Ducks Fly East to Visit Penn State

EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon continues its tough stretch to open Big Ten play, as the Ducks hit the road to take on Penn State Thursday at 2 p.m. PT at Bryce Jordan Center.

Oregon has won back-to-back Big Ten games and sits at 2-2 in conference play following its 68-52 win over Wisconsin on Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena. The Nittany Lions are seeking their first Big Ten win and have dropped four straight after starting the season 8-0.

The teams will meet for the first time ever on Thursday. PSU is one of three Big Ten teams that the Ducks will meet for the first time this season, along with Michigan and Purdue.

GAME #16
Oregon (11-4, 2-2) at Penn State (9-6, 0-4)
Thursday, Jan. 9 | 2 p.m. PT | Bryce Jordan Center (University Park, Pa.)
TV/Stream: B1G+
Play-by-play: Rocco Pelligrino | Analyst: Maren Walseth
Radio: Oregon Sports Network (KUGN 98.1 FM/590 AM)
Play-by-play: Chris Clayton
Listen Online | Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon earned its second straight Big Ten win Saturday, taking down Wisconsin 68-52 at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks defense forced 22 turnovers behind 11 steals, while nine players recorded at least one theft. Oregon held Badgers forward Serah Williams, who averaged 19.2 points a night entering the game, to three points and six turnovers.

Elisa Mevius led four Ducks in double figures with 14 points, with Amina Muhammad adding 12 and both Nani Falatea and Deja Kelly finishing with 10 points. Kelly also paced UO with six rebounds and four assists against just one turnover.

Oregon shot 49 percent from the floor and 46 percent from the 3-point line, going 6-of-13. Mevius went 3-for-3 from deep while Falatea connected on two of her three attempts.

SCOUTING PENN STATE
Penn State (9-6, 0-4) has lost its last four games and is seeking its first Big Ten victory of the season after suffering a 72-61 loss at Nebraska on Sunday. The Nittany Lions have dropped six of their last seven games overall, including three games at home, after beginning the season 8-0.

Penn State is led by Gracie Merkle and her 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, while Moriah Murray (12.5 PPG) and Gabby Elliott (10.9 PPG) round out a trio averaging double-digit points. In four Big Ten games, PSU averages 60.8 points a game as a team - the third-lowest rate in the league.

The Nittany Lions rank third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage at 47.1, led by Merkle's 66.3 percent, which ranks second in the conference and sixth nationally. Murray is the Big Ten's leader is made 3-pointers per game with 2.9.

Penn State forces 19.2 turnovers per game, which is the fifth-best rate in the conference, but ranks last in 3-point percentage in conference play at 23.3 percent.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Thursday's game will mark the first ever between Oregon and Penn State. The Nittany Lions are one of three programs in the Big Ten that the Ducks have yet to face, along with Michigan and Purdue.

DUCK DEPTH
Oregon's depth, helped by seven transfers among nine newcomers, has keyed the Ducks' 11-4 start this season. Six different players have led (or tied) UO in scoring through 15 games, including three off the bench in Nani Falatea, Katie Fiso and Elisa Mevius. The Oregon bench is averaging 30.7 points per game and has outscored its opponents' bench 461-246 on the season, an average of 14.3 points a game. Last year, UO averaged just 9.6 points a night from its bench and opponents outscored the Ducks' bench by 288 points.

» After Oregon's bench scored 46 points at Northwestern, as the Ducks' bench has outscored the starting five in three of its last five games - and four times total this season.
» Over the last five games, the reserves have accounted for 188 of Oregon's 381 total points (49.3 percent) and averaged 37.6 points a game in that span.
» Five players finished in double figures at Northwestern, including three off the bench in Falatea (13), Alexis Whitfield (11) and Ehis Etute (10), while seven players turned in at least nine points in the win.
» UO's bench has outscored its opponents in all but two games this season, and nine times by double digits.
» The Ducks dropped a season-high 51 bench points on Air Force on Dec. 17, 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.
» The Ducks followed that up by scoring 48 bench points in their win over UC Irvine, combining for 99 points in a two-game stretch - their most in any two-game span on record.
» Eight players are averaging at least 5.0 points per game, including three bench players, with Falatea leading the bench scoring at 7.5 points per game. The eight players with at least 5.0 PPG are tied for the most such players in the Big Ten.
» The Oregon bench has scored at least 20 points 12 times, and five 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 six different players, five 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 seven different starting lineups this season, with three Ducks making their first starts of the year against South Dakota State: Ehis Etute, Nani Falatea and Sarah Rambus.

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 six of its last eight games, and in eight of its last 12 games, including a season-high 17 coming against Air Force on Dec. 17. Additionally, UO is allowing opponents to shoot just 28.4 percent from beyond the arc, and has allowed only five teams to shoot over 30.0 percent (Auburn, South Dakota State, Washington State, USC, Wisconsin). UO allowed North Texas and Grand Canyon to shoot a combined 7-of-30 from deep over a two-game stretch (Nov. 12-18).

» Through four Big Ten games, Oregon is holding opponents to 30.6 percent shooting from 3-point range - the eighth-lowest rate in the conference.
» With 10 or more steals in seven of their last 10 games, the Ducks have nine 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.
» On the season, Oregon is averaging 10.1 steals a game (fifth in the Big Ten), which would mark the most on a per-game basis since averaging 10.2 in 2013-14. UO ranks fourth in steals per game in league play at 10.2
» The Ducks have forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers seven times this season, including in four of their last six games. The seven such games are already the most since doing so seven times in 2019-20.
» UO had just one game forcing 20 or more turnovers last season and five such games in 2022-23. The last time the Ducks had more than seven games forcing at least 20 turnovers was 2013-14, when they recorded 11 such performances.
» UO forced USC, Illinois and Wisconsin each into 22 turnovers and is averaging 20.0 turnovers forced per game in Big Ten play, the fourth-highest rate in the league.
» The Ducks forced a season-high 29 turnovers against Air Force on Dec. 17, marking the most forced turnovers since forcing 29 against CSUN on Nov. 19, 2017.
» On the season, Oregon's defense is forcing teams into 18.8 turnovers per game, good for sixth in the Big Ten, while owning a plus-5.00 turnover margin, which is fifth-best in the league.
» Oregon has finished with fewer or the same number of turnovers 13 times this season, and has committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in 10 straight games.

KEYS TO VICTORY
In 10 of 11 wins this season, Oregon has finished with more rebounds than its opponents while being outrebounded in each of its four losses. In victories, the Ducks average 8.4 more rebounds than their opponents while being outrebounded by an average of 14.8 rebounds a game in defeats.

» Oregon is 11-0 this season when leading or tied at halftime and 0-4 when trailing after 20 minutes of play.
» The Ducks are 10-2 when finishing with more or the same number of assists this season, averaging 18.7 assists a game in wins compared to 9.8 in losses.
» UO is 9-3 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent, averaging 13.3 turnovers a game in wins.
» The Ducks are 11-1 when scoring at least 60 points and 9-1 when scoring 70 or more points. The Oregon offense averages 78.0 points per game over its 11 wins compared to 60.0 points in its four losses.
» In losses, UO averages just 27.3 first-half points while allowing 34.3 in first halves.
» In victories, the Ducks put up an average of 37.5 points in the first half and 40.5 in second halves, while allowing only 23.7 first-half points and 32.9 in the second halves of games.
» Ten players average at least 5.0 points per game over UO's 11 wins, while only five Ducks average 5.0 points or better a game in defeats.

FALA-TREY-A
Redshirt junior guard Nani Falatea has caught fire over the last five games, recording four of her six double-digit scoring performances this season during that stretch. Over the last five games, she is averaging a team-best 11.4 points per game while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and an identical percentage from 3-point range. Falatea has drained a 3-pointer in seven straight games, the longest active streak on the team, and leads the Ducks with 20 triples on the year. The BYU transfer earned her second start of the year Saturday against Wisconsin, as she is averaging 24.3 minutes per game over the last five games after getting 15.6 minutes a night over the season's first 10 games.