Sacramento St.-Oregon Preview

Oregon and Sacramento State haven't met in nearly 30 years. Despite that, not much about the matchup has changed.

The 16th-ranked Ducks will again be heavy favorites when they host the Hornets on Tuesday night, looking to move to 5-0 in the series.

In the four wins, Oregon's average margin of victory was 22.0 points, including an 89-44 win in their most recent meeting in November 1978.

Oregon's non-conference home winning streak reached 14 on Saturday with a 75-64 victory over Utah. That marked the first time this season the Ducks (7-1) didn't reach the 80-point mark, dropping their scoring average to 89.3 points per game, fourth-best in the nation.

Oregon has won three straight since its lone loss to Saint Mary's, which moved into the Top 25 this week. Coming off a nine-day layoff since an 80-77 overtime win over then-No. 25 Kansas State, Oregon looked rusty at times against Utah, but still shot 53.7 percent from the field to earn coach Ernie Kent his 200th victory with the Ducks.

"We really had to grind through the game today," Kent said. "It was a good win to get out of the way, even though we didn't play our best basketball."

Kent said he thinks the Ducks have fully recovered offensively from the loss of graduated point guard Aaron Brooks. Senior guard Bryce Taylor led the way against Utah with a season-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and he's one of four Ducks averaging at least 15 points.

Senior Malik Hairston scores 16.5 per game, sophomore Tajuan Porter averages 15.8 and senior Maarty Leunen is at 15.1 points and 10.4 rebounds. Sophomore Joevan Catron also averages 11.0 points, and has reached double figures in Oregon's last four games.

"We have so many weapons," Kent said. "But defensively, Aaron (Brooks) did a lot of things for us too, and I don't think we are quite there yet."

Still, Oregon held the Utes to their second-lowest point total of the season, and sent Utah to the free-throw line only five times. The Utes also missed eight of their last 10 shots, allowing Oregon to seal the win.

"This was a great team for us to play, Utah is a good team and they helped us prepare for the Pac-10," Porter said. "I think as long as we don't get lackadaisical and play every game like it's our last we'll be successful."

Oregon has just four games left before opening its Pac-10 schedule, but Sacramento State (2-6) likely won't provide great preparation for conference play. The Hornets are coming off a 72-54 win over NAIA school William Jessup that snapped their five-game losing streak, but they haven't beaten an NCAA Division I team this season.

They are 1-27 all-time against Pac-10 teams, and have lost 11 road games in a row dating to last season.

Sacramento State has just one player scoring in double figures in 6-foot-2 junior guard Loren Leath, who averages 18.6 points despite shooting just 39.3 percent from the field.