No. 14 Oregon aims to cap big week vs. Texas-Arlington
The Oregon Ducks are flying high after a quality win, and look to keep their momentum when they welcome Texas-Arlington to Eugene, Ore. on Sunday. The 14th-ranked Ducks look to move up in the national rankings with a win Sunday coupled with their 82-74 defeat of No. 13 Memphis on Tuesday in Portland, Ore. Oregon (3-0) took care of the Tigers with several scoring runs that Memphis battled back from but couldn't rally down the stretch. Shakur Juiston had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead a balanced effort from the Ducks. The most consistent Duck has been senior guard Payton Pritchard, who is averaging 19 points, 5.7rebounds and 6.7 assists per game through the first three. Teammate Anthony Mathis has knocked down 13 of 18 3-pointers on the season and has made 75 percent of his overall shots. "Anthony and Shakur, they just want to win," Oregon coach Dana Altman said of two of his impact newcomers to the program. Guard Chris Duarte injured his right knee in a collision with a Memphis player in the first half on Tuesday, but returned briefly in the second half and his injury isn't believed to be serious. "We've played three good teams. So our November is really tough. It'll be a good learning experience for us. Hopefully we keep getting better," Altman said. Altman was referring to wins over Fresno State and Boise State, then Memphis. The Ducks are in the midst of a stretch of four nonconference games against teams that were picked first or second in their respective preseason conference polls. Memphis was picked to place in a tie for first in the American Athletic Conference. Texas-Arlington was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt. Houston is the other team in the AAC picked No. 1, and Seton Hall was picked to win the Big East. The Mavericks (2-1) returned to Texas after an 80-73 loss at Nevada on Tuesday. Then it was back on the road out west for the Oregon game, and after that, they will head to Spokane, Wash., to play No. 8 Gonzaga next Tuesday. Senior Radshad Davis had 14 points and 10 rebounds against Nevada. He's listed as a forward at just 6-feet-2. Three other players scored in double figures. The Mavericks didn't shoot well against Nevada but had slim leads during the game which they couldn't hold. They started the game slowly on offense before picking things up. "We lost the game in the opening five minutes by getting off to a terrible start. Yes, we caught up and had some small leads throughout the game periodically, but Nevada made a statement from the opening tip and we had to play catch-up most of the night," head coach Chris Ogden told the school website. "We can't let that happen. We have a chance to be really good, but we're not there yet. We'll get back to work, and I expect to see a tougher effort from our guys next time out." --Field Level Media |