ANDREW GREIF | SPORTS EDITOR
Oregon beat UC Irvine Friday night in a rebound win after last week’s disappointing loss to Oakland, but its next three games will be against much better teams and on a much more national stage.
Beginning Monday at 9 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN 2, Oregon begins a three-games-in-three-days test at the EA Sports Maui Invitational, starting with Alabama (1-1).
Whether Oregon wins or loses, head coach Ernie Kent’s team will play either host Chaminade or No. 1 North Carolina. If the Ducks win, the semifinal match-up will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, whereas if they lose, it will mean a 1 p.m. tip-off the same day.
The lure of Hawaii’s beaches shouldn’t be a problem, Kent said last week.
“In the past it’s not been because we’re pretty organized with what we do,” said Kent, who became the program’s most-winning coach in history by beating Irvine 84-77 Friday. “We go over, we’re going to eat, we’re going to meet, we’re going to sleep. When we get up we’re going to meet, do our walkthroughs and get to the game. I don’t think that’s going to have a huge problem.”
Junior guard Tajuan Porter scored 23 points in Friday’s road win over the Anteaters in Irvine, which pushed him past the 1,000 career point barrier – the 29th player in UO history to do so. He did it without scoring a point in the game’s first 19 minutes. Redshirt sophomore LeKendric Longmire and junior Joevan Catron each scored 12 points, and freshman Michael Dunigan grabbed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
But now it’s on to Hawaii, part of Oregon’s five-game road stretch that will keep the Ducks away from McArthur Court until Dec. 7.
Any notion of spending the day lounging in a beach chair – temperatures are expected to reach 85 degrees, but rain is expected – will be dashed by the skill level of the Ducks’ opponents.
Alabama enters with an 8-1 record all-time in the state of Hawaii and fresh off an 89-48 beating of Florida A&M last Wednesday. In that game, senior guard Ronald Steele scored 15 points, eight of which came during the Crimson Tide’s 18-0 run in the first five minutes.
The only other time these programs met before was in 2003 at the Las Vegas Invitational, when the Tide edged Oregon 87-86. Against the Pacific-10 Conference, Alabama has won at least once against every conference school, holding a 15-6 record.
While Oregon is still feeling the effects of its youthful team, the Tide enter with eight of their 12 members being upperclassmen, including Steele, a 2007 preseason All-American who is on the verge of breaking the 1,000-point barrier, and fellow senior guard Alonzo Gee, who stands 36th in school history with his 1,162 points.
Oregon big men redshirt senior Frantz Dorsainvil, Dunigan and freshman Josh Crittle could tangle with UA freshman JaMychal Green, Alabama’s 6-foot-9, 225-pound 2008 Mr. Basketball who was a teammate of Oregon’s Matt Humphrey on the US U18 national team that played in Argentina last summer. Like Dunigan, he was honored as a McDonald’s All-American.
Dorsainvil knew his freshmen teammates were ready even before the win over Irvine.
“People expect you to lose – let’s prove them wrong,” he said.
JC player Jacob commits to Ducks
Jeremy Jacob, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward who started at Georgia but is now playing for Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., signed a letter of intent to play with Oregon next season.
Jacob played six games as a Bulldog in Georgia, but a foot injury stopped his progress and gave him a medical redshirt. He then played at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, averaging 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Jacob was ranked as a four-star player by recruiting service Rivals last year, listing him as the nation’s 27th-best small forward.
The recruiting service scout ranked Jacob as a three-star power forward, the 37th-best at his position.
ANDREW GREIF
[email protected]