| 22 March 2011
In front of a raucous crowd of over 5,000, the Oregon Ducks snuck by the Duquesne Dukes behind terrific guard play, Joevan Catron’s late surge, an aggressive defense, and an untimely missed free-throw by Sean Johnson on Monday night to set a date with the Boise State Broncos in the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
It all goes down Wednesday night at Mathew Knight Arena.
The Ducks face yet another team with a superior record.
Duquesne, which remained in contention until the end due to the solid guard-play of Eric Evans and their extraordinary three-point shooting, entered that matchup 19-12 on the season. The Broncos are even better, at 22-12, having won 10 of their last 11 games. But as Oregon showed, having home-court advantage makes a big difference.
Duquesne made 13 of their 28 three-point attempts and shot 48 percent overall. Those numbers shouldn’t be expected from the Broncos, a team that is poor from deep and makes only 43 percent of their field goals.
Yet, they are also very similar to the Dukes in many ways. Boise State has a deep rotation, with ten players logging more than 10 minutes on average. This kind of depth gave Oregon some problems against Duquesne. Boise State doesn’t sub in four or five players at a time like the Dukes did, but because of their depth they are also very balanced offensively.
Senior 6’1” guard La’Shard Anderson is their leading scorer and their most complete player, averaging 15 points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals per game. Fellow senior Robert Arnold is one of three other Broncos to score in double-figures, averaging 12 to compliment his four rebounds. He is incredibly slight, listed at 6’6” 175, and Boise State’s other consistent contributors, forwards Paul Noonan and Daequon Montreal, aren’t altogether physically imposing either.
That said, they have the potential to put points on the board and matchup well with Oregon. Sophomore forward Ryan Watkins is another player to keep an eye on. He had 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds in their win over Evansville.
The Broncos have taken care of the ball this season, and they will have to against the Ducks in a hostile environment.
The crowd at Matthew Knight, which played a tremendous role in beating the Dukes, should befired up once again.
Oregon’s guard quartet of Garrett Sim, Malcolm Armstead, Johnathan Loyd, and Jay-R Strowbridge combined to score 47 of the team’s 77 points on Monday night, and should give the Broncos fits.
Boise State scores many of their points from the free-throw line, taking 24 per game. Because the Broncos will look to draw contact Oregon will have to be careful defensively.
Both teams are just happy to keep playing. On Oregon’s side, Catron said, “we give the city of Eugene something to do over spring break", as reported by The Oregonian. With another win, they would play into spring term and for the championship.
Either Oregon or Boise State will advance to play the winner of the UCF-Creighton contest and the chance to compete in the CBI championship series. The best-of-three series begins on March 28.
photo: daylife
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