No. 12 Oregon was hardly tested while winning its first two games by an average of 20 points.
The terrain gets tougher on Tuesday night when the Ducks battle BYU in the Phil Knight Invitational at Portland.
Oregon (2-0) jumped out to early leads in the wins over Texas Southern and SMU and Dana Altman’s team didn’t receive much of a challenge.
“Coach is doing a good job staying on us, making sure we’re prepared for any game, making sure we don’t take our opponents lightly,” junior-college transfer Rivaldo Soares said. “Texas Southern and SMU are two good teams.”
BYU (2-0) arrives for the contest at the Moda Center after fighting for a 66-60 home win over San Diego State on Friday.
Cougars standout Alex Barcello is interested in seeing how his team matches up with the Ducks.
“It is a great opportunity,” Barcello said. “Oregon is a Top-15 team right now. They’re long, they’re athletic and they are really talented. It will definitely test us, but we are confident going into every game.”
Barcello made 11 of 16 field-goal attempts in BYU’s first two games and is averaging 20.5 points. Barcello scored 24 points in a season-opening win over Cleveland State and broke loose for 17 against San Diego State.
While Barcello is the lone BYU player scoring in double figures, Oregon has five players averaging at least 10 points per game.
Will Richardson is averaging 19 points and is a stellar 8 of 13 from 3-point range. Jacob Young, a transfer from Rutgers, is tallying 16 per outing.
Also averaging in double digits are Eric Williams Jr. (13.0), Oklahoma transfer De’Vion Harmon (10.0) and Soares (10.0).
The Ducks aren’t a deep team — at least not yet — as six players are averaging 24 or more minutes. A seventh player (big man Franck Kepnang) averages 14 and Altman is hoping to expand the rotation.
“We basically played seven guys,” Altman said after the win over SMU. “I sure, especially early in the season, would like to get that to nine or 10.”
Another transfer, Quincy Guerrier, is leading the Ducks in rebounds at 9.0 per game. The former Syracuse player is averaging 8.5 points.
As for BYU, coach Mark Pope feels his squad received a stern battle from San Diego State, a perennial NCAA Tournament program.
The score was tied at 54 before the host Cougars went ahead to stay on an acrobatic 3-pointer by Barcello with 3:05 left.
“Games like (San Diego State) and the Oregon game are what I came here for,” said Te’Jon Lucas, a fifth-year player who previously played two seasons at both Illinois and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “We want to play the best of the best and compete with everybody at the top in the country and put them on notice.”
Lucas had 13 points against the Aztecs but made just 2 of 12 field-goal attempts. He is second on BYU with a 9.0 average.
Oregon leads the series 14-9 with the last two meetings occurring during the 2013-14 season. The Ducks notched a 100-96 overtime home victory in the regular season and then beat BYU 87-68 in each team’s first game of the NCAA Tournament.
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–Field Level Media
