TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats (4-11, 0-4 Pac-12) are back on the road this weekend, this time to Oregon for a matchup with the eighth-ranked Ducks (15-2, 4-0 Pac-12) on Friday night at 9 p.m. MST. Friday's game will be aired live on the Pac-12 Networks. The last time these two teams faced off was in the first round of the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament where Oregon won a tightly contested matchup.
 
Friday, Jan. 12 at 9 p.m. MST
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Cindy Brunson & Elise Woodward)
Radio: 1400 AM (Derrick Palmer)
Twitter: @ArizonaWBB
#MadeForIt
 
FROM THE TIP

• Arizona hits the road to face eighth-ranked Oregon on the road in Eugene. The Wildcats lost to the Ducks in their only two matchups last season, once being in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

• JaLea Bennett has been a scoring machine for Arizona as she averages a team-high 15.9 points per game, which is eighth in the Pac-12. The senior did not hit double-figures against Stanford for the first time since Nov. 17, 2017, but got back to double-figures against Cal with a team-high 13 points.

• Sam Thomas had a nice weekend against the Bay Area schools as she averaged 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while guarding some of the top post players in the Pac-12.

• Marlee Kyles and Thomas are the only pair of freshmen in the Pac-12 to average double-figure points. Kyles is second on the team with 10.6 points while Thomas scores 10.2 points per game.

 
Last Five vs. Oregon
3/2/17: Oregon 70, Arizona 63
2/3/17: Oregon 79, at Arizona 65
3/3/16: Arizona 74, Oregon 68
1/31/16: at Oregon 76, Arizona 54
2/13/15: at Oregon 75, Arizona 61
 
Scouting the Ducks
Oregon comes into Friday's game as the top team in the Conference of Champions and are ranked eighth nationally while scoring just under 87 points a game. Their high-powered offense is led by triple-double threat and five-time Pac-12 Player of the Week Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard, both sophomores. Ionescu recently broke the NCAA record for most triple-doubles in a season. She averages 18.6 points, 7.5 assists and 7.2 rebounds while Hebard scores 16.8 points and brings down 8.4 rebounds per game. Freshman Satou Sabally, who has won Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three times this year, averages 11.8 points, three-point specialist Lexi Bando scores 11.2 per game and Maite Cazorla scored 10.3 points per game. The Ducks are coming off a road sweep of the L.A. schools.
 
We See Ya JaLea
JaLea Bennett is one of the two seniors on the team (Kat Wright) and will be looked upon as a leader for the young group of Wildcats this year. Along with Destiny Graham, they are the two remaining student-athletes that played for former head coach Niya Butts. Bennett has turned up the scoring this year as she averages 15.9 points per game, which would be a huge career-high should she maintain and is currently eighth in the Pac-12. The senior has already set a new career-high in total points scored with 239 points. Her previous career-high was 187 total points in 2016-17. The senior has scored in double-figures 13 times this season, which is a career-high. Bennett broke a streak of 11-straight double-figure games against Stanford (1/5) as she had trouble finding her shot, scoring just eight points, but got back on track with 13 points vs. Cal (1/7).
 
Thomas Does It All
Through the first 13 games of her career, Sam Thomas has been rather impressive on the floor. All while playing a team-high 37.2 minutes per game, she averages 10.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks. After recording the first double-double of the season for any Wildcat against NAU (12/7), she became the first freshman since LaBrittney Jones (2014) to finish the game with a double-double. She is also the first freshman and player since Erica Barnes (2011) to have three double-figure rebounding games in the first eight games of the season. Her 15 rebounds against Southern Utah is the most since Jones grabbed 15 on Dec. 15, 2013 and her 49 minutes are the third-most in school history. For the first time this season, Thomas has scored in double-figures three-straight games after scoring a team-high 13 points against Cal (1/7). She is second on the team with eight double-figure games.
 
Sam in the Pac-12
In the Pac-12, Thomas is second in minutes played (37.1 mpg). fourth in blocked shots (1.8 bpg), sixth in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and sixth in steals (1.9 spg). She is the top freshmen in the categories mentioned in the previous sentence. Thomas is the only player in the Pac-12 to be in the top 10 in rebounding, blocks and steals. Additionally, Thomas is fifth in blocks per game and sixth in rebounds per game in the country among freshmen.
 
Where She Ranks Among Arizona Freshmen
Thomas has a shot to break a couple freshman records, and below is a look at where Arizona's top freshmen stood through the first 13 games of their respective careers.
 
Blocks
Shawntinice Polk (2002-03) – 31
LaBrittney Jones (2013-14) – 28
Sam Thomas (2017-18) – 27
 
Minutes
Sam Thomas (2017-18) – 557
Reiko Thomas (2008-09) – 548
Lucia Alonso (2016-17) – 501
Davellyn Whyte (2009-10) – 496
 
Marlee Gets Buckets
Freshman Marlee Kyles is Arizona's second leading scorer through the first 12 games of the season by averaging 10.6 points per game off the bench while playing 25.5 minutes per game, which is the sixth-fewest on the team. She scored 17 in the season opener against Iona (11/10), had 18 against Loyola Marymount (11/22) and had a career-high 19 against Long Beach State (11/28). Kyles is third amongst all freshmen in scoring in the Pac-12 and has seven double-figure games.
 
Buenos Dias, Lucia
It's hard to believe, but Lucia Alonso is already the third-longest tenured Wildcat on the 2017-18 roster as a sophomore. Alosno has been outstanding from beyond the arc as she is shooting a team-high 43% (23-54), which is eighth in the Pac-12. Additionally, Alonso third in minutes per game (36.2). Against Hawaii (12/17), Alonso had a terrific game with a career-high 21 points on 8-17 shooting and 3-6 from beyond the arc. She scored a game-high 15 points against Stanford on Jan. 5.
 
It's Her Destiny
Destiny Graham has stepped up her game so far in 2017. She is scoring 8.9 points (134 total points, a career-high) per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds per game, which is second on the team and are both career highs. Graham recorded her first-career double-double against Southern Utah with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in a career-high 37 minutes. The junior has done a good job of getting to the line and making her free throws as she is 39-48 (81%) from the charity stripe, which is third in the Pac-12. Coming into the 2017 season, Graham had scored in double-figures just three times and has already scored in double-figures six times this season. On the rebounding side of things, she came into the season with one double-figure rebounding effort and has three this season after bringing down a game-high five boards against Cal (1/7). Graham averages eight rebounds per game over the last three contests.
 
Your Newest WildKAT
After visiting campus this past April, Kat Wright decided to finish out her college career at the University of Arizona. A transfer from Florida Atlantic University, Wright has 158 career made three-pointers, which would be sixth all-time in Arizona history. Wright was forced to sit out the 2016-17 season due to injury, but during her junior year in 2015-16, Wright lit it up as she made 87 trey balls on 40% shooting while scoring 11.7 points per game. To put that into perspective, only one Wildcat has made more than 82 three-pointers in one season, and that was Lisa Griffith wo made 92 in the 1996-97 season. The highlight of her career came on Jan. 30, 2016 when she drained 11 three-pointers against Charlotte, which is the second-most made three-pointers in NCAA history in a single game. She had her breakout game against Southern Utah as she dropped a season-high 18 points, which is the most she has scored since her 33-point game, and nailed the game-winning three-pointer in double-overtime with eight seconds left on the clock. Wright ranks 13th in made triples per game in the Pac-12 (1.6).
 
Dynamic Freshmen
There is only one team in the Pac-12 that has two freshmen averaging double-figure points, and that team is Arizona. Marlee Kyles (10.6 ppg) and Sam Thomas (10.2 ppg) are Arizona's second and third-leading scorers and the only freshman pair to average at least 10 points per game. Since at least 1995, no two freshmen averaged double-figure points in one season.
 
Lock it Up
Defense was not the issue for the Wildcats this last weekend against Stanford and Cal as they allowed 61 and 53 points (114 total), respectively, to two ranked teams. That is the fewest points allowed in one Pac-12 series since Utah and Colorado scored a combined 110 points the weekend of Jan. 15, 2016.
 
Winning the Turnover Battle
Arizona has done a good job of winning the turnover battle as of late as they have committed more turnovers than their opponent just one time in the last seven games. During that stretch, Arizona's turnover margin is +19.
 
Barnes vs. Oregon as a Player
Adia Barnes had a record of 4-4 against Oregon as a player from 1995 to 1998. In those eight games, she averaged 16.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. On Feb. 20, 1997, she had a monster game with 35 points and 11 rebounds.
 
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