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Oregon Basketball: Ducks Add Portland To Schedule For Saturday

By Justin Phillips

EUGENE, OR - FEBRUARY18: Head coach Dana Altman of the Oregon Ducks directs his team in the first half of the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Matthew Knight Arena on February 18, 2017 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OR - FEBRUARY18: Head coach Dana Altman of the Oregon Ducks directs his team in the first half of the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Matthew Knight Arena on February 18, 2017 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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Oregon Basketball adds a second West Coast Conference team to the schedule this week meeting Portland on Saturday.

Oregon Basketball was looking to add to their schedule this week and found two West Coast Conference teams with availability. Earlier this week the Ducks added San Francisco for Thursday night. On Wednesday, the Ducks added the Portland Pilots to the schedule on Saturday.

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Both teams are coming off upsets from earlier this season. San Francisco upset then number 4 Virginia last month. It was an upset of sorts last week for the Portland Pilots as they went into Corvallis and upset the Oregon State Beavers. In a season that has games being cancelled left and right due to COVID-19, perhaps staying closer to home is not a bad idea.

Portland enters Saturday’s game on a five game winning streak. It will be the first meeting between the schools since a Ducks loss to the Pilots in the 2009 season.

For the Pilots, Ahmed Ali was honored for his performance last week against Oregon State. He finished the game with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists garnering West Coast Conference Player of the Week honors. Ali has four games this season scoring 20 or more points.

Oregon Basketball has found early season chemistry after an early season loss. The Ducks lost Will Richardson to a thumb injury forcing him to miss a large part of the season so far. He will also miss the next two games against San Francisco and Portland. There is a benefit to having down time for your team, but with the pandemic affecting this season, anytime you can play multiple games in what would normally be an off week, you consider it a gift.

At this point, you don’t look at the competition as being better or worse than you. For Altman and the Ducks, it is always an opportunity to improve and get better. I expect San Francisco and Portland are looking at these games the same way.

Oregon and San Francisco meet on Thursday night at 5 pm. Portland and Oregon meet at noon on Saturday. Both games are at Matthew Knight Arena.

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