Oregon Basketball: Portland State Brings 4-Game Win Streak To Eugene
In previous years Portland State was just another easy non-conference game for Oregon Basketball, but that is not the case on Wednesday night.
Portland State is ranked in the Top 75 RPI, at 60 and have shown they can win this season. They have wins from the Phil Knight Invitational. The Vikings stayed with Duke for three quarters and beat Stanford. The team has won four straight and come in the experienced vs an Oregon team still trying to find an identity.
Texas Christian came to Matthew Knight Arena on Monday and stayed with Oregon throughout the game. Overtime was a possibility, but Troy Brown came through with key points in the final two minutes to seal the win for the home team. Dana Altman has a young team that was very sluggish in the first half missing key shots in a 6-minute span. Brown started the game 0 for 7 from the floor but heated up in the final 10 minutes to finish the game with a double-double.
Portland is in the midst of a 7 game road swing during the Non-Conference season with their third stop at Matthew Knight Arena. PSU will be without two of their bigs in Traylin Farris and Brendan Rumel vs Oregon, which should give the rebounding advantage to the Ducks. Oregon used their advantage for a +7 margin against Texas Southern, a team that was outrebounding opponents by the same margin.
Portland State is averaging 91 points per game. Oregon enters with 85 points per game, good enough for 2nd in the Pac-12 this season. Rebounding will be important. Defensively, the Vikings average 12 steals per game, good enough for 2nd in the country. Ball control will be important and getting to the basket early could provide a cushion for the Ducks who have let up on Defense too many times this season.
Next: Oregon Basketball: Ducks Get Past Texas Southern
The Oregon Ducks and Portland State Vikings tipoff at 7 pm Pacific Time on Pac-12 Network