Ducks Close Homestand with 49ers
12/17/15 | Men's Basketball
Oregon wraps up a quick two-game homestand against two of the favorites in the Big West Conference with Long Beach State Friday at 6 p.m.
THE STARTING FIVE
1 - Injured reserve. Oregon has already lost 20 games due to injury this season (compared to three all of last year), but did have 10 scholarship players available for the first time in 2015-16 Tuesday against UC Irvine.
2 - Sophomore Casey Benson leads the nation with an astronomical assist-to-turnover ratio of 15.5-to-1. On the season, Benson has 31 assists, including a career-high nine Tuesday against UC Irvine, and only two turnovers.
3 - Long Beach State is coached by Dan Monson, whose father Don Monson coached at Oregon from 1984-92. The elder Monson compiled a 116-145 record in nine seasons. Among Don Monson's stars were NBA players Terrell Brandon, Blair Rasmussen and Anthony Taylor, among others.
4 - Oregon's 131 victories over the last six seasons, all under coach Dana Altman, are tied for the second-most in UO history. The only better six-year span is 139 from 2009-15 (five under Altman, one under Ernie Kent). Howard Hobson's Tall Firs also won 131 games from 1935-41.
5 - RPI SOS. Oregon is currently No. 21 in the ESPN RPI and 33rd in both the NCAA and CBSSports indexes. Dating to the Boise State game on Dec. 12, 22 of Oregon's final 24 games are against teams currently in the ESPN top 100, including Long Beach State (76) and Alabama (22) in the coming days. The only two teams on Oregon's remaining schedule not in the top 100 are lower division Western Oregon and No. 238 Washington State.
DUCKS AT MKA
The Ducks are 82-13 (.863) all-time at Matthew Knight Arena since the building opened in 2011.
HUSTLE STATS
The Ducks are among the Pac-12 and national leaders in several “hustle board” stats. Oregon is 16th nationally and fourth in the Pac-12 in blocks per game (6.1), tops in the league and 36th nationally in steals per game (8.4), first in the Pac-12 and 33rd in the nation in turnover margin (plus 3.3), and first in the conference and 29th nationally in fewest fouls per game (17.0).
INJURED RESERVE
Hoping to return to a full roster soon, Oregon has already seen a total of 20 games missed due to injury. Compare that to last season's grand total of three games missed due to injury. The 2015-16 IR list includes Dylan Ennis (10 games and counting), Jordan Bell (8) and Tyler Dorsey (2). Bell (left foot) played for the first time this season Dec. 12 at Boise State, while Ennis is still recovering from a preseason left foot injury and Dorsey missed two games (Navy, Boise State) with a mild left knee strain sustained in the Dec. 4 UNLV game. In addition, Casey Benson hit the floor hard late in the Boise game and had to have four stitches on his chin.
STRONG NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Oregon was 3-1 against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams during the non-conference season with wins against Baylor, Valparaiso and UC Irvine and a loss at Boise State. Monday's opponent - Alabama - played in the 2015 NIT.
BOUCHER ENTERS SEASON BLOCKS LIST
Ten games into the season, Chris Boucher has entered the UO single season top 10 in blocked shots, and is more a third of the way to the school record for season blocks. He's got 35 through 10 games; Jordan Bell blocked 94 shots in 35 games a year ago. Boucher set a single-game record with nine blocks Nov. 25 versus Arkansas State and currently ranks fourth nationally at 3.5 blocks per game. Boucher's 35 blocks in ninth in UO single season history and just five blocks out of fifth.
BOUCHER SETS BLOCKS MARK, NEARS TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Senior Chris Boucher broke one of Oregon's longest standing records Nov. 25 when he blocked nine shots versus Arkansas State. That was one better than the eight blocked by Blair Rasmussen Dec. 27, 1984, versus Davidson, and matched last season by Jordan Bell against Arizona State. Boucher helped Oregon break the school single-game record for blocked shots with 13, which was one better than the 12 against Portland State last year. Both marks were also Matthew Knight Arena records. In that Arkansas State game, Boucher was one rebound and one block shy of a triple-double. He had 17 points and nine rebounds to go with the nine blocks. Boucher has had three double-doubles in his last four games - 11 points and 11 rebounds against UNLV, 14 and 14 versus Navy and 11 and 13 against UC Irvine.
COOKING UP BUCKETS
Senior Elgin Cook comes into the Long Beach State game on the heels of his two best games of the season. He scored 22 points at Boise State and then followed that with a 26-point night against UC Irvine. He was 10-of-16 from the floor against the Anteaters as he posted back-to-back 20-point games for the first time as a Duck.
BROOKS STEPS UP
Sophomore Dillon Brooks has already matched last season's output of double-doubles with two. Nov. 22 versus Valparaiso, he recorded his third career double-double with 26 points - a personal best - and 13 rebounds. He scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half to lead the come-from-behind win. Two games later against Fresno State, Brooks poured in 21 points with 10 rebounds. He nearly led Oregon to another come-from-behind win Dec. 12 at Boise State, matching his career high with 26 points, before coming up with 16 points against UC Irvine.
BENJAMIN OFF THE BENCH
Senior Dwayne Benjamin has come through with a couple of big games off the bench in recent weeks. Nov. 25 against Arkansas State, he scored a career-best 25 points with six rebounds. Dec. 4 at UNLV, Benjamin fueled a UO rally with 21 points, as the Ducks closed to within four in the second half before falling. Making his first start of the season (in place of an injured Tyler Dorsey), Benjamin scored 16 points with three steals Dec. 7 against Navy.
EARLY RETURNS
Newcomer Tyler Dorsey is already polling well in early returns. Not only is he third on the team in scoring (14.1 ppg), he had his second 20-point game of the season Nov. 22 against Valparaiso, chipping in 21 on 7-of-9 shooting. Dorsey scored 20 points - 18 in the first half - in the season opener against Jackson State on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting from the floor (4-of-5 on threes).
