The Portland Pilots and the Oregon Ducks meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Matthew Knights Arena in Eugene. Here’s an Oregon vs Portland prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Oregon vs Portland pick.
Portland Pilots Betting Preview
Portland opened the year on a nice 4-1 run with a lone loss to Wyoming among wins versus Willamette, AR-Pine Bluff, UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton. The Pilots went just 2-3 over the next five games though, beating Long Beach State and Lewis & Clark amid losses to Northern Colorado, St. Thomas-Minnesota and Stanford. Over their first 10 games that would give the Pilots a 6-4 overall run.
In the Sunday matchup with Kent State, the Pilots held a modest three-point advantage at the half. Portland scored 49 more points from there however, leading to an 88-78 win in the end. Cameron Williams led the way on 20 points and three rebounds with one assist in the victory. Joel Foxwell managed to double up with 11 points, 15 assists and one rebound in 37 minutes of work.
Oregon Ducks Betting Preview
Over on the Ducks’ side, they kicked off the season with wins over Hawaii, Rice, South Dakota State and Oregon State. Oregon would lose the next five games though, falling versus Auburn, San Diego State, Creighton, USC and UCLA in that time. A win versus UC Davis over the weekend stopped Oregon’s skid. Across their first 10 games the Ducks have a .500 run at 5-5 overall so far this year.
In the UC Davis matchup on Saturday the Ducks stormed out to a 52-16 halftime lead. Oregon hit a 52-46 run the rest of the way during a 104-62 victory in the end. Jackson Shelstad put up 21 points with nine assists and four rebounds as the team’s leading scorer. Ege Demir doubled up on 15 points and 11 rebounds, as did Kwame Evans with 14 points and 13 rebounds in the winning effort for the Ducks.
Why the Oregon Ducks will win
- Oregon has won each of its last 17 games against non-Conference opponents at Matthew Knight Arena.
- Portland has lost each of its last eight road night games against non-Conference opponents.
- Oregon has won the first half in eight of its last nine games at Matthew Knight Arena against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the Portland Pilots will win
- Oregon has lost five of its last six games.
- Portland has won three of its last four games.
- Portland has won the first half in six of its last eight night games.
Oregon vs Portland Prediction
I’ll probably lean toward Oregon but I’m also probably not touching this one. The Ducks easily dispatched a middling UC Davis team in their last outing, shooting a nice 60.7 percent from the field with 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from outside and a 43-21 rebounding edge. Oregon had 22 team assists and a dominant 48-20 edge in the paint as well. It was a much-needed bounce back after a five-game losing skid. Oregon had given up 74 or more points in all five of those games.
As for Portland they did a good job against a pretty good Kent State team in their last outing. The Pilots hit 52.4 percent from the field with a 48-36 edge in the paint. That said, the Pilots also got out-rebounded 32-24 and coughed up 14 turnovers. Still, the Pilots are scoring well over the last four games with 72 or more in each (a 3-1 run). They’ll be a tricky opponent if all goes well offensively.