North Dakota comes calling on No. 14 Oregon

Nov 30, 2013 - 4:24 PM Eugene, OR (SportsNetwork.com) - The 14th-ranked Oregon Ducks match up with North Dakota as part of the Global Sports Challenge at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday.

In its opener of the three-day event, North Dakota fell to Cal Poly on Friday in a 70-43 final. The loss extended UND's losing streak to three games. The only win on the season the team came against Division III foe Minnesota Morris (110-69) in the opener.

Oregon kept on rolling with its fifth win in as many tries on Friday. During the opening day of this three-day event, the Ducks blew past a previously undefeated Pacific team, 85-62. Oregon faces Cal Poly on Sunday to wrap up the weekend.

This meeting represents the first-ever between these two programs.

It was a miserable night on the court for North Dakota on Friday as it found very little success on offense. The team finished with only 11 field goals on 23.4 percent shooting from the floor. Quinton Hooker scored a team-high nine points, as North Dakota did not have a double-digit scorer.

Difficulty shooting has not been much of an issue for North Dakota this season. The team is scoring an impressive 83.2 points per game and dropping in 48.6 percent of its shots from the floor. However, UND has needed to score at such a rate due to its failings on defense as it allows nearly 80 points per game on an even 48 percent shooting. Troy Huff (23.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg) is having himself quite a year, but he struggled mightily against Cal Poly with only six points on 2-of-10 shooting. No player was in double figures in the loss for North Dakota, which usually has Aaron Anderson (13.8 ppg) and Jaron Nash (12.8 ppg) to pick up the pieces should Huff be held down.

Oregon overwhelmed Pacific at both ends of the floor on Friday. The Ducks hit on 56 percent of their shots from the field, including 8-of-21 from 3-point distance, and forced twice as many turnovers (18) as they committed (nine). If there was one weak spot it was on the boards, as Oregon suffered a 35-27 deficit in rebounds.

Playing well at both ends of the court has been the trend for Oregon this season. The Ducks are netting 88.6 points per game, while converting 51.3 percent of their shots from the field. On defense, the Ducks have been a little weaker, but they are still enjoying a +17.4 scoring margin while keeping foes to 40.5 percent shooting. Joseph Young (21.2ppg) is posting big numbers on the scoreboard in his first year since transferring from Houston. Mike Moser (16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg), a transfer from UNLV, is also performing well, while Jason Calliste (11.4 ppg) and Damyean Dotson (10.8 ppg) bring more scoring to the table.