Oregon to Host Montana State Saturday Night

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EUGENE, Ore. -- The University of Oregon men's basketball team (3-2) will host Montana State (1-2) on Saturday evening at McArthur Court in Eugene, with tip-time scheduled for 7:36 p.m. (PST).

The Ducks are 4-3 all-time against Montana State. The last time the two schools met was during the 1982-83 season when Oregon won a 64-55 home decision over MSU.

Oregon is coming off a 68-55 home loss to Montana earlier this week. Montana State, which plays at San Francisco on Wednesday, Nov. 25, lost its last outing 66-62 in a home game against Southern Mississippi.

SEASON TICKETS, SINGLE-GAME TICKETS AND MINI-PLANS AVAILABLE
Season-tickets, mini-plans and single-game tickets are still available and can be purchased online by following the links from the goducks.com “tickets” drop-down menu. In-person sales are available at the Casanova Center Ticket Office and via phone at 541-346-4461 (toll free: 1-800-WEB-FOOT).

Reserved tickets are expected to be available for all games, with Pac-10 games having the most limited availability. Obstructed view tickets will not be available until the reserved tickets sell out for that game. Tickets Prices: Non-Conference, $21; Conference, $36; Conference Premium, $40.

OREGON - MONTANA STATE LIVE COVERAGE
• TV: Oregon Sports Network on Comcast SportsNet Northwest; Comcast Channel 37 (HD Channel 788); Joe Giansante (play-by-play) and Rob Closs (color commentary)

• Radio: Oregon Sports Network; 590-AM, KUGN in Eugene/Springfield; Jerry Allen (play-by-play); Coverage begins at 7:06 p.m. (PST)

• Internet: Live streaming audio/video (O-Zone) and statistics at goducks.com.

WILLIAMS TAKES ON SCORING ROLE FOR DUCKS
Sophomore guard Teondre Williams is the only Oregon player to have scored in double-figures in each of the first five games. The high-flying two-guard from Atlanta, Ga., is averaging 14.0 points per outing which ranks second on the team to Tajuan Porter's 14.6 ppg.

In Oregon's season-opening win over Winston-Salem State, Williams came off the bench to score a career-best 19 points in just 16 minutes of playing time. He followed that up with back-to-back 11-point efforts against UC Davis and Colorado State, closing out the three-game BTI Tip-Off Tourament as one of two Ducks to earn all-tournament team honors.

Williams scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds in playing a career-high 30 minutes in UO's road loss to Portland. He scored a team-high 16 points to go with five rebounds in the home loss to Montana.

PORTER BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD, PAC-10 RECORDS IN REACH
In the first half of Oregon's 95-64 home win over UC Davis Saturday, Nov. 14, Tajuan Porter set a new school record for career 3-pointers. He passed Orlando Williams (1991-95) who held the previous mark with 282 made 3-pointers in 112 games. Porter has made 293-of-752 attempts (.390) in 103 games played (complete list on page 6).

Porter needs 50 more 3-pointers to break the Pac-10 Conference record held by Arizona's Salim Stoudamire who made 342 career 3-pointers from 2002-05. Porter is also on pace to eclipse the Pac-10's 3-point field goals attempted record held by Arizona State's Stevin Smith who took 891 career threes from 1991-94.

PORTER NEARING TOP 10 IN CAREER SCORING
Tajuan Porter needs four points to move into the top 10 in career scoring at Oregon. Porter has scored 1,508 points in 103 career games (14.6 ppg). Aaron Brooks currently ranks 10th in scoring with 1,511 career points. Ron Lee (1972-76) is Oregon's all-time leading scorer, recording 2,085 points in 112 career games. Lee, UO's only 2,000-point scorer, averaged 18.6 points per game over his four-year career with the Ducks. If Porter continues to score at his 14.6 ppg career average, he will be on pace to move into fourth place in school history (behind Ron Lee, Luke Jackson and Anthony Taylor).

Last season Porter became the 29th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark. Porter, who has started 94 career contests, reached the milestone in the Ducks 84-77 road win over UC Irvine. He is the 10th player to reach the milestone under head coach Ernie Kent, and the fifth player in the last three seasons (Aaron Brooks, Malik Hairston, Bryce Taylor, Maarty Leunen) to eclipse the figure under Kent's direction.

LAST TIME OUT: MONTANA 68, OREGON 55
Oregon lost 68-55 to Montana on Monday night at McArthur Court in Eugene. Teondre Williams (16) and Garrett Sim (11) scored in double figures for the Ducks but Oregon shot 33.3 percent from the field as a team while the Grizzlies connected on 51.2 percent of their shots.

LeKendric Longmire, Josh Crittle, Malcolm Armstead, Tajuan Porter and Williams earned the start for the Ducks but 11 players saw time for head coach Ernie Kent and seven players were on the floor for more than 10 minutes each.

Oregon played without the services of senior forward Joevan Catron and sophomore center Michael Dunigan who both sat out the game with injuries. Porter was limited as well after leaving the game temporarily with a lower-leg injury.

It was the second time this season that Williams paced the Ducks in scoring while Jeremy Jacob's six boards led the Ducks in rebounding. Montana's Brian Qvale grabbed 10 boards to go with 15 points for a double-double. Anthony Johnson paced the Grizzlies with 20 points and Michael Taylor also scored in double figures with 12 points.

Both teams struggled from beyond the arc as Oregon hit on 5-of-17 (29.4%) shots from long range and Montana made just 3-of-16 (18.8%). The Grizzlies made up for that disadvantge at the free throw line where they made 23-of-31 (74.2%) freebies and Oregon connected on 14-of-18 (77.8%) attempts from the charity stripe.

Oregon's pressure defense forced 19 Montana turnovers, five each from gaurds Will Cherry and Johnson, and Ducks made seven steals.

Montana held a 33-26 edge in rebounds and an 11-7 advantage in assists.

OSN ANNOUNCES 2009-10 TELEVISION SCHEDULE
The Oregon Sports Network has announced its 11-game men's basketball schedule that will be shown exclusively on Comcast SportsNet Northwest during the 2009-10 season. Six of the 11 games selected will be against teams that made the 2009 NCAA Tournament: two games with Arizona State and one game with California, USC, UCLA and Washington.

The 2009-10 OSN broadcasts, seen locally on Comcast Channel 37 and in HD on Channel 737, will feature three non-conference and eight Pac-10 Conference games. OSN will broadcast two games in November, having already put on the Sunday, Nov. 15 match-up with Colorado State in the final game of the BTI Tip-Off Tournament.

The Ducks' home game with Montana State, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 28, will also be shown on CSNNW. OSN's non-conference schedule closes with Oakland on Saturday, Dec. 19.

OSN on CSNNW will also show eight Pac-10 games, including the opening weekend of league play Thursday, Dec. 31 at Washington State. Also on the broadcast schedule is UO's home game with Arizona State on Thursday, Jan. 14 and the home battle with USC on Saturday, Jan. 30.

OSN will broadcast three games in February, beginning with the road game against Arizona State on Saturday, Feb. 13. The Ducks' home game against preseason favorite California on Saturday, Feb. 20, will feature an OSN on CSNNW broadcast. The road game with UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 27 will also be seen on CSSNW.

Additionally, OSN has the option to pick up the Ducks' home game with Washington State on March 6 if that game is not selected as the “wildcard” for the Pac-10's television package. That selection will be made in mid-February.

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).

MATTHEW KNIGHT ARENA COMING SOON (VISIT MACTOMATT.NET)
Matthew Knight Arena construction is underway with its completion now just over a year away. UO will inhabit the 12,500 seat facility beginning with Pac-10 play of 2010-11.

MactoMatt.net (formerly godunks.net) is a website specific to the arena, including information, seat viewers and gifting opportunities. The customary 24-hour webcam, downloadable media and blogs by UO coaches and staff are also incorporated into the new website.

Highlights of the arena information section include video fly-throughs of the arena bowl, concourse level, club rooms and the facility's exterior. Fifteen different comparison features are also built-in, accenting the differences in restrooms, concourse width, seat size, parking, in addition to many of the other amenities for the new facility. Fans can track the arena's progress with an interactive timeline which details the past and future development.

MactoMatt.net's seat viewer section takes the fans into the arena for a virtual look from all four ticketing areas: terrace seating, loge seating, premier seating and student seating. A downloadable seating chart is also available in this section.