USC basketball vs. Oregon preview: Lineups, odds, TV channel, live stream

Both Oregon (9-6) and USC basketball (9-7) will be looking for a bounce back victory when they face off on Sunday night in Eugene.

Matthew Knight Arena | Eugene, OR5:00 p.m. PT | ESPNUSeries: USC leads 63-56Last meeting: USC 74, Oregon 54 in 2018

USC basketball had their bright start to conference play dimmed on Thursday when they lost to Oregon State in Corvallis, but they can get back on track when they take on Oregon on Sunday.

It was a tough one for the Trojans, who had the prime opportunity to best the Beavers without leading scorer Tres Tinkle. Unfortunately, USC couldn’t stop Stephen Thompson Jr., who stepped up in his absence and led Oregon State to an overtime victory, 79-74.

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It could be a similar scenario for Andy Enfield’s squad on Sunday, who sit 9-7 on the season and 2-1 in the Pac-12. Oregon lost start freshman Bol Bol, who had been averaging 21 points per game, to a season ending injury. Since losing Bol, the Ducks have fallen to 0-2 in conference after losing to rival Oregon State and UCLA.

The loss to the Bruins will have been particularly demoralizing. Oregon led by nine points in the final minute, but collapsed and were defeated in overtime. It was the sixth-largest blown lead in under a minute in the history of Division I.

Now 9-6, the Ducks will try to right the ship against USC. Junior guard Payton Pritchard will be key to those efforts along with freshman forward Louis King. They are the only two in the Ducks starting lineup who average double-digit points per game.

USC is buoyed by the resurgence of forward Bennie Boatwright, who has averaged 21.5 points per game in his last six. His career-high 37 points against Oregon State kept the Trojans in the game.

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Unfortunately, Nick Rakocevic seems to have come back to earth this week. After averaging 25 points in USC’s two Pac-12 opening victories, he was limited to six points against the Beavers. Rakocevic was bottled up by Oregon State’s 7-foot center Kylor Kelley, so it likely works in his favor that Oregon’s starting five includes no players above 6-foot-9.

The Trojans will also hope the second game back for freshman Kevin Porter Jr. will prove more fruitful than his five-point performance versus Oregon State.

UPDATE: Kevin Porter Jr. has been suspended for the Oregon game due to a “conduct issue,” per Brady McCollough of the LA Times.

Sunday’s game will tip off at 5:00 p.m. on ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein on the call. P.J. Carlesimo will be alongside him providing color commentary.

For the usual radio broadcast, tune into ESPNLA710 with Jordan Moore handling play-by-play as always.

Probable Starters

Oregon:

G #3 Payton Pritchard, 6-2, 195, Jr. (11.9 ppg)G #10 Victor Bailey Jr., 6-4, 190, So. (9.7 ppg)F #2 Louis King, 6-9, 235, Fr. (10.0 ppg)F #13 Paul White, 6-9, 230, RS-Sr. (9.9 ppg)F #33 Francis Okoro, 6-9, 235, Fr. (2.5 ppg)

USC:

G #0 Shaqquan Aaron, 6-7, 195, RS-Sr. (9. 4ppg)G #2 Jonah Mathews, 6-3, 200, Jr. (12.1 ppg)G #5 Derryck Thornton, 6-3, 195, RS-Jr. (9.4 ppg)F #25 Bennie Boatwright, 6-10, 235, Sr. (17.4 ppg)F #31 Nick Rakocevic, 6-11, 225, Jr. (15.1 ppg)

Channel Listings:

DirecTV: Channel 208Dish: Channel 141AT&T U-Verse: Channels 1605 HD/605 SDVerizon FiOS: Channel 573 HD/73 SDSpectrum TV: Channel 370 or Check your local listings

Live Stream: Watch ESPN

Odds: Oregon -4

The Trojans find themselves as underdogs for the second game in a row, with Oregon favored by four points, per the OddsShark spread consensus. The over/under is set at 138 points.

USC was an underdog to Oregon State on Thursday and dropped to 0-5 when not favored on the season. That doesn’t exactly bode well for Sunday night, especially with Oregon posting an 8-4 record as the favorite. The Ducks are 6-5 against the spread at home.

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