Dana Altman celebrated his Veterans Day in a big way before the Oregon Ducks’ season opener. The Ducks came into the season with a No. 5 ranking, their highest ranking ever in the Coaches Poll, and after having made four straight NCAA Tournaments Altman was rewarded with a lucrative contract extension. He and the Ducks have their sights set on the school’s first Final Four appearance in more than 75 years, but will go on the road for their first test of the young season when they take on the Baylor Bears.
This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, November 15, 2016, at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Ferrell Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We’ll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Tuesday schedule.
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Oregon failed to cover a big 31-point spread in its season opener against Army on Friday, securing a 91-77 win that flew over the 144-point total.
The Bears came close covering as a 17-point favorite against Oral Roberts that same day, but ended up falling two points short in a 76-61 victory. The game went under the total by a healthy margin.
Injury Report
Oregon will be without its best player for the early part of the season. Dillon Brooks injured his foot in August and is still healing from the subsequent surgery. Altman has given no indication on when Brooks will be healthy enough to return, but Oregon’s strength is its depth and there is no reason to rush him back.
Still, Brooks’ production is certainly missed. He led the team in scoring and assists last season and was the guy Oregon counted on to hit free throws when it had the lead late in games.
It was clear that Oregon felt his absence at least a little bit against Army, Brooks plays solid defense and was an all-conference selection last season thanks to his all-around play.
Matchup to Watch
Baylor is going to have real trouble inside against Oregon if it’s big men play anything like they did against Oral Roberts. The Bears allowed Oral Roberts’ big men to dominate the paint, outscoring Baylor 38-22 in the blocks, in a development that couldn’t have been good news for Baylor fans.
Although the Bears did end up outrebounding Oral Roberts by three, Baylor definitely misses Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince from last year’s team. The good news though is that Johnathan Motley will be back against Oregon after serving a one-game suspension for a violation of NCAA rules. Motley’s size and strength was a big reason why Baylor swept the season series against Iowa State last year and will be something that Baylor leans on here.
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Baylor is counting on Manu Lecomte to be the team’s table-setter this season and the Miami transfer is off to a good start. Lecomte sat out last season due to transfer rules, but impressed in his first game in green and gold. He struggled from the field, hitting just 2 of 8 three-point attempts, but was fantastic at setting up his teammates. Lecomte picked up 10 assists without a turnover and also added three steals on the night. He will need to be on the top of his game against a swarming Oregon defense that is one of the nation’s best at forcing mistakes.
Even without the services of Brooks, Oregon has enough talent to beat most teams on its schedule. The Ducks have one of the deepest teams you’ll see in the college game and that allows this team to get out and run.
That being said, this is a little bit of a tricky match-up for the Ducks. A Baylor upset wouldn’t be that shocking and the Bears should play well enough to cover the spread as underdogs.
College Basketball Odds: Oregon 71, Baylor 68
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