Ducks Visit Michigan Sunday

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Oregon women's basketball team completes its two-game swing through the state of Michigan on Sunday, as the Ducks visit the Wolverines at Crisler Center for a 9 a.m. PT tip on B1G+.

Oregon has won four straight and seven of its last eight games after a 63-59 win at No. 16 Michigan State on Thursday. The Wolverines have lost back-to-back games after winning the previous four games.

The Ducks and Michigan will meet for the first time in the programs' histories. U-M marks the third and final Big Ten team that UO had not faced entering the season, along with Penn State and Purdue.

GAME #22
Oregon (16-5, 7-3) at Michigan (14-7, 5-5)
Sunday, Feb. 2 | 9 a.m. PT | Crisler Center (Ann Arbor Mich.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon kicked off its road trip with a 63-59 win over No. 16 Michigan State on Thursday at Breslin Center in East Lansing, handing the Spartans their first home loss of the season.

The win marked the Ducks' second over a top-15 team this season after ousting then-12th-ranked Baylor at Matthew Knight Arena on Nov. 10.

The UO defense suppressed the Spartans to a season-low point total, holding them to 25 percent shooting from the 3-point line. MSU had averaged 89.5 points per game at home this season, and 82.8 points a game overall.

Peyton Scott paced three Ducks in double figures with 12 points, with Nani Falatea and Deja Kelly each adding 10 points. Phillipina Kyei knocked down three clutch free throws in the final minutes and finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN
Michigan (14-7, 5-5) comes into Sunday's matchup having dropped its last two games, following an 82-75 road setback at Wisconsin on Wednesday. The Wolverines have spent seven weeks in the Associated Press top-25 poll, reaching a ranking as high as No. 20, while receiving votes in all but one poll this season.

Freshman Olivia Olson leads four players who average double-digit points with her 16.6 a game, while fellow freshman Syla Swords is second at 15.3 points per game. Olson and Swords have combined to take home three Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards.

The Wolverines rank third in the Big Ten in both 3-point shooting percentage (35.0) and 3-pointers per game (7.6) while ranking fourth in 3-point percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot just 27.8 percent a game. Michigan's plus-7.2 average rebounding margin is fifth-best in the conference, helped by Swords' team-leading 6.1 boards a night.

Mila Holloway leads her team with 4.3 assists per night, which ranks eighth in the league, with Olson ranking in the top eight in points per game, field goal percentage and free throw shooting.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Oregon and Michigan will meet for the first time in the programs' history on Sunday. Entering the season, UO had never played just three active Big Ten teams: Penn State, Purdue and Michigan. The Wolverines will be the last Big Ten team that the Ducks will play for the first time after previously defeating Penn State and Purdue this season.

DUCK DEFENSE
Oregon has made life difficult for its opponents on the offensive end this season. The Duck defense has registered double-digit steals in nine of its last 14 games, and in 11 of its last 18 games overall, including a season-high 17 coming against Air Force on Dec. 17. Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to shoot just 28.3 percent from beyond the arc, and has allowed only six teams to shoot over 30.0 percent - and none of the last five Oregon opponents have shot better than 32.0 percent from deep. UO allowed North Texas and Grand Canyon to shoot a combined 7-of-30 from deep over a two-game stretch (Nov. 12-18).

» The Ducks have held each of their last 12 opponents below its season average, by an average of 15.6 points a game, while not allowing a team to reach the 70-point plateau in that stretch.
» On Thursday, Oregon held 16th-ranked Michigan State to 59 points - more than 23 points below its season average of 82.8 points a game entering the contest. The 59 points were a season low for the Spartans, who had averaged 89.5 PPG while going 10-0 at home before Thursday.
» Oregon held Iowa to a season-low 49 points on Jan. 19, its lowest output since the 2012-13 season, and gave up just 17 second-half points.
» UO then limited Indiana to 47 points the following game below, marking the second time this season that it held consecutive opponents under 50 points (Air Force, UC Irvine) and first time in conference play since the 1993-94 season.
» With 10 or more steals in 10 of their last 16 games, the Ducks have 12 games this season with double-digit steals after turning in only two such games last season and seven times in 2022-23.
» The Ducks recorded 10-plus steals in five straight games from Nov. 26-Dec. 19, their longest streak since putting together seven straight games with 10 or more steals in 2013-14.
» The 12 games with 10-plus steals are the third-most such games among Big Ten team, and tied for 18th nationally. It is the most such games by Oregon since producing 10-plus steals 14 times in 2019-20.
» On the season, Oregon is averaging 10.1 steals a game (fourth in the Big Ten), which would mark the most on a per-game basis since averaging 10.3 in 2011-12. UO ranks fourth in steals per game in league play at 10.1.
» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers nine times this season, including in six of their last 12 games after forcing 23 against Purdue on Jan. 15. The nine such games are already the most since doing so 11 times in 2013-14.
» UO had just one game forcing 20 or more turnovers last season and did so five times in 2022-23. The last time the Ducks had more than eight games forcing at least 20 turnovers was 2013-14, when they recorded 11 such performances.
» UO has forced 20-plus turnovers in five of nine Big Ten games this season, averaging 19.4 turnovers a game in league play (the second-highest rate in the conference).
» The 19.1 turnovers forced a game would mark the highest rate by the Ducks since averaging 20.8 per game in 2010-11.
» Oregon has finished with fewer or the same number of turnovers 18 times this season, and has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in 15 of the last 16 games.
» In Big Ten play, the Ducks are allowing just 58.5 points per game - the second lowest number in the conference (USC, 57.2)

CLUTCH DUCKS
The Ducks have become accustomed to close games of late. Oregon's 50-49 comeback win over Iowa on Jan. 19 marked UO's fourth victory by two points or less this season, as the Ducks are unbeaten in those games this season. Oregon trailed by 10 points at half and by as many as 15 points in the first half, marking the first halftime deficit overcome for a win this season. UO followed that up with a 10-point comeback win against Indiana on Jan. 24, putting together a 10-0 run with under five minutes to play to pull off the victory.

» The four two-point victories are Oregon's most since at least 2009-10 and ties the most two-point games since 2014-15.
» Additionally, the Ducks are 5-0 in games decided by four points or less, with three of those wins coming in January.
» Oregon has won its last six games decided by two points or less dating back to the 2022-23 season, and seven of the last eight such games going back to 2021-22.
» Despite only scoring 50 points against the Hawkeyes, UO picked up its first victory when scoring 50 points or less since defeating Utah 50-44 on Nov. 25, 2006 - snapping a streak of 49 straight losses when scoring 50 or less.
» UO has played eight "clutch games" - games within five points with 5:00 or less to play - and won six of those, including four straight.