Ducks Release Men?s Basketball Schedule for 100th Season
EUGENE, Ore. ? Vanderbilt, Illinois and New Mexico are among the nine non-conference opponents listed on the 2004-05 Oregon men’s basketball schedule, which was released Wednesday.
The 100th season of Oregon basketball will get underway with an exhibition against Basketball Travelers on Nov. 7. Then the Ducks will play Western Oregon in another exhibition on Nov. 15.
The season opener will be Nov. 19 at McArthur Court against Idaho State. That game will be the second half of a doubleheader as the UO women host Portland earlier in the day in their season opener.
A number of teams appear on Oregon’s schedule for the first time in several years. Idaho State is on the schedule for the first time since 1987. The Ducks will play New Mexico (Nov. 22 at Mac) for the first time since the 1990 NIT. It will also be just the second all-time visit to Eugene for the Lobos. Oregon will return the game to "The Pit" in Albuquerque, N.M., the following season.
Illinois (Dec. 11 at the United Center in Chicago) is back on the slate for the first time since the 1984 Great Alaska Shootout. The Illini, who advanced to the "Sweet 16" of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, will come to Oregon next year as the Ducks’ opponent in the 2005 Pape’ Jam.
And speaking of the Jam, Vanderbilt will fill the bill at the 2004 event, Dec. 4 at the Rose Garden in Portland. The UO women will face George Washington in the Jam’s other game. The Commodores, another 2004 NCAA Sweet 16 team, become the first repeat visitor to the Pape’ Jam; Vandy played in the inaugural event during the 1998-99 season, falling to Oregon 90-70. Plans call for Oregon and Vanderbilt to also meet during the 2005-06 season, tentatively at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn., where Oregon lost to Utah 60-58 in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
In other highlights for this coming year, the Ducks will return games from the 2003-04 season to Marshall (Nov. 27 at the Charleston, W.Va., Civic Center) and Fresno State (Dec. 18 at the new Save Mart Center).
Oregon will also play a couple of opponents for the first time -- Bethune-Cookman of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (Dec. 14) and Winthrop of the Big South Conference (Dec. 22). Both games will be at McArthur Court.
The non-conference season concludes with the annual game against Portland Dec. 28 in Eugene. It will be the sixth consecutive year Oregon and Portland have played each other.
"I think we have put together a very competitive non-conference schedule with four difficult road games that will test this young team," said head coach Ernie Kent. "But also it is a schedule that will allow us to prepare for another grueling Pac-10 race."
The Pac-10 season gets underway in Eugene Dec. 31 against USC, followed by UCLA on Jan. 2 and then another home game Jan. 8 against Oregon State. The Ducks will also host Arizona (Jan. 20) and Arizona State (Jan. 22) during the first month of 2005, while Washington (Feb. 10), Washington State (Feb. 12), California (Feb. 24) and Stanford (Feb. 26) all visit Mac in February.
For the second time in four years, the Ducks end the season by playing consecutive weekends in Los Angeles. Oregon visits USC on March 3 and UCLA on March 5 and then returns to L.A. for the Pac-10 Tournament March 10-12 at the Staples Center. Oregon is the only school to advance to the tournament’s second round each of the last three seasons, winning the trophy in 2003.
Season ticket renewals for the 2004-05 season will begin in August.
2004-05 Oregon Men’s Basketball Schedule
November
7 - Basketball Travelers (EX)
15 - Western Oregon (EX)
19 - Idaho State
22- New Mexico
27 - Marshall (Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, W.Va.).
December
4 - Vanderbilt (Pape’ Jam, Rose Garden, Portland, Ore.)
11 - Illinois (United Center, Chicago, Ill.)
14 - Bethune-Cookman
18 - at Fresno State
22 - Winthrop
28 - Portland
31 - USC
January
2 - UCLA
8 - Oregon State
13 - at Washington
15 - at Washington State
20 - Arizona
22 - Arizona State
27 - at California
29 - at Stanford.
February
5 - at Oregon State
10 - Washington
12 - Washington State
17 - at Arizona
19 - at Arizona State
24 - California
26 - Stanford.
March
3 - at USC
5 - at UCLA
10-12 at Pac-10 Tournament (Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.).
