Men's Basketball Hosts Rice Friday

Friday, November 7

Eugene, OR

7 p.m.

University of Oregon

Rice

11/06/25 | Men's Basketball

Tickets Game Notes

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon men's basketball continues their homestand on Friday against Rice.

GAME INFO
When: Friday, November 7, 2025
Time: 7 p.m. PT
TV: Big Ten Plus
Radio: Eugene: KUJZ 95.3 FM | Portland: KFXX 1080 AM

Opponent History
The Ducks and Owls are meeting for the 5th time with Oregon leading the all-time series 3-1.
» Future 10-year NBA veteran and 2009-10 Most Improved Player Aaron Brooks scored 30 points in the last meeting, a 79-73 OT Oregon victory in Houston on 11/20/2006.
» The Ducks net a school record 39 free throws against Rice on 12/30/1977, resulting in a 77-74 UO win.

Series History: Oregon leads, 3-1
Date                      Location               UO/Opp Rank    Winner                 Score
11/20/06              Houston, TX        NR/NR                 Oregon                 79-73 (OT)
11/26/05              Eugene, OR         NR/NR                 Oregon                 84-60
12/30/77              Portland, OR       NR/NR                 Oregon                 77-74
12/18/56              Eugene, OR         NR/NR                 Rice                        61-59

Won Game One
Oregon's season opener was a nail-biting 60-59 win against Hawaii on 11/4.
» Takai Simpkins scored 18 points (7-12 FG) in his Ducks debut, including the go-ahead basket with 4.2 seconds to play.
» Nate Bittle recorded his fourth consecutive double-double dating back to last season, with 12 points and a career-high-tying 14 rebounds, along with four blocks.
» The Ducks improved to 14-2 in season openers under Dana Altman, and 16-0 in home openers.

Familiar Faces
UO returns three impact players from last year's postseason run: Nate Bittle, Jackson Shelstad and Kwame Evans Jr.
» Bittle led the Ducks with 14.2 points per game in 2024-25, adding 7.6 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.9 assists per game. He shot 51.1% from the field, 33.6% from three-point range and 81.1% from the free throw line. Bittle blocked a Big Ten-high 74 shots and his 2.1 blocks per game ranked second in the conference.
» Shelstad averaged 13.7 points (.451 FG%, .379 3P%, .835 FT%), 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals in a team-leading 32.9 minutes per game.
» Evans Jr. played in all 35 games and averaged 6.1 points (.465 FG%) and 4.6 rebounds in 16.3 minutes off the bench.
» Dezdrick Lindsay, Jamari Phillips and Oleksandr Kobzystyi are also returning and look to have increased roles this season.

Impact Additions
The Ducks added experienced DI players in Devon Pryor, Takai Simpkins and Sean Stewart, as well as international players Ege Demir, Wei Lin and Efe Vatan.
» Pryor played in 30 games in two seasons at Texas and averaged 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in 12.1 minutes last season.
» Simpkins was named to the All-CAA second team in 24-25 with averages of 16.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists at Elon. He closed the season with five 20-plus point games in his last six contests, averaging 25.7 points, 3.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds over the six-game span.
» Stewart has played 63 career games for Duke and Ohio State. He started all 30 games for the Buckeyes last year and averaged 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 18.4 minutes.
» Demir played three seasons in Turkey. Last season he averaged 5.0 points and 4.9 rebounds for Darüssafaka Lassa in 15.3 minutes.
» Lin spent three seasons with the Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association and averaged 21.0 points (.413 FG%, .349 3P%, .876 FT%), 5.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 34.1 minutes last season.
» Vatan spent last season with Galatasaray in the U19 league and notched 16.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31.4 minutes.