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No. 5 Oregon will welcome Army to Matthew Knight Arena for the season-opener on Friday, Nov. 11, which is also Veterans Day. Tipoff is timed for 8 p.m. PT.
Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s basketball action:
Week 1 — Oregon Ducks (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. Army Black Knights (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League)
Date: Friday, November 11, 2016
Time: 8 p.m. PT
Place: Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Ore.)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Follow Along: Live Stats; @AddictedToQuack
.@OregonMBB will pay homage to service men and women in Friday's game vs. Army by wearing white, digital-camouflage uniforms. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/LhM5RSM0U2
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) November 10, 2016
At A Glance
- Oregon Ducks (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) — The Ducks are coming off a historic season, in which they finished 31-7 overall and 14-4 in conference play, winning the Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles and making it all the way to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2007… For the first time in school history, Oregon is favored to win the Pac-12. The Ducks have the potential to make it to the Final Four and beyond for the first time since 1939, the year they won the inaugural NCAA Tournament… The Ducks return four starters, including Dillon Brooks (16.7ppg, 5.4rpg), who will miss the start of the season with a foot injury, Tyler Dorsey (13.4ppg, 4.3rpg) and Chris Boucher (12.1ppg, 7.4rpg, 2.9bpg)… In the AP Top 25, Oregon is ranked No. 5, the highest preseason ranking in program history.
"We have been preparing for this moment and the hype is coming in with preseason top-five rankings," Dorsey said. "We have to focus on the season coming around and take this last week seriously. We have to get ready because the hype means nothing. Teams will come at us like Oklahoma did in the scrimmage. They were the underdog, so we need to get ready for teams like that."
- Army Black Knights (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League) — The Black Knights finished their 2015-16 campaign 19-14 overall and 9-9 in conference play, including a trip to the postseason. They advanced to the second round of the Patriot League Tournament before making an appearance in the CollegeInsider.Com Tournament… Army boasts a young (and rather large) roster of 26 players, including 10 freshmen and 10 sophomores... Army returns none of its scorers who averaged double figures from last year, as the team is in a rebuilding year.
In Their Words
Below, you’ll find interviews from Oregon head coach Dana Altman, guards Tyler Dorsey and Casey Benson.
“They’re quick,” coach Dana Altman said of Army. “They really push the ball. They had a scrimmage against Cornell, and we did get some film on that. I like their aggressiveness. I like that they’re really well coached. Those soldiers, they’re where they’re supposed to be at all times. It was impressive to watch them on film with a young group. The attention to details, the fundamentals. We’ll have our work cut out for us in that regard, because they really get where they’re supposed to get. They’re a well-coached team.”
“I definitely feel that we can,” sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey said when asked about mixing more man-to-man play into their defense. “It’s going to be a process. We’ve got to work on it. We’ve got to keep working on it every day in practice, just staying off to the ball, talking, picking up that part of the game. It’s going to be a progression throughout the season.”
“Rebounding was huge, giving up too many offensive rebounds,” junior guard Casey Benson said on the corrections needed to be made following the exhibition. “That was the main focus the last two days in practice.”
“Everybody just being attached to the same string,” Benson said when asked about the foundation of the defense. “So if a guy gets beat, having that help side, or taking easy passes away, eliminating their easy shots and then finishing it off with rebounds.”