Hoops Notes: Week of 11.17

DUCKS TRAVEL TO FACE UC IRVINE, EA SPORTS MAUI INVITATIONAL

The University of Oregon men's basketball team (1-1) will play its next five games on the road, opening its non-conference road schedule Friday, Nov. 21 with UC Irvine. Tip-time for the Ducks-Anteaters contest is slated for 7 p.m. (PST) at the Bren Events Center (5,000) in Irvine, Calif. Oregon is coming off an 82-79 overtime loss to Oakland on Monday night. UCI is 0-1 on the year, with a 78-55 loss to USC.

UP NEXT

Oregon has three contests at the 2008 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, scheduled for Nov. 24-26 at the Lahaina Civic Center (2,000) in Lahaina, Hawaii. UO will open the tourney with Alabama (0-1) on Monday at 9 p.m. (PST) in a game that will be televised on ESPN2. The Ducks will face North Carolina or Chaminade on Tuesday, in a game televised on either ESPN or ESPN2. UO closes the tourney with a third and final game on Wednesday (ESPN or ESPN2).

Oregon wraps-up the five-game road stretch with Utah on Dec. 3, with game-time set for 6 p.m. (PST). Oregon Sports Network on Comcast Sportsnet Northwest will carry that contest.

PORTER 1,000-POINT, 3-POINT WATCH

Tajuan Porter is just 20 points shy of reaching the 1,000-point mark. There are 28 players in school history that have surpassed that total, nine of which Ernie Kent has coached. The Detroit, Mich., native has amassed 980 total points in 69 career games, scoring at a clip of 14.2 ppg.

Porter made four 3-pointers in Monday's loss to Oakland, moving him into sixth-place all-time at Oregon in 3-point field goals made (197). Porter has hit 197-of-496 attempts (.397) in just 69 career games. The complete top 10 list for UO career 3-pointers made can be found on page five of this release.

KENT TIES HOBSON

With last week's 66-64 win over Northern Colorado, Ernie Kent tied Basketball Hall of Famer Howard Hobson with a school-record 212 career victories as head coach at UO.

With the next win, Kent will pass Hobson's victory total with the Ducks. Kent is currently 212-134 in his 12th season. Hobson ended his 11-year career with a 212-124 mark.

Kent file

• 302-215 career coaching record (17 years)

• 2002 Pac-10 Coach of the Year

• Seven postseason trips (NCAA and NIT)

• Five NCAA tourney trips in last nine years

• Two Elite Eight appearances since 2002

• Two NIT Final Fours (1999, 2004)

• Only coach in Pacific Northwest to take his team to an Elite 8 this decade

• 129-42 (.754) record at McArthur Court

• 63-19 record against teams from Pacific NW

• Coached four first round NBA Draft selections

OREGON FALLS TO OAKLAND IN OVERTIME GAME

Oakland's Johnathon Jones scored a career-high 32 points, including 10 in overtime, to lead Oakland to an 82-79 road win over Oregon on Monday, Nov. 17. The Ducks dropped to 1-1 overall with the loss. The Grizzlies evened their season mark to 1-1.

Erik Kangas had 18 points for the Golden Grizzlies (1-1), who ended the Ducks (1-1) 16-game non-conference winning streak at McArthur Court. Jones made 13-of-23 shots including a baseline jumper with eight seconds left in OT to put his team up for good.

Sophomore forward LeKendric Longmire scored a career-high 18 points, all in the first half for the Ducks, who couldn't get coach Ernie Kent the school record of 213 wins. Junior guard Tajuan Porter, who sent the game into overtime with three free throws in the final seconds of the game, finished with 17 points in a team-high 43 minutes of action.

Freshman center Michael Dunigan had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while junior forward Joevan Catron added 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

DUCKS TOP NORTHERN COLORADO IN OPENER

Sophomore forward LeKendric Longmire registered 15 points, five rebounds and four steals to help lead Oregon to a 66-64 win over Northern Colorado in Eugene on Friday, Nov. 14. The Ducks, playing their season opener in front of 8,273 people at McArthur Court, improved to1-0 overall with the win. The Bears dropped to 0-1.

Down 66-63 in the final seconds of the game, Northern Colorado's Yahosh Bonner was fouled by UO sophomore guard Kamyron Brown on a last-second 3-point attempt. After sinking the first free throw to close within two points, Bonner missed the second attempt - requiring an intentional miss on the third attempt. Freshman center Michael Dunigan grabbed the final miss to seal the win for the Ducks.

Dunigan was UO's only other player to score in double figures, finishing with 13 points while adding seven rebounds in his first collegiate game. Fellow freshman Garrett Sim came off the bench to contribute nine points in 18 minutes of work.

Northern Colorado's Jefferson Mason scored 15 points for the Bears (0-1), who shot just 35.5 from the field and turned the ball over 20 times. UNC's Robert Palacios added six points and 11 rebounds.

SINGLER, JACOB SIGN WITH DUCKS

Oregon men's basketball coach Ernie Kent has announced the signing of E.J. Singler and Jeremy Jacob to national letters of intent. Singler, a 6-6, 200-pound forward from Medford, Ore., and Jacob, a 6-7, 215-pound forward, from Baton Rouge, La., will begin playing for the Ducks in the fall of 2009.

Singler, who is a senior at South Medford High, averaged 20.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in his junior campaign. He was a first team all-conference and second team all-state selection a year ago. He led the Panthers to a sixth-place finish at the OSAA Class 6A state tournament, where he earned first team all-tournament recognition.

Jacob is a freshman on the men's basketball team at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla. The Indians (5-1), who defeated then top-ranked Indian Hills CC (62-61) earlier this month, are ranked third in the latest NCJAA Div. I poll.

Jacob started his collegiate career at the University of Georgia where he played in the first six games last year as a true freshman, averaging 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds. However, he suffered a foot injury in that sixth game and missed the remainder of the season, qualifying for a medical redshirt.

He played the 2007-08 season at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., where he averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds in helping his team to a 36-5 record. As a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, he averaged 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, leading his team to the 2006 Louisiana state 5A championship game.

DUCKS PICKED TO FINISH SEVENTH IN PAC-10 POLL

Oregon is picked to finish seventh in the 2008-09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball race, according to a poll of media members who cover the league.

The poll shows that UCLA, the defending Pac-10 Champion, gathered 37 first-place votes and is picked the favorite this season. Arizona State picked up the remaining first-place vote and is tabbed for second place. USC is slotted for third place, followed by Arizona, Washington and Washington State. After the Ducks, California is picked for eighth. Rounding out the preseason poll is Stanford in ninth, followed by Oregon State.