Oregon Ducks Welcome Illinois to Moda Center for Pac 12/Big 10 Matchup

Nov 24, 2013; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks Mike Moser (0) talks with Oregon Ducks guard Jalil Abdul-Bassit (15) and Oregon Ducks forward Elgin Cook (23) against the San Francisco Dons at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

The Oregon Basketball team(8-0) faces a solid test when the take on the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday evening at the Moda Center in Portland. There is one other matchup on the College Basketball slate for Saturday that features Big 10/Pac 12 Conference foes when #1 Arizona takes on Michigan. Illinois is led by Junior Levonte Rice who is averaging just under 18 points per game this season. The Illini come into the game unranked at 9-1 on the season. In the young 2013 season they don’t really have a statement win. Illinios had faced and beat UNLV and also won against Auburn. Their lone loss came against Georgia Tech 67-64. After facing the Ducks on Saturday the Illini take on a 2nd ranked opponent in #24 Missouri on December 21st and will face a ranked Wisconsin Badger team in a few weeks once Big 10 play begins.

When you look at the opposite side of the court you see Oregon, 9-0 on the season and having a signature win to start the season in South Korea against Georgetown being at the top of their 2013 resume. The Ducks followed it up with a 115-105 Overtime win last week against Ole Miss.  A win on Saturday night would help add to that.

It will be a homecoming for Oregon native Mike Moser, who went to high school in the Portland area. On his twitter account he joked renaming the Moda Center ‘The Mose Center’ for tomorrow. Dana Altman lost a big piece of the puzzle last season with the departure of Rebounding Master Arsalan Kazemi, but the team this season has done well in that department. After the game Saturday the team will welcome back suspended players Ben Carter and Dominic Artis to the lineup. For a team that lost a starter and a key backup before the season started 9-0 would be an amazing place to be.

The Ducks lost some momentum in the rankings, even though they have yet to lost a game this season. In the lastest Asssociated Press poll Oregon dropped two spots in this past week’s pool. The Illinios Fighting Illini and Oregon will meet on the hardwood Saturday night 6pm PT, ESPN2/Watch ESPN)

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