Back on top. That is where Oregon basketball stands in the Pac-12 after righting the ship with a two-game win streak despite still missing Dominic Artis. The Ducks are alone in first place in the conference standings at 9-3 after both Arizona and UCLA lost on Thursday night, dropping both squads to 8-4.

Oregon is 3-3 without Artis and the Ducks are a far cry from the once invincible-looking 7-0 team they were in late January. But if UO can notch another win over Washington State (2-10) on Saturday and potentially get Artis back next week, the Ducks could ride a wave of momentum into the Pac-12 tournament in mid-March and would be a virtual lock for a first round bye in the conference tourney’s first year in Las Vegas.

The Cougars stand at dead last in the Pac-12 table with just two wins, but the last time they played Oregon, the Cougs put up a fight, leading by 10 at halftime before allowing the Ducks to charge back for a 68-61 win.

Brock Motum, last year’s Pac-12 scoring leader is again putting up great numbers for WSU, leading his team in points per game with 18 while grabbing 6.4 boards each contest.

Damyean Dotson is currently Oregon’s top point-getter with an 11.4 average while Arsalan Kazemi leads the rebounding column for UO with 9.5 per night.

Ducks v. Cougars tips in Pullman, Washington at 4:00pm on Saturday. The game is televised on the Pac-12 Networks.