After winning with relative ease in its first two exhibition games, the grace period is now over for the Oregon men’s basketball team in its attempt to erase last season’s disappointing 14-13 record.
The Ducks begin their trek back to respectability in the official-season opener against Savannah State at McArthur Court on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Despite lopsided final scores against lesser opponents in its exhibition games – 75-58 over Southern Oregon and 84-66 against Oregon Tech – the Ducks understand much improvement is still needed.
“Is this team ready for Sunday? We have no choice to be anything else,” guard Malik Hairston said. “We just have to go to practice and continue to work harder. Throughout the season, we need to improve.”
Following the win against Southern Oregon, Oregon coach Ernie Kent listed defense and rebounding atop his list of needed improvements.
The Ducks responded against Oregon Tech, outrebounding the Owls 41-28 and forcing 19 turnovers. Offensively, Oregon was nearly as sloppy, turning the ball over 16 times.
“There was a lot of unforced turnovers, so it’s something that could be a lack of concentration, and I think that’s what we need to strive to do – concentrate more,” point guard Aaron Brooks said.
The Ducks will attempt to put all phases together in Sunday’s opener, a game that marks the first of four games Oregon will play in the Hispanic College Fund Classic. It is the first time the event will be held in Eugene.
The Ducks will then face Bowie State on Monday and Pacific on Tuesday. Oregon takes on Rice at home the following Sunday and hits the road to Vanderbilt on Nov. 30. Games against Rice and Vanderbilt are not a part of the Hispanic College Fund Classic, which will resume on Dec. 3 when the Ducks return home to face Georgetown in the Classic’s finale.
The opening game pits Oregon and Savannah State, a Division I-AA school out of Savannah, Ga., who will be making its first ever trip to Eugene. Like the Ducks, the Tigers enter the season in search of eradicating past memories, which includes an 0-28 record last season under sixth-year head coach Horace Broadnax.
Entering the season, Broadnax had amassed a 42-88 record at Savannah State.
The Tigers return one starter from last year’s squad, 6-foot-2 guard Michael Bennett, who averaged 6.9 points per game.
Oregon, however, understands that the focus heading into Sunday’s opener will primarily be on making the necessary adjustments.
“We definitely have some things we need to work out right now,” forward Adam Zahn said. “Our competition is important, obviously, but we’re focusing on getting ourselves where we need to be for the Pac-10 season.”
Duck fans packing McArthur Court for the season opener will see many familiar faces but some recognizable differences for Oregon in addition to gained maturity from a team that started three freshmen last season.
In recent years, Oregon’s tendency has been to push the ball in order to utilize its speed in transition, resulting in easy buckets and opportunities for open perimeter shots.
The Ducks hoisted 170 shots from beyond the arc a year ago.
While the transition game again remains a focus with the return of talented guards like Brooks, an All-Pac-10 guard and Pac-10 All-Freshman performers Hairston and Bryce Taylor, newcomer Ivan Johnson and sophomore seven-footer Ray Schafer provided Oregon with viable low-post options in its two exhibition contests.
Splitting duties, Schafer and Johnson poured in a combined 44 points in the two games, while the Ducks shot an unusually low 20 total three-pointers.
“We’re still a running team,” Brooks said. “We’ve got to get in transition. We definitely need that post presence, but (running is) still our game.”

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