In its final days, McArthur Court was not kind to the men’s basketball team. The Ducks fell short in their final three home games at the legendary arena, and have lost six straight overall.
Thursday night, however, a new era begins at Matthew Knight Arena as Oregon (7-9, 0-4 Pacific-10 Conference) welcomes USC (10-6, 2-1 Pac-10) into its new home.
Perhaps the opening of the arena will provide the Ducks with a much-needed boost of energy — at least that’s what the players are hoping for.
“It’s going to real exciting for us,” junior guard Garrett Sim told the Register-Guard. “Hopefully, it’ll give us new energy and a new look … Hopefully we can get some wins.”
Still, nagging injuries have become a distinct issue for Oregon, and a new home court will do nothing to cure that.
Starters Malcolm Armstead, Jeremy Jacob and Joevan Catron are each battling various injuries, as is freshman guard Johnathan Loyd, according to the Register-Guard.
Head coach Dana Altman can only hope that his players heal quickly enough to play in one of the biggest games of the season.
“We’ll be excited,” Altman told the Register-Guard. “It’s a big day for us, and hopefully, our guys will be healthy and ready to go.”
As of Wednesday, however, statuses were unknown.
“I’m not sure if they’ll be able to play or not,” Altman told the Register-Guard. “It will probably be a game-time decision. If not, it leaves us very short-handed.”
The Trojans, meanwhile, arrive in Eugene fresh off of an impressive 63-52 win over UCLA. The Ducks may not look like a formidable opponent, but head coach Kevin O’Neill takes no one lightly.
“There shouldn’t be any letdown,” O’Neill said to ESPN.com. “We lost to Bradley and Rider, so I don’t think we’re above losing to anybody, to be honest with you.”
O’Neill also noted that he was happy when the Oregon football team lost in the BCS National Championship Game, despite the Pacific-10 Conference ties.
“I’m glad they didn’t win that game,” O’Neill told the Orange County Register. “I’m sure it would have been a zoo (at Matthew Knight Arena) if that would have happened.”
Oregon crowds, however, are notorious for their energy no matter what the circumstance. O’Neill remembers seeing it at McArthur Court quite often.
“I think Mac Court was one of the all-time homecourt advantages,” O’Neill told the Register-Guard. “I mean, that’s a tough place to play … so I won’t miss it. Time moves on, and they’ve got a brand-new arena.”
Junior USC guard Jio Fontan is not worried about the atmosphere on Thursday.
“The negativity of a crowd really doesn’t affect us too much,” Fontan said to the Orange County Register. “We really don’t get too nervous anymore.”
During an otherwise dismal season last year, Oregon did manage to sweep the Trojans in two matchups. When the two teams last met back in February of 2010, Oregon came away with a 54-44 win in Los Angeles.
Of course, the two leading scorers for Oregon in that game (Tajuan Porter and LeKendric Longmire) have since left the program. The Trojans also came away with a distinct advantage on the boards (47 total rebounds to Oregon’s 26), and were spurred by strong free-throw shooting. In that game, Oregon shot 24 free throws while USC took just five.
This year, the Ducks will have to deal with a USC defense that ranks second in the Pac-10 in scoring defense (61.9 points per game). This, of course, is not good news for an Oregon team that ranks last in shooting percentage (.407).
The Ducks shot just .338 from the field in their last game against Washington State, and have now gone six straight games without shooting over 40 percent.
“We get the ball to the rim,” Altman told the Register-Guard. “We missed some shots inside. It wasn’t like we didn’t get any opportunities.”
They will certainly have to cash in on opportunities against a USC team that is finding its groove.
“We all have to step up and make plays for each other,” Sim said. “Especially with some key guys out.”
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