Oregon Basketball: 3 keys to success against UC Irvine

3. Win the turnover battle.

Kansas State was able to build an early 28-18 lead against Irvine by not turning over the ball and getting points off turnovers. Conversely, Irvine worked its way back into the game by cleaning up the mistakes, which helped it to build a rhythm offensively. The Anteaters are one of the nation’s most ball-secure teams. They’re led by a senior point guard in Robert Cartwright who normally makes great decisions. He’s conceded only nine turnovers in seven games in March.

The Ducks, though, have one of the nation’s feistiest defenses. Paul White, Will Richardson, and Louis King all have long arms and active hands. They accrued four steals combined against typically ball-secure Wisconsin. Pritchard, also, is a tight on-the-ball defender who gets lower to the ground than his opponent and gets a lot of steals by engaging with him. Oregon’s top steal artist is Ehab Amin, who is a wizard at intercepting passes by quickly disrupting seemingly open passing lanes. As a team, the Ducks rank 49th nationally in forcing turnovers and 19th nationally in steals.

If Irvine can limit Oregon’s transition game, it can keep Oregon’s scoring output low and we can expect a slugfest like in the first half between Oregon and Wisconsin, which finished tied at 25. Otherwise, Oregon will garner a lot of momentum by scoring off of steals.