Oregon Men?s Basketball to Face Challenging Schedule in 2005-06
EUGENE, Ore. ? With its entire roster intact from the final game of last season, Oregon head men’s basketball coach Ernie Kent announced an ambitious schedule for 2005-06 Thursday that includes six non-conference games against teams that participated in the postseason last year.
Among the marquee names on the home docket are NCAA national runner-up Illinois (Dec. 10 at the Rose Garden), Georgetown, which will make its first-ever trip to McArthur Court on Dec. 3 as part of the Hispanic Classic, and Rice on Nov. 26.
"The squad we have coming back will need to continue to grow mentally and physically through the summer so that in the fall, we will be ready to handle this challenging schedule," said Kent.
The Ducks will open the season with two exhibitions at Mac, Nov. 9 versus Southern Oregon and Nov. 15 against Oregon Tech.
The regular season gets underway Nov. 20 when the Ducks will host the Hispanic Classic. The preset round-robin format has Oregon hosting Tennessee Tech in the opener, followed by Savannah State on Nov. 21, Pacific on Nov. 22 and Georgetown on Dec. 3. In between the Pacific and Georgetown games will be Rice on Nov. 26, which will be making its first visit to Eugene since 1957, and a Nov. 30 road trip to Vanderbilt. Illinois Dec. 10 in the Pape’ Jam follows the Georgetown game.
The contest with Pacific also marks a stretch that finds Oregon playing five consecutive games against teams that made the postseason in 2004-05. The Tigers advanced to the NCAA’s second round, while Rice, Vanderbilt and Georgetown all played in the NIT. National runner-up Illinois ends that gamut of games.
The next section of the schedule has Oregon hosting Santa Clara on Dec. 13 before travelling to New Mexico, another 2005 NCAA Tournament team, on Dec. 17. The Ducks return to Oregon for their final three non-conference games, hosting Howard on Dec. 20 and visiting Portland on Dec. 22, before 2005 Big Sky regular conference champion Portland State wraps up the slate Dec. 27 at McArthur Court.
"Being able to bring teams like Georgetown, Rice, Pacific and Santa Clara to Mac Court is something I think our fans will be excited about," said Kent. "Georgetown is obviously one of the most storied programs in college basketball and our fans know how good the teams have been recently at Pacific, Rice and Santa Clara."
Another 12 games against 2004-05 postseason teams await Oregon in the Pac-10 schedule, beginning at home Dec. 31 against NIT participant Oregon State. In January, the Ducks will host Arizona State (NIT) on the 12th, Arizona (NCAA Elite 8) on the 14th, UCLA (NCAA) on the 26th and USC on the 28th.
The following week, Oregon hosts Stanford (NCAA) on Feb. 2 and California on Feb. 4 as the Oregon schools get the rare back-to-back Pac-10 home weekends. The Ducks final home games are Feb. 16 against Washington (NCAA quarterfinals) and Feb. 18 against Washington State.
The four-day Pac-10 Tournament, which will involve all 10 teams for the first time since 1990, runs March 8-11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Season ticket renewals for the 2005-06 season will begin in August.
2005-06 Oregon Men’s Basketball Schedule
November: 9 - Southern Oregon (EX), 15 - Oregon Tech (EX), 20 - Tennessee Tech (Hispanic Classic, McArthur Court), 21 - Savannah State (Hispanic Classic, McArthur Court), 22 - Pacific (Hispanic Classic, McArthur Court), 26 - Rice, 30 - at Vanderbilt. December: 3 - Georgetown (Hispanic Classic, McArthur Court), 10 - Illinois (Pape’ Jam, Rose Garden, Portland, Ore.), 13 - Santa Clara, 17 - at New Mexico, 20 - Howard, 22 - at Portland, 28 - Portland State, 31 - Oregon State. January: 5 - at California, 7 - at Stanford, 12 - Arizona State, 14 - Arizona, 19 - at Washington State, 21 - at Washington, 26 - UCLA, 28 - USC. February: 2 - Stanford, 4 - California, 9 - at Arizona, 11 - at Arizona State, 16 - Washington, 18 - Washington State, 23 - at USC, 25 - at UCLA. March: 5 - at Oregon State, 8-11 at Pac-10 Tournament (Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.).
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