Friday evening at home inside Matthew Knight Arena, the Oregon Duck men’s basketball team will play yet again another mid-major program led by stellar guard play looking to pull off an upset. Friday night’s game will be the first game for the Ducks in the Emerald Coast Classic.
The Tennessee State Tigers (3-0) come to town, and they are led by senior guard Christian Brown’s 20 points per game, while fellow senior guard EJ Ellinger is just behind him at 14.3 points. The Tigers earlier this week went to Portland and pulled off an impressive win over the Pilots 75-65. Tennessee State was picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference this season, but they received two first-place votes. Marcus Fitzgerald and Kinyon Hodges were voted preseason All-Conference selections going into the year.
“That’s always a scary thing when you have a couple of guards who are very experienced,” said Oregon head coach Dana Altman. “You saw what Moodey did to us the other night. Those experienced guards have a knack for scoring and know how to score; they are always a big concern.”
Going into Friday night’s game, Oregon will have Jesse Zarzuela back most likely as he’s probably to return from a one-game absence due to injury. The senior was able to practice this week before Friday night. Senior and star center N’Faly Dante, however, is still not cleared to practice and is considered doubtful for Friday night’s game.
Junior center Nate Bittle started in place of Dante at center, and the 7-footer scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He also blocked four shots and assisted twice. Freshman Kwame Evans Jr. also started at power forward in Bittle’s usual spot.
“We play a little different style when he’s not around,” said Oregon head coach Dana Altman. “We run so many things through him when he’s playing. Now, fortunately, Nate, we ran some of those same things, and Nate finished with some good plays, especially in the second half against Montana. It was good to see Nate pick it up. I mentioned KJ’s ten rebounds against Montana; he’s going to need to continue to do that.”
Tip-off is set for 6 pm PT on Friday night, and the game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks. The Ducks are considered a 20-point favorite against the Tigers.
Friday night’s game serves as the first of three games played in the Emerald Coast Classic. The Ducks will travel to Niceville, Florida next week to take on Santa Clara on Friday and then either Ohio State or Alabama.
Oregon Ducks Projected Starters
G – Keeshawn Barthelemy 6-foot-2 SR 9.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 apg
G – Brennan Rigsby 6-foot-3 JR 14.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 apg
G – Jermaine Couisnard 6-foot-4 SR 12.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg
F – Kwame Evans Jr 6-foot-11 FR 4.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.0 apg
F – Nate Bittle 7-foot JR 15.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.0 apg
Tennessee State Tigers Projected Starters
G – Christian Brown 6-foot-6 SR 20.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.0 apg
G – EJ Ellinger 6-foot-4 SR 14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg,
G – Marcus Fitzgerald Jr 6-foot-2 JR 9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.7 apg
G – Kinyon Hodges 6-foot-2 SR 7.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.0 apg
F – Jason Jitoboh 6-foot-11 SR 11.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.3 bpg