Friday, February 26, 2010

Seniors hope to protect homecourt in the end

UCLA hopes to prevent a sweep by the Oregon Ducks this season.

A total of five senior student-athletes will be honored prior to the Bruins' final regular season home game tomorrow with the Ducks (approximately 1:50 p.m.): Spencer Soo, Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, James Keefe, Nikola Dragovic and Michael Roll will be honored before the tip-off.


The Bruins Host Oregon on Senior Day
from the Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
Feb. 26, 2010

UCLA leads the all-time series with Oregon 81-26 (.757) and has won the last six games against the Ducks at home by an average of 14 points.

LOS ANGELES -

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010
SITE: Pauley Pavilion (12,819)
TIP-OFF: 2:07 p.m. (PT)
TELEVISION: Prime Ticket
TALENT: Bill Macdonald (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst) and Patrick O'Neal (sideline)
RADIO: AM 570 KLAC
SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO: Channel 122
SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO: Channel 143
TALENT: Chris Roberts (play-by-play) and Tracy Murray (analyst)


BRUIN INJURY REPORT
Senior James Keefe injured his left shoulder in practice on Feb. 12, 2010. He will have season-ending surgery next week. Freshman Reeves Nelson hit his head on the floor when he lost his balance after a dunk at Washington State (Feb. 18). He received 15 stitches and started two days later at Washington. He had laser retinopexy to repair a slight tear in his retina in his left eye on Feb. 22 and will miss the Oregon game (Feb. 27). Brendan Lane sprained his left ankle in practice on Feb. 23 and will be a game-time decision for the Oregon contest. Nikola Dragovic injured his shoulder in the Oregon State contest and is a game-time decision for the Oregon game.

SERIES VERSUS OREGON
This is the 108th meeting between UCLA and Oregon with the Bruins leading the series 81-26 (.757). The Bruins have won six straight games over the Ducks in Pauley Pavilion by an average of 14 points (77-63). The Bruins posted a 94-68 convincing victory over Oregon in Pauley Pavilion in last year's home finale (Mar. 7, 2009) as all three seniors scored in double figures (Josh Shipp career-high 28 pts., Darren Collison 19 pts., Alfred Aboya 10 pts.). Drew Wiley led the Ducks with 18 points. In this year's earlier meeting, Oregon won 71-66 in overtime on Jan. 28, 2010. UCLA got double-doubles from Nikola Dragovic (19 pts., 10 rbs.) and Tyler Honeycutt (13 pts., 10 rbs.). Head Coach Ben Howland is 10-3 against Oregon.

ROLL FOR THREE
Senior guard Michael Roll is third in the Pacific-10 Conference in league play in three-point field goal percentage at 43.9 percent (36-for-82) and ranks fourth in three-pointers made per game (2.4). In overall games on the season, he ranks third in percentage (.430, 65-for-151) and fourth in treys per game (2.4). On the UCLA career charts, Roll sits at No. 5 in three-pointers made (194) and needs four to pass Tracy Murray for fourth. He also ranks sixth in three-pointers attempted (464) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.418).

SENIOR DAY
A total of five senior student-athletes will be honored prior to the Bruins' final regular season home game tomorrow with the Oregon Ducks (approximately 1:50 p.m.). Spencer Soo, Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, James Keefe, Nikola Dragovic and Michael Roll will be honored before the tip-off with the Ducks. Three other Bruins seniors will be introduced as well, including Daniel Arevalo (student video coordinator), Frank Russo (student athletic trainer) and Andrew Nobe (student manager).
_______

from the Official Oregon Men's Basketball website
Release: 02/26/2010

Ducks at UCLA for Saturday Afternoon Game

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The University of Oregon men’s basketball team (13-14, 5-10 Pac-10) plays at UCLA (13-14, 8-7 Pac-10) this Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. (PST) at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The Ducks are coming off a 54-44 road win over USC on Thursday night.

The Bruins defeated Oregon State, 65-56 on Thursday night. Last week they split road games with the Washington schools, managing a 71-51 trouncing of the Cougars before getting crushed 97-68 by the Huskies. UCLA holds an 81-26 edge in the series history with Oregon. The Bruins fell at McArthur Court earlier this season in a 71-66 overtime decision. The Ducks’ last victory at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion was a 96-91 overtime outcome on Jan. 30, 2003.

OREGON - UCLA LIVE COVERAGE
• TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket; Bill Macdonald, play-by-play; Don MacLean, analyst; Patrick O’Neal, sideline
• Radio: Oregon Sports Network; Jerry Allen, play-by-play; KUGN 590-AM in Eugene/Springfield; Coverage begins at 1:30 p.m.
• Satellite radio: SIRIUS 216, XM 193
• Internet: Links to live streaming audio and statistics at goducks.com. Follow UO men’s basketball on twitter @duckbasketball for in-game updates and the latest news on the squad.

DUCKS COMPLETE SEASON SWEEP OF TROJANS
On the backs of senior guard Tajuan Porter and junior forward LeKendric Longmire, the Ducks completed a season-sweep of USC with a 54-44 win at the Galen Center on Thursday night. UO also defeated USC in late January at Mac Court, registering a 67-57 in the season’s first meeting.

Oregon’s last sweep of USC came in the 2004-05 season. UO recorded back-to-back sweeps, including the 2003-04 season, as part of a six-game winning streak against the Trojans which dated back to the 2002-03 season).

The Ducks came from behind to defeat the Trojans. UO took its first lead of the game with 12:01 remaining, 37-36. That was following an 14-4 run to open the half.

The Ducks shot just 36.7 percent from the floor (18-of-49), but held the Trojans to 19-of-58 on field goals for 32.8 percent. Oregon hit 16-of-24 on free throws, while USC managed to go just 1-of-5.

LOOKING AHEAD AT THE SCHEDULE
Oregon returns home next week to play its final Pac-10 games at McArthur Court. The Ducks host Washington on Thursday night with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. UO will then play Washington State on Saturday with tip-time slated for 5 p.m. The UO-WSU contest will mark the final home game for seniors Tajuan Porter and Joevan Catron. It will be televised by the Oregon Sports Network on Comcast SportsNet Northwest.

PORTER BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD, PAC-10 RECORDS IN REACH
Senior guard Tajuan Porter has made a school-record 327 career 3-pointers in 121 games played (327-of-857, .382). He ranks second in Pac-10 Conference history and needs 16 more 3-pointers to break the league record held by Arizona’s Salim Stoudamire (342, 2002-05). The 5-7 guard from Detroit, Mich., is also just 34 shy of matching the Pac-10’s 3-point field goals attempted record held by Arizona State’s Stevin Smith (891, 1991-94).

Porter set the school mark in the first half of Oregon’s 95-64 home win over UC Davis on Saturday, Nov. 14, passing Orlando Williams (1991-95) who held the previous mark with 282 made 3-pointers in 112 games.

PORTER FIFTH IN CAREER SCORING AT OREGON
Senior guard Tajuan Porter now ranks fifth in school history in career scoring with 1,686 points in 121 games. In Thursday’s win over USC he passed Orlando Williams who tallied 1,674 points from 1991-95. Porter also recently jumped over a trio of former Ducks - Stan Love, Fred Jones and Malik Hairston - who are now in a three-way tie for seventh place with 1,644 points.

Ronnie Lee (1972-76) is UO’s all-time leading scorer, recording 2,085 points in 112 career games. Porter is projected to hold in fifth all-time (behind Lee, Luke Jackson, Anthony Taylor and Greg Ballard). Complete top 10 list on page 6.

Last season Porter became the 29th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark. In fact, Porter has now scored 1,117 career points in Pac-10 games alone (69 games played, 16.2 ppg). He reached the original 1,000-point milestone in the Ducks 84-77 road win over UC Irvine in November of 2008. He is the 10th player overall and the fifth player in the last four seasons (Aaron Brooks, Malik Hairston, Bryce Taylor, Maarty Leunen) to eclipse the figure under Ernie Kent’s direction.

SOPHOMORE DUO MAKING MARK ON SINGLE-SEASON CHARTS
Sophomore center Michael Dunigan’s 34 blocks this season ties him for fifth place (with Brett Coffey, 1988-89) on the single-season charts at UO. Dunigan is on pace to record 41 blocks this year which would put him in a tie for second place for rejections in a season. In addition, if Dunigan continues to shoot 55.0 percent from the floor, he will end up no worse than eighth place on UO’s single-season field goal percentage list.

Sophomore guard Malcolm Armstead has 55 steals in 27 games, which has him tied for sixth for the best single-season total (w/Kenya Wilkins, 55 steals in 28 games in1996-97). He is on pace to record 65 steals, which would be a new single-season school record (current leaders: Terrell Brandon, Fred Jones and Luke Ridnour with 63).

Armstead has 115 assists (to just 64 turnovers) in 27 games. He is projected to finish with 134 assists this year which put him just outside the top 10 (No. 10 – Chris Harper and Kenya Wilkins with 142). Armstead had 12 assists against UCLA, tying him for the most by a Pac-10 player this season (and the most of any player in a Pac-10 game).

DUCKS RANK HIGHLY WITH PAC-10 LEADERS
Sophomore guard Malcolm Armstead is second in the league in steals (2.0 spg), while ranking third in assist to turnover ratio (1.8) and fourth in assists (4.3 apg). Sophomore center Michael Dunigan ranks third in the conference in blocked shots (1.5 bpg), while ranking fifth in field goal percentage (.550, 71-of-129). Senior guard Tajuan Porter’s 2.1 made 3-pointers per game ranks him seventh amongst conference performers. Porter is also hitting 87.5 percent of his free throws (35-of-40) which would have him in fourth, but he does not have the minimum number of attempts to qualify.

PORTER NINTH IN CAREER STEALS, 10TH IN FIELD GOALS MADE
Senior guard Tajuan Porter has recorded 99 steals in 121 career games which ranks ninth all-time at Oregon. He’s projected to finish his career in ninth, behind Terrell Brandon who is No. 8 on the list with 114 career steals in 57 games (from 1989-91).

Porter ranks 10th in school history with 545 career field goals made (545-of-1406, .388). Porter passed Charlie Warren, who made 503 field goals in 80 career games, to move into the top 10. Next up on the list: No. 9 Fred Jones (1998-02) who made 554 baskets in 125 games. Porter (4.7 FG/g) is projected to finish eighth all-time with 569 (No. 8 Orlando Williams, 567 in 112 games from 1991-95).

DUNIGAN RANKS IN TOP 10 FOR CAREER BLOCKS AT OREGON
Sophomore center Michael Dunigan ranks eighth in school history for blocked shots with 62 in just 52 career games. Next on the list: No. 7 Brett Coffey with 63. With a 1.1 blocks per game average, Dunigan is on pace (with an assumed 67 games remaining) to become the all-time leader in that category with a projected total of 136. Blair Rasmussen (1981-85) ranks first with 116 blocks in 114 career games.

DUCKS CONTINUE REBOUNDING ADVANTAGE
Oregon has a 10-3 record this season when out-rebounding opponents (2-10 when out-rebounded, 1-1 with even number of rebounds). The Ducks have out-rebounded their opponent and lost on three occasions (at Missouri 43-35; vs. Arizona State 36-27; vs. Stanford 35-25). The Ducks have a 331-274 edge in offensive rebounds through 27 games, with that leading to UO’s 323-263 advantage over opponents in second-chance points this season.

CEREMONIES PLANNED FOR FINAL MAC COURT PAC-10 GAMES
UO Athletics has announced it will celebrate the final Pac-10 men’s basketball season at Mac Court with commemorative ticket giveaways, a pair of jersey retirement ceremonies and honorary captains for the final nine games at the venue. Complete list of the honorary captains: OSU (Jan. 10) - Terrell Brandon; ASU (Jan. 14) - Charlie Warren, Bill Frieder; ARIZ (Jan. 16) - John Dick, Lute Olson; UCLA (Jan 28.) - Larry Holliday, Bill Walton; USC (Jan. 30) - Greg Ballard; STAN (Feb. 18) - Ronnie Lee; CAL (Feb. 20) - Chuck Rask, Glenn Moore, Darrall Imhoff; WASH (March 4) - Dick Harter, Brandon Roy; WSU (March 6) - Kenya Wilkins, James Donaldson.

DUCKS’ BOUNCE-BACK HISTORY
Oregon has produced a winning record following four of the program’s 20-loss seasons: 15-10 in 1922-23 (7-24 in 1921-22), 13-11 in 1957-58 (4-21 in 1956-57), 16-10 in 1972-73 (6-20 in 1971-72) and 15-14 in 1989-90 (8-21 in 1988-89). It didn’t happen in 1992-93 (10-20 after going 6-21 in 1991-92) and 1993-94 (10-17 after going 10-20 in 1992-93).

Additionally, the only three Ernie Kent teams to finish without a winning record also bounced back. A record of 13-14 in 1997-98 turned into 19-13 and a trip to the NIT Final Four in 1998-99. A mark of 14-14 in 2000-01 turned into 26-9, a Pac-10 championship and the NCAA Elite Eight in 2001-02. The Ducks’ 15-18 record in 2005-06 turned into 29-8, a Pac-10 Tournament championship and another NCAA Elite Eight appearance in 2006-07 (GW, 2009).

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