In Oregon’s first exhibition of the 2003-04 season, it took on an unknown team from the Ukraine.
Tonight’s game against the EA Sports All-Stars at McArthur Court will afford the Ducks the chance to see some familiar faces. Well, at least Duck fans will recognize some of those players that step on the court for the visiting team.
Former UCLA stars Ed O’Bannon and Ray Young and former Arizona Wildcat Rick Anderson will be in attendance at the game, which starts at 7 p.m. The trio is just a small portion of the EA Sports roster that includes former collegiate stars and will give the Ducks a more competitive game than the one they played last week from MBC Nikolaev.
“EA Sports will be a stronger, more physical team,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “It is a better talented team with several ex-UCLA guys, a couple of ex-pro guys.”
Oregon looked like the team that Kent hypes as fast and physical down low in its 96-76 win over MBC Nikolaev. Senior Luke Jackson had a double-double in the win and freshmen Aaron Brooks and Mitch Platt played well in their first games with the Ducks.
“I thought it was a good game overall,” Platt said. “We’ve got a lot of room for improvement, as always.”
The game against EA Sports will be a good indication of where the Ducks stand. EA Sports has gone 1-9 so far in exhibition games, losing recently to California on Friday and Washington State on Saturday.
The group has beaten only Colorado State, but lost by seven to UCLA on Wednesday. A night later, it lost by eight to Fresno State, which happens to be Oregon’s season-opening opponent Friday.
The Ducks expect to be ready for EA Sports, despite the fact that Jordan Kent and Matt Short still remain out with injuries.
“Every year it takes the new guys a little time to adjust to the system and understand how they fit,” Jackson said. “It takes them a little time to understand their roles. I think it’s been exciting how fast Mitch Platt, Ray Schafer and Aaron Brooks have come along this season. I definitely think it’s going to help our team the faster they can learn and grow.”

Few tickets remain
Fewer than 20 tickets remain for Oregon’s game against Fresno State on Friday. The same is true for Oregon’s first Pacific-10 Conference game at McArthur Court on Jan. 15, when the Ducks take on Washington.
The game against Portland State on Dec. 2 at The Pit has approximately 225 tickets still available.
The only game this season at McArthur Court that has an abundance of tickets still available is the Dec. 17 game against Santa Clara. Because it is winter break, tickets that normally go to Oregon students will be sold to the public. Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for that game.