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Preview: Morgan State at Oregon
The top-scoring team in the nation will meet a squad that averages about 20 points less when No. 10 Oregon hosts Morgan State on Sunday afternoon in its final game before Pac-12 play begins next week. The Ducks came into the weekend averaging 90.3 points thanks to four games of 100 or more this season. Oregon hit that mark in its latest contest, a 100-96 overtime victory Dec. 21 against visiting Brigham Young, rallying from a seven-point deficit with 2:21 left to remain unbeaten.
The top three scorers for the Ducks are junior Joseph Young (19.8) and seniors Mike Moser (14.6) and Jason Calliste (12.5), all of whom played for other programs last season. Young averaged 18 points for Houston a year ago while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, but the 6-2 guard has bumped that mark up to 53.4 percent. Young will likely go head-to-head with Morgan State’s best player, Justin Black, who has combined for 47 points the last two games to bump his scoring average to 18.7 and surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
ABOUT MORGAN STATE (3-8): The Bears have something most teams don’t in 7-2 center Ian Chiles, who’s averaging 14.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. The Ducks will counter with 6-11 center Waverly Austin, who has some experience guarding exceptionally tall players, having gone up against 7-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye of UC Irvine on Dec. 17 in Eugene, Ore., but Austin averages just 12.9 minutes and played 11 against UC Irvine. The other player averaging double figures is 6-5, 230-pound guard Anthony Hubbard, who has scored 13 points in each of the last three games to bump his average to 10.
ABOUT OREGON (11-0): Oregon’s backcourt is even deeper now that Dominic Artis has returned from a nine-game suspension for selling shoes provided to him by the school. Artis hasn’t had much of an impact yet, combining for five points in the last two games, but the 6-1 guard flashed his versatility with eight rebounds against UC Irvine. The Ducks went 23-5 with Artis in the lineup last season, including a run to the Sweet 16, and posted a 5-4 record while Artis was sidelined with a broken foot.
TIP-INS
1. Oregon is off to its best start since 2006-07 and will try to run its record to 12-0 for the fifth time in program history.
2. Oregon has never hit the 100-point mark five times in a season.
3. Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman coached California from 1993-96, leading the Golden Bears to the NCAA Tournament three times in four seasons.
PREDICTION: Oregon 85, Morgan State 63
