The Oregon athletic department swears that this time the competition is real; they aren’t over-hyping the game. Undefeated Vanderbilt hosts undefeated Oregon, both with 4-0 records, tonight at 6 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn.
The past two men’s basketball games were built up to be something they didn’t come close to living up to. Pacific, which reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, was dismantled early by an energetic Oregon team on Nov. 22. The end result was a 22-point victory. Four days later it was Rice, which reached the NIT Tournament last year. The result was nearly the same, with Oregon pulling away with a 24-point win. However, Vanderbilt is a different team, one that will test the Ducks in an area that Oregon coach Ernie Kent is looking forward to.
“It’s a game we need to play right now to get challenged,” Kent said. “They are a great defensive team. …They are an excellent three-point shooting team. It’s a good challenge.”
The Ducks also know not to read too much into their blowout wins and to not be overconfident
“Vanderbilt is good, they are going to be tough,” Malik Hairston said. “We just need to continue to work … and to continue to grow as a basketball team.”
Oregon has seemed to find its rhythm by running as often as possible, an area that the Ducks were unable to do in the two exhibition games. A lack of boxing out and rebounding was the area of emphasis for a quick fix and that is what has happened.
The Ducks have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 14.3 boards per game.
“Our goal is to run and for us to run we’ve got to get rebounds,” said Maarty Leunen, who recorded a career-high 13 rebounds during Oregon’s win over Rice.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt is coming off a 68-61 win over Georgetown (Oregon’s next home opponent Dec. 3 at noon).
The statistics are nearly the same for both the Ducks and Commodores, as each averages within one steal, assist and three-point field goal made per game of each other. Shooting, the Ducks have the edge in field goal percentage overall (51.7 percent to 50.2) and at the free-throw line (73.8 to 72.2), while the Commodores are slightly better beyond the arc (39.4 to 38.2).
“That’s going to be a big test,” Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks said of the game. “Definitely will be a big step for us if we pull (a win) off. We are going to have to come out and play hard, pretend that we are at Mac (Court), try to block (the crowd) out, but that is going to be hard to do.”
A pair of sophomores lead each team in scoring. Shan Foster is averaging 19.5 points per game for Vanderbilt, while Oregon is led by Hairston with 13.3.
Last season the Ducks defeated the Commodores 75-65 at the Pape Jam in the Rose Garden. This year’s Pape Jam features Oregon against No. 12 Illinois, runner-up in last season’s NCAA Tournament, on Dec. 10 at 5 p.m.
“Our tests are coming,” Leunen said. “We’ve got Vanderbilt, Illinois and Georgetown all in a row. Those are going to be our true preseason tests. We are just going to play hard, and hopefully we can play pretty consistent to the way we have and see what happens.”

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