Oregon Ducks Basketball: Texas-San Antonio Preview
By Brian Spaen
Oregon returns to Eugene with a four-game homestand with three of those teams either having three-plus names in them or barely known teams that no one has really heard of. The first in that line is Texas-San Antonio, newcomers to the WAC that has a 3-2 record and are completely mismatched in this game, but at least the leading scorer’s name is awesome.
Time – 7:00 p.m. PT
TV – Pac-12 Networks
Nov 24, 2012; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Oregon Ducks forward Ben Carter (32) has the ball striped away by Cincinnati Bearcats center guard Sean Kilpatrick (23) as Justin Jackson (5) looks on in the second half at the Thomas and Mack Center. Cincinnati defeated Oregon 77-66. Mandatory Credit: Josh Holmberg-US PRESSWIRE
UTSA’s schedule hasn’t been too impressive as of late. Outside of defeating Old Dominion, who isn’t as good as they have been lately losing four of their first five games, the Roadrunners have losses to Morgan State from the MEAC and got blown out by BYU.
The shining point of their team is leading scorer, Kannon Burrage, who has counted for over 35 percent of the team’s points. He has had double-digit point games in all of the games so far, including 22 points and nine shots made (both career highs) against BYU. Both Burrage and Michael Hale III, both of the starting guards, is where most of the offense comes from, average 34.2 points per game.
Oregon should be able to dominate inside and take the rebounding edge as they average about eight more rebounds than UTSA, but watch out for Jeromie Hill who’s led the team in rebounding in all the games so far this season. The junior forward averages 7.6 rebounds a game, and has improved at the free-throw line.
There’s just too much depth here for the Ducks, especially inside, to take advantage of. As long as E.J. Singler and Carlos Emory make their shots (both went just 5-19 in the loss against Cincinnati) this game has the potential to be a second-half pull-away.
As it stands right now, Oregon is a 16-point favorite in this game. Tipoff at Matthew Knight Arena is at 7:00 p.m. PT and will be broadcasted on the array of Pac-12 Networks.
Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo. See his banter with other FanSided writers and love for his favorite west coast professional teams by following him on Twitter.