Tuesday, the most points scored by the bench since scoring 58 against Seattle U on Nov. 28, 2020.
» Ten players finished with at least eight points against the Falcons, with four scoring in double figures, while six handed out multiple assists and seven recorded multiple steals.
» Nine players are averaging at least 5.0 points per game, including three bench players, with Mevius leading the bench scoring at 7.6 points per game.
» The Oregon bench has scored at least 20 points nine times, and three times eclipsed the 40-point plateau. Last year, UO's single-game bench high was 26 points while surpassing 20 points just twice.
» The Ducks have been led in rebounding by five different players, four of which are newcomers, this season. Deja Kelly, Phillipina Kyei and Amina Muhammad are the only players to lead the team in rebounding in multiple games.
» Head coach Kelly Graves has utilized six different starting lineups this season, with three Ducks making their first starts of the year against South Dakota State: Ehis Etute, Nani Falatea, Sarah Rambus.
» After missing the seasons' first six games due to international team duties and injury, Etute made her collegiate debut at the Hawai'i North Shore Showcase.

DUCK DEFENSE
Oregon has made life difficult for its opponents on the offensive end this season. Over the last six games, the Ducks defense has five games with double-digit steals, including a season-high 17 coming against Air Force in their last game on Tuesday. Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to shoot just 29.1 percent from beyond the arc, and has allowed just four teams to shoot over 30.0 percent (Auburn, South Dakota State, Washington State, USC). UO allowed North Texas and Grand Canyon to shoot a combined 7-of-30 over a two-game stretch (Nov. 12-18).

» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers five times this season, including in each of their last two games. UO forced USC into 22 turnovers and Air Force into a season-high 29 turnovers on Tuesday.
» The Oregon defense is forcing teams into 18.6 turnovers per game, good for sixth in the Big Ten, while owning a plus-4.45 turnover margin, which is the sixth-best in the league.
» With 10 or more steals in five of their last six games, the Ducks now have seven games this season with double-digit steals after recording just two such games last season.
» On the season, Oregon is averaging 10.3 steals a game this season (fifth in the Big Ten). It would mark the most on a per-game basis since averaging 10.3 in 2011-12.
» Oregon has finished with fewer or the same number of turnovers nine times this season.
» The Ducks have held an advantage in rebounding in eight of 11 games this season (all wins) and have a plus-32 margin on the season (2.9 per game).
» UO has shot at a higher efficiency from the field nine times and six times from the 3-point line.