Oregon Game Preview & How to Watch

How to Watch (and bet)

Date: Sunday, 1/25/26

Tip-Off Time: 12:00 pm PT

TV: None

Streaming: Peacock

Radio: Huskies Gameday App, Sports Radio KJR

Location: Seattle, Washington

Betting Line: Washington Huskies -9.5

Oregon Ducks 2025-26 Statistics:

Record: 8-11 (1-7)

Points For per Game: 73.9 (205th)

Points Against per Game: 74.3 (163rd)

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 115.3 (90th)

Adjusted Defensive Efficiency:

106.3 (101st)

Strength of Schedule: 13th

Oregon Key Players:

G- Takai Simpkins, Sr. 6’5, 190: 12.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, 44.7% FG, 37.0% 3pt, 75.4% FT

Evanmiya.com Stats: +2.7 BPR (668th nationally)

Simpkins was the big portal add in the offseason for Oregon to help stabilize the guard spot alongside Jackson Shelstad. Last year he averaged 16 points per game for Elon on 37% 3-point shooting but with a sky high usage rate. He has shifted to playing off the ball more often and his usage rate is way down but the efficiency is up a little bit despite the tougher competition by virtue of taking some easier shots. He’s a perfectly serviceable combo guard/3rd option on the offensive end but doesn’t provide much value on defense and can’t rebound.

G- Wei Lin, So. 6’4, 190: 6.7 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 32.5% FG, 27.5% 3pt, 81.8% FT

Evanmiya.com Stats: -2.8 BPR (2985th nationally)

Lin was viewed as a potential late wild card steal for Altman signing last summer out of China but has been a massive flop. In Oregon’s first 4 games he went 1/18 from the floor with an even assist to turnover ratio. Not great. Injuries have meant Wei has had to play more lately and he’s back in the starting lineup and has started to show flashes. During Oregon’s current 5-game losing streak Wei is averaging 13 points and 3.4 assists per game on 33% three-point shooting. Not a world beater but seemingly passable. But EvanMiya’s player ratings still have Lin as one of the worst players in the Big Ten thanks to terrible defense and no rebounding.

F- Dezdrick Lindsay, Sr. 6’6, 215: 4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.5 apg, 38.8% FG, 35.7% 3pt, 56.3% FT

Evanmiya.com Stats: +2.6 BPR (700th nationally)

It seems like Dana Altman always manages to find a good JUCO wing and Lindsay was supposed to be next in line after he averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds per game on 41.5% 3-point shooting at that level. But Lindsay missed all of last year due to injury and has been just a solid role player so far for the Ducks this season. He’s a good passer for your average 6’6 wing but his rebounding numbers are a little underwhelming.

F- Sean Stewart, Sr, 6’9, 225: 7.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.8 apg, 52.4% FG, 50.0% FT

Evanmiya.com Stats: +1.8 BPR (960th nationally)

Stewart was an elite high school prospect but has now bounced around from Duke to Ohio State to Oregon. He has been a fantastic rebounder at all stops and actually led the Big Ten in conference play last year in defensive rebounding rate. That total is way down this year playing mostly in 2 big lineups but he’s still a fantastic offensive rebounder and could given the Huskies problems on that end. Stewart is technically a 66.7% three-point shooter but that’s on 3 career attempts. He’s 50% from the free throw line and prefers to operate almost entirely in the paint.

C- Kwame Evans, Jr. 6’10, 220: 12.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 48.6% FG, 32.1% 3pt, 75.6% FT

Evanmiya.com Stats: +5.9 BPR (126th nationally)

Evans is in his third season with the Ducks and has never quite been able to break through as a true star and is instead generally a fantastic third banana. He’s shooting a career best from the outside and is a credible threat now as a stretch big. Evans draws a lot of fouls and shoots a high percentage with his fantastic athleticism and is a good weakside shot blocker. His assist rate has more than doubled so he’s also taking on some responsibilities as a facilitator for the first time and has dropped his turnover rate at the same time which is impressive. Overall, Evans is at least average in just about every aspect of the game but not quite elite at anything. That is rewarded by the advanced stats but can sometimes lead to being overlooked.

The Outlook

There was reason for optimism coming into this season for Oregon. The Ducks have dealt with injury issues in recent years but the trio of Nate Bittle, Kwame Evans Jr., and Jackson Shelstad had an adjusted +44.3 net rating last year per Evan Miyakawa which was 5th nationally and best among any trio of returners. It was reasonable for Altman to think that putting all your resources into retaining the three of them and keeping them on the court at the same time would lead to a top-15 type of team.

Yet here we are with Shelstad potentially out for the season and Bittle out for a month leaving just Evans as the only healthy option. The Ducks might have been able to weather the storm if they had the typical depth of an Oregon roster but the auxiliary pieces just aren’t there this season. Late international adds Wei Lin and Ege Demir have both struggled and wouldn’t be a part of the rotation for a typical Oregon roster. Elon transfer TK Simpkins is fine as a team’s 4th best player but suddenly is being thrust into the primary scorer role with Bittle/Shelstad hurt.

The end result has been a team that has a pair of 5-game losing streaks already this season after also having one last season. I thought those might be the first of Altman’s tenure with Oregon but the Ducks actually did drop 5 in a row and 8 of 10 back in the 2013-14 season before Altman pulled his typical late season magic to win 8 in a row and still make the NCAA tournament. It seems impossible to think he could do it again this year given the injuries and an 0-9 record against teams ranked 95th or better at KenPom. All but one of Oregon’s final 12 games are against teams ranked no worse than 82nd.

It’s hard to say there’s a primary culprit between the offense and defense as both have been underwhelming. If there’s one clear strength for the Ducks, it’s their offensive rebounding led by the trio of Sean Stewart, Bittle, and Evans. The loss of Bittle hurts there but Stewart/Evans should be able to go toe to toe with Steinbach/Kepnang when it comes to rebounding.

Oregon’s big problem on offense is that they just struggle to make shots. They rank 200th or worse shooting from 2-point range, 3-point range, and from the free throw line. They also rank sub 200th in turnover rate and block rate on offense. Adjusting for strength of schedule and the 40th ranked offensive rebounding rate gives Oregon merely a below average power conference offense rather than an atrocious one but the Ducks have yet to surpass 77 points in regulation of a Big Ten game.

The defense is similarly meh although a little better. They rank around 160th in opponent shooting on both 2-pointers and 3-pointers but close to last in the country in opposing free throw shooting. That last part could be interpreted a couple of ways. On the one hand, the Ducks have almost certainly gotten unlucky that opponents are hitting 77.5% of their free throws against them. On the other, it’s probably a sign that they are usually fouling opposing guards who blow by the defense. Zoom Diallo seems poised for a big night and JJ Mandaquit also should have success against Wei Lin in particular.

Just like for the offense, there’s only one shining advantage in Oregon’s statistical profile on defense. Oregon is 9th in opponent 2-point distance from the rim which signifies that opponents are settling for midrange shots more often. Combine that with a top-50 block rate and Oregon has usually been able to have good rim protection. The problem is that Nate Bittle has the highest block rate on the team and he’s out for this game. Evans is capable in that regard but the interior defense definitely takes a hit with Bittle out.

Washington clearly has injury problems of its own. There’s a chance that Wesley Yates III and/or Lathan Somerville are available for this game but both were struggling when most recently on the court anyways. The Huskies rank just 66th at BartTorvik since the turn of the calendar but that’s still a good bit better than Oregon who ranks 108th in that span despite both sporting the same 1-5 record.

The Huskies have mostly finished their gauntlet although a trip to top-ten Illinois still looms next Thursday. The Huskies are currently projected to be favorites in 8 of their final 12 games after today and have a 40%+ chance per KenPom in 10 of them. The schedule is there to make a big run and salvage something out of this injury-riddled season. It has to start today against an Oregon team missing its two best players with absolutely no momentum and a fanbase fantasizing about their head coach retiring. I’ll say the Dawgs gets it done but it’s a little closer than we’d like.