At certain points, Thursday night’s men’s basketball game between Oregon and USC felt an awful lot like an afterthought.
In the highly anticipated unveiling of the $227 million Matthew Knight Arena, the most elaborate pregame ceremony in the history of Oregon basketball left the sold-out crowd of 12,364 fans in attendance awestruck.
Nike Co-founder and Chairman Phil Knight kicked the evening off with a nice speech thanking those involved in the arena’s construction, beginning with the Knight family. His wife, Penny, and grandson, Jordan, a sophomore at the University, were courtside. The group shared an emotional moment as Phil spoke of his late son, Matthew Knight.
Knight thanked Oregon’s various athletic directors who each played a role in his latest project with added gratitude toward University President Richard Lariviere for seeing it through to the end.
His last thank you went out to Tinker Hatfield, Nike’s vice president for design and special projects, who devised the Ducks’ one-of-a-kind wood floor inspired by Oregon’s 1939 NCAA Championship team nicknamed the “Tall Firs.” The theme, Knight said, coined the phrase ‘Deep in the Woods,’ as it reads in front of the infamous Pit Crew student section.
“When Dana (Altman) gets a few recruiting classes,” Knight said, “those opponents will know they’re deep in the woods.”
On the way back to his courtside seat alongside his wife and grandson, Knight addressed the Pit Crew:
“And to all you students out there in this grand building,” Knight said, “I wish you a great 81 years.”
The Oregon marching band came on next, setting the stage for the Oregon Duck mascot to make his entrance from the rafters. Cheerleaders, dancers and fireworks ensued, and eventually, a basketball game took place.
Portland native Garrett Sim fittingly scored the first points ever at Knight Arena, giving the Ducks a big spark early. Sim hit a three-pointer from the corner moments later, then successfully converted on a three-point play to put his team ahead 13-6 with 11:23 to go in the opening half.
Oregon would not trail for the rest of the game.
After a little Matt Knight halftime magic that saw one lucky student hit a half-court shot in the hotshot competition, Oregon’s strong play continued in the second half. A noticeable portion of the home crowd departed during intermission, but those remaining didn’t let up, as Oregon dazzled fans with uncharacteristically strong play over the final 20 minutes of action.
“The crowd was into it,” freshman point guard Johnathan Loyd said, “We’ve got to play like that every day so fans can be in it like that, ‘cause the fans deserve it. They’re always here sticking with us.”
At one point the Ducks stretched out a 20-point lead with more than 10 minutes left to play, and despite a four-minute scoring drought late, Oregon was able to hang on and send Duck fans home with a win.
“The fans gave us a lot of adrenaline out there, and we came out ready to play,” sophomore E.J. Singler said. “We started at the tip and finished at the end. I’m so happy for our team, I’m happy for our fans to see us play like that.”
Singler finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds, but missed three free throws late in the game and four total.
Regardless, Oregon’s 47.8 field goal percentage in the second half was its highest output in conference play this season — six straight losses before Thursday night — paving way for the team’s first victory since beating Jacksonville State at home on Dec. 13.
In Singler’s mind, Matthew Knight Arena will be home to many more Oregon victories in the future.
“I’m gonna say this is one of the toughest places to play at,” Singler said with a smile. “First time playing, the crowd was amazing — it’s really loud — it’s definitely a home court advantage here.”