Oregon MBB Release - Global Sports Hoops Showcase - University of Oregon Athletics

For the complete release with full notes, statistics, etc., view the PDF version

EUGENE, Ore. -- The University of Oregon men's basketball team will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule by hosting the Global Sports Hoops Showcase Dec. 20-22 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene. The Ducks will play games against North Carolina Central (5-5) on Tuesday, Prairie View A&M (2-7) on Wednesday and Stephen F. Austin (5-4) on Thursday. All three of Oregon's games will tip-off at 7 p.m. (PT).

The three neutral-site games will tip-off at 4:30 p.m. each day. Tuesday's early game features Prairie View A&M and Stephen F. Austin. North Carolina Central will play SFA on Wednesday. NCCU faces Prairie View A&M on Thursday.

UO's first opponent, North Carolina Central, has lost its last two games. NCCU is coming off a narrow defeat at North Carolina State, 65-60.

Wednesday night the Ducks face Prairie View A&M, a team looking to snap a seven-game losing streak entering this week's action.

Stephen F. Austin, winners of four of its last six games, is Oregon's final opponent. SFA defeated UTEP, 53-35, in a game played back on Nov. 26. The Ducks also played UTEP this season, winning 64-59 on Nov. 29 at Matt Arena.

Oregon's meetings with North Carolina Central and Prairie View A&M are the first in program history. UO is 1-0 all-time against Stephen F. Austin, recording an 86-64 home victory on Dec. 18, 1997 in the only previous meeting.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets ($5-$29) for the Global Sports Hoops Showcase are available for purchase online at goducks.com or in-person at the Moshofsky Center Ticket Office (M-F, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.) and the Matthew Knight Arena Box Office (M-F, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.).

Also available is the GLOBAL SPORTS HOOPS SHOWCASE mini-plan which includes tickets to all three of the Ducks' home tourney games Dec. 20-22, with an approximate 20 percent savings off the regular price.

OREGON-NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL LIVE COVERAGE
• TV: None
• Radio: Oregon IMG Sports Network; 95.3-FM KUJZ in Eugene/Springfield; Jerry Allen, play-by-play
• GoDucks.com: Live audio, video, stats
• Satellite radio: Sirius 135
• Twitter: @Geraghty_UO for in-game updates, stats, etc.

OREGON-PRAIRIE VIEW A&M LIVE COVERAGE
• TV: None
• Radio: Oregon IMG Sports Network; 95.3-FM KUJZ in Eugene/Springfield; Jerry Allen, play-by-play
• GoDucks.com: Live audio, video, stats
• Satellite radio: None
• Twitter: @Geraghty_UO for in-game updates, stats, etc.

OREGON-STEPHEN F. AUSTIN LIVE COVERAGE
• TV: None
• Radio: Oregon IMG Sports Network; 95.3-FM KUJZ in Eugene/Springfield; Jerry Allen, play-by-play
• GoDucks.com: Live audio, video, stats
• Satellite radio: None
• Twitter: @Geraghty_UO for in-game updates, stats, etc.

UO RECEIVING SOLID CONTRIBUTIONS FROM RESERVES
Oregon's bench has produced more points than the opponent in seven of the nine games this season, including the last three outings. UO is 5-2 in games where the bench holds that advantage (with the losses to No. 7 Vanderbilt and Virginia).

On the year, the Ducks' reserves have out-scored their opponent, 210-148 (23.3 ppg - 16.4 ppg).

UO's bench has accounted for 37.2 percent of the offense this season (scoring 239 of the 642 total points). The reserves have also grabbed 48.9 percent of the rebounds (151 of the 309 total rebounds).

Devoe Joseph has come off the bench in his three games this season, averaging 15.7 points per outing and while maintaining a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio (11 asts, 3 to). Olu Ashaolu has averaged 10.3 points per game and is shooting 63.2 percent in the three games this he entered as a reserve.

BLOCKED SHOTS A FACTOR FOR 2011-12 DUCKS
UO has a 5-1 record in games where they tally five or more blocked shots. The only loss came in the season-opener at No. 7 Vanderbilt. In eight of the nine outings this season, Oregon has recorded at least two blocks.

Opponents are shooting just 42 percent on field goals (148-of-352) in the games where UO tallies five+ blocks, with Oregon maintaining a 35-21 edge in blocked shots in those six outings (5.8 bpg).

Seven different Ducks recorded a block this season, led by Tony Woods who has 13 blocks (1.4 bpg). Woods ranks T-fourth among league players. He had a career-high five blocks in the win over PSU, the most blocks for an Oregon player since Dec. 31, 2009 (5 blks, Michael Dunigan at Washington State).

The Ducks as a squad rank fourth in the Pac-12 in blocks per game (4.4 bpg).

SENIOR GUARD RED HOT FROM THE FIELD
Senior guard Garrett Sim is looking to continue his hot shooting as he's averaged 13.8 points per game and shot 62.5 percent from the field (20-of-32) and 52.9 percent on 3-pointers (9-of-17) in the last four games. Sim also went a perfect 6-of-6 on free throws in those contests.

On the season, Sim has scored a team-best 113 points (12.6 ppg) in logging a team-high 269 minutes (29.9 mpg). He ranks atop the Pac-12 Conference in free throw percentage (.923, 24-of-26), while ranking second in 3-point percentage (.500, 17-of-34) and seventh in overall field goal percentage. As of Dec. 12, Sim's free throw shooting percentage ranked 17th nationally.

In 111 career games, Sim has 777 points (sixth) and 192 assists (seventh) which both rank in the top 10 of the Pac-12's active career leaders. In addition, Sim's 129 career 3-pointers ranks second and his 77 career steals ranks eighth.

DUCKS FEATURE BALANCED SCORING ATTACK
Five different players have led the Ducks in scoring, a list that includes: Tony Woods (12 points at Vanderbilt), Garrett Sim (17 points vs. Eastern Washington; 20 points at Nebraska; 16 points vs. BYU), E.J. Singler (21 points vs. SE Missouri State; 19 points vs. Portland State), Johnathan Loyd (24 points vs. UTEP) and Devoe Joseph (18 points vs. Fresno State; 16 vs. Virginia).

Ten different players have reached double-figures in scoring this season. This has been done six times by Singler and Sim, three times by Joseph, twice by Woods, Olu Ashaolu and Jeremy Jacob, and once by Loyd, Carlos Emory, Brett Kingma and Tyrone Nared.

Three different Ducks have dropped 20 or more points in a game this season (Sim, Singler and Loyd). Through eight games a year ago, only one UO player had scored 20+ points in a game (Joevan Catron, three times in first four games in 2010-11).

JOSEPH IMPRESSIVE IN OREGON DEBUT
Senior guard Devoe Joseph averaged a team-high 15.7 points per game in the last three outings. In his Oregon debut against Fresno State, Joseph came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points (going 6-of-13 on field goals) in playing a team-high 29 minutes. He also had four assists and two steals. Joseph followed that up with 13-point, six-assist effort against Portland State. He scored the last eight points of the game for UO, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minutes. Joseph scored a team-best 16 points in the home loss to Virginia on Sunday.

Joseph, from Toronto, Canada, played three seasons and 76 total games at Minnesota before transferring to UO last December. The 6-4 combo guard has been practicing with the UO basketball program dating back to last year.

LAST TIME OUT: VIRGINIA 67, OREGON 54
Oregon lost 67-54 to Virginia this past Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena. It was UO's first home loss of the season, now with a 5-1 record in Eugene. Devoe Joseph tallied a team-high 16 points to lead the Ducks in scoring for the second time in three games.

Virginia trailed 30-28 at halftime for the only the second time this season. It was the most points allowed by the Cavaliers in the first half. After Oregon went up 32-28 in the opening minute of the first half, the Cavaliers went on a 7-0 run, led by four points and an assist from Evans, to take a lead they wouldn't lose. Virginia secured the victory with a 13-4 run that made it 61-47 with 5:14 to play.

Mike Scott had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead Virginia. Joe Harris also scored 15 for the Cavaliers (9-1), and Jontel Evans added 12.

UO INKS THREE PLAYERS DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Dana Altman announced the signing of three prep standouts to National Letters of Intent. Joining the Ducks beginning in 2012-13 are Dominic Artis (Richmond, Calif. / Findlay Prep), Ben Carter (Las Vegas, Nev. / Bishop Gorman HS) and Damyean Dotson (Houston, Texas / Jack Yates High School). It is the second straight season that Altman has signed a strong recruiting class. UO brought in a consensus top 25 recruiting class a year ago according to Scout.com (No. 20), Rivals.com (No. 21) and ESPN.com (No. 23).

Dominic Artis (5-11, 175, G): Is playing his senior season at Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev. … Played freshman through junior seasons at Salesian High School in Richmond, Calif. … Averaged 14 points and 4.1 assists per game as a junior at SHS … As a freshman in 2009, helped lead SHS to California's Division IV state title … Played AAU basketball for the Oakland Soldiers … Also considered UCLA, California, St. Johns, Florida State, Memphis and Georgia Tech.

Ben Carter (6-8, 215, F): Is playing his senior season at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nev. … Helped lead BGHS to a 25-6 overall record as a junior … A member of the BGHS squads that won a state title in his sophomore season (playing alongside current UO player Johnathan Loyd) … Played AAU basketball for the Las Vegas Lakers … Also considered USC, UNLV, San Diego State, Utah and New Mexico.

Damyean Dotson (6-6, 190, G): Is playing his senior season at Jack Yates High School in Houston, Texas … Member of JYHS team that was a consensus No. 1 ranked prep team in the nation in 2010 … Helped lead JYHS to back-to-back state titles in freshman and sophomore seasons … Played AAU basketball for Houston Hoops … Also considered Arkansas, Georgetown, Colorado, Texas Tech and Baylor.

OREGON ATHLETICS OFFERS FLEXIBLE TICKET PACKAGES
Oregon Athletics has several mini-plan ticket packages for the 2011-12 men's basketball campaign. Two of the featured mini-plans, the GREEN and the YELL-O, offer an affordable and flexible option to enjoy the inaugural Pac-12 Conference season.

Single-game tickets and mini-plans can be purchased online at goducks.com. In-person sales are also available at the Moshofsky Center Ticket Office (Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.) or the Matthew Knight Arena Box Office (Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.).

The GREEN mini-plan is made up of weekend games against California (Jan. 8), UCLA (Jan. 21) and Washington State (Feb. 11). The Cal Golden Bears return four starters from a team that reached the second round of last year's Postseason National Invitation Tournament. Tradition-rich UCLA entered the season ranked in the top 25 in all of the notable preseason publications. In addition, Northwest rival WSU rolls through town in mid-February for what should be a pivotal league game.

As part of the YELL-O mini-plan, Duck fans gain access to home games against Oregon State (Jan. 29), Washington (Feb. 9) and Utah (March 3). The Civil War presented by Pacific Source & your Northwest Ford Dealers is one of the toughest tickets to secure year in and year out. The Huskies, who lost at Matt Arena last season, are one of the conference's top teams. And the Utes, making their inaugural trip to Eugene as a Pac-12 foe, will close out the regular-season schedule on the Ducks' Senior Day.

The GLOBAL SPORTS HOOPS SHOWCASE mini-plan includes tickets to all three of the Ducks' home tourney games Dec. 20-22, with an approximate 20 percent savings off the regular price. Opponents include: North Carolina Central, Prairie View A&M, Stephen F. Austin.

OREGON BASKETBALL ON THE INTERNET THIS SEASON
Live audio, video (for a fee on the O-Zone) and stats will be available for select home games on goducks.com. O-Zone features include: Live video streaming, on-demand video replays, live audio coverage and more.

UO basketball representatives will make periodic appearances throughout the season on Ducks Insider, a daily sports webcast (hosted by Jerry Allen and Jill Savage, 1-3 pm) that features interviews with coaches and student-athletes.

Check out Oregon men's basketball on Facebook. Follow Oregon on Twitter @OregonMBB for behind the scenes perspective by the staff and players. Follow @Geraghty_UO for the latest team news, in-game updates and facts/figures on the squad.