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SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah men's basketball team briefly returns home from another successful road trip this week to host Pacific-10 Conference foe Oregon on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live on the mtn.
In its first true road contest of the season, Utah handed Missouri State its first-ever loss in the brand new JQH Arena in front of a crowd of 7,742. The Utes are 3-0 on the season away from the Jon M. Huntsman Center, including two additional neutral-site victories.
One of the biggest keys to Utah's success thus far has been the efforts of the Runnin' Ute bench. Utah's bench has out-scored that of its opponents 114-56 on the year. Nine players have seen action in all five games for the Utes, while another has hit the floor in all but one. The Utah defense has proved sturdy as well, holding three of its five opponents under 40% shooting and all five under 45%.
Senior center Luke Nevill remains the Utes' individual leader on both ends of the floor, scoring 17.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, including 3.6 on the offensive glass. He is also averaging two assists and two blocks per contest. Sophomore guard Carlon Brown has stepped up as well and is taking care of the ball, currently leading the MWC in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.25), dishing out 21 helpers while turning the ball over just four times.
Oregon is coming off of a pair of losses at the Maui Invitational in Hawai'i, falling to eventual tournament champion and No. 1-ranked North Carolina, 98-69, and succumbing to No. 6 Texas, 70-57. The Ducks are scoring at a clip of 74.5 points per game and are grabbing 38.3 rebounds per contest. More than one-third of Oregon's shots this year have come from long-range as the Ducks have shot .384 (53-of-138) from three-point land. Overall, OU is shooting .395 from the field, hitting 145-of-367 from the field.
The all-time series between Utah and Oregon is tied at 7-7, including a 3-1 Utah advantage at home. The two squads met last year in Eugene, where the Ducks took a 75-64 victory on their home floor. The last time Utah and Oregon faced off in Salt Lake City was Dec. 6, 1990, a contest won by the Utes, 95-81.
