In a sense, Friday morning wasn't a whole lot different from the average day after a game on the road for the Oregon Ducks.

They woke up in Tucson, had a team breakfast, got in a light practice and a bit of stretching. Players were in a jovial mood, but that's been a theme this season with the Ducks, a team whose core began to bond last season and continued to develop chemistry through the offseason and the nonconference portion of the schedule.

It was almost similar to last year, in fact, when the Ducks woke up in Tucson and boarded a bus for Tempe, trying to move the gears away from Arizona and on to Arizona State.

But obviously, there are some difference. One: the bus the Ducks took along the 110-mile stretch of Interstate-10 was a significant upgrade from the clunker they took last year. And two: instead of waking up on Friday after a 34-point trouncing, the Ducks headed to Arizona State as the first team in 50 attempts to beat the Wildcats at home.

"To beat them on their home floor is obviously huge," said sophomore guard and Arizona native Casey Benson. "The streak and all that, Arizona is a great program. They kicked us pretty bad last year."

Benson would know just how different the two games were. In his return home last season, Benson was 0 for 1 from the floor, missed both his free throw attempts and turned the ball over twice in his 17 minutes. His most notable moment of that game came at the end of the first half when the then-freshman guard knocked loose a ball, potentially setting up a last-second Oregon possession. Down 13 at the time, a bucket would have been huge. Instead, the ball went straight from Benson's diving body to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who snagged it, dunked and hung from the rim. As the 14,655 on hand went crazy, Benson buried his face in his hands.

This year, in No. 23 Oregon's 83-75 win over No. 18 Arizona, Benson hit both his attempts from the floor, grabbed three assists and rebounds, and didn't turn the ball over. His and the rest of the team's ability to hang onto the ball gave Oregon a fighting chance against an Arizona team that sank its first eight shots and was 73 percent from the floor in the first half.

The Ducks had just six turnovers, compared with Arizona's 19. And in the second half, the same crowd that annoyed and frustrated and confused the Ducks a year ago fell silent.

"Late in the second half we hit a shot and made a big play in the stretch, and you could sense the momentum shifting and the arena getting lighter," Benson said. "It was awesome."

And it's a feeling Benson said the Ducks are ready to flush from their system. Oregon knows far too well how a trip can go from great to mediocre in a span of days. Earlier this year, the Ducks went in to Salt Lake City and upset Utah at another one of the conference's toughest venues. But two days later, the Ducks started slow and lost to Colorado -- the team viewed as the undercard of the trip.

Waiting for Oregon on Sunday in Tempe is an Arizona State team that, while 2-6 in conference play, is coming off an 86-68 drubbing of Oregon State. The last three of ASU's losses have been by a combined 11 points. Oregon State limited leading scorer Tra Holder to just eight points on 2-of-6 shooting Thursday, but the Sun Devils showed off their depth with Eric Jacobsen, Willie Atwood, Obinna Oleka and Gerry Blakes all finishing in double figures.

The Sun Devils rank in the bottom half of nearly every statistical category in the Pac-12, but Benson said the Ducks saw what a slow start did for the Beavers in Tempe on Thursday. They don't want another Colorado game.

"We enjoyed it last night," Benson said. "We're focused in on Arizona State. They beat Oregon State pretty good."

-- Tyson Alger

talger@oregonian.com

@tysonalger