Oregon out to improve NCAA chances vs. struggling Oregon State

Oregon and Oregon State meet Saturday night in Corvallis, Ore., for likely the penultimate time as Pac-12 men's basketball rivals, as the conference's final season draws closer to an end.

Oregon (16-8, 8-5 Pac-12) is trying to hold on to a top-four position in the conference standings, which would earn the Ducks an automatic quarterfinal berth in the Pac-12 tournament next month in Las Vegas. The Ducks' chances at an at-large NCAA Tournament invitation took a big hit last Saturday with their home loss to Washington State.

Oregon State (11-14, 3-11) is on a five-game losing streak and has lost five in a row to the in-state rival Ducks in the all-time series. Oregon head coach Dana Altman is 20-9 in his career against the Beavers.

Oregon sits fourth in the conference, just 1 1/2 games up on Colorado, Arizona State and Stanford. Oregon State is in last place.

The Ducks struggled mightily from 3-point range in their loss to Washington State, hitting just 4 of 18 shots.

"They came in here winning seven of their last eight games and we knew they were playing really well," Altman said. "We knew we were going to have to play well, and we didn't play well enough to win."

Center N'Faly Dante appears to be back to form after a knee injury earlier this season. He is averaging 16.4 points on 67.2 percent shooting from the floor with eight rebounds, two assists and 2.3 blocks over the last seven games.

"We've got to get him more shots," Altman said.

The Ducks haven't had forward Nate Bittle for much of this season, and he won't play Saturday as he recovers from an illness. Oregon enters Saturday's game with only eight available scholarship players, a situation it has already faced this season.

The Beavers have an upset win over current No. 5 Arizona this season, but not much has gone consistently right for head coach Wayne Tinkle's team. Guard Jordan Pope is their leading scorer at 17 points per game, and he's hit at least one 3-pointer in 17 straight games.

Oregon State lost 79-61 at Arizona State on Wednesday night. Pope scored 11 but was just 4-of-12 shooting from the floor. Tyler Bilodeau, the Beavers' second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg), led the way with 21 points.