A sellout crowd is expected at Matthew Knight Arena on senior day to watch the Ducks take on third-ranked Arizona in a nationally televised game.

All that should combine to create quite a buzz for today’s 1 p.m. tipoff.

“I think you have got to be careful,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Arizona is used to being in this situation; they have been all year. This is a little different for us.”

The stakes are high. Oregon’s (21-8, 9-8) odds for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament improve if it closes out the regular season on a seven-game winning streak with a victory over the Wildcats (28-2, 15-2).

A loss could leave the Ducks needing a victory or two at the Pac-12 tournament next week to secure a bid.

“It’s a really big opportunity for us, just go swing away,” Altman said. “We’ve got a top-three team in here, and it should be fun for the fans and players.

“You don’t get these opportunities every day. That’s what I told them when we went to Tucson and we didn’t finish that one there. Hopefully, we get this one done.”

Oregon led Arizona by seven points in the second half last month in Tucson and was ahead by five points with less than four minutes remaining before T.J. McConnell made a three-pointer that gave Arizona the lead with 1:25 left, and the Wildcats finished off a 67-65 victory.

“We just didn’t finish the game,” junior guard Joseph Young said. “I thought we did well in the first half and the second half until the last five minutes.”

That game was Arizona’s first without starting forward Brandon Ashley, and the Wildcats lost one week later at Arizona State, but they have since won five straight games to clinch the conference championship.

“You have two different periods when you lose somebody,” Altman said. “The first game or two you have everybody gathered together and somebody steps up because they get an opportunity.

“Then you have a period where you miss that guy because the adrenaline rush has worn off, and then you make adjustments and go from there. I think they’ve made their adjustments.”

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson filled in for Ashley against the Ducks and had 14 points and 10 rebounds, but 6-foot-3 guard Gabe York has replaced Hollis-Jefferson in the starting lineup. He made four three-pointers in a 74-69 victory at Oregon State on Wednesday.

The Wildcats still have plenty of size, led by 7-0 Kaleb Tarczewski and 6-9 Aaron Gordon, plus 6-7 Hollis-Jefferson comes off the bench.

“We know their personnel,” Oregon sophomore guard Damyean Dotson said. “They want to throw it in to Tarczewski and we can’t let Hollis-Jefferson be active and get a lot of rebounds.”

Oregon will counter with a taller lineup this time, as 6-11 senior Waverly Austin, coming off career bests of 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in a season-high 28 minutes against Arizona State, gets the start.

“I am hoping we can get something similar to that Saturday,” Altman said, “but Tarczewski is an NBA-type player, so Waverly will have his work cut out for him again.”

Austin, who played just seven minutes in the first game against Arizona, said he’s ready for the challenge.

“It was a close game last time, and we watched a lot of film and saw the errors we messed up at, like boxing out and letting Tarczewski get easy position inside,” he said. “I think we will do a better job this time.”

Oregon also didn’t have Young at full strength in the first game against Arizona after he suffered a thigh contusion on the first play and was limited to eight scoreless minutes in the first half before scoring 14 points in the second.

“I’m very fired up,” Young said. “I look forward to playing the first and second half.

“It will be a different game. We will come in with different intensity and play better.”

It figures to be an intense afternoon for many reasons.

“We are going to have to play really well and get help from the crowd,” Altman said. “It’s not going to affect (Arizona), I just hope it gets us fired up because there are going to be a lot of ups and downs in that game just like there were in Tucson. For us to be successful, we are going to have to play through a lot of adversity.

“We are going to have to bring our ‘A’ game, no doubt about that. I think they’re the best team in the country.”