Oregon, Oregon State Sports Dec. 21

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Three players scored in double figures to lead the University of Oregon men’s basketball team to a 58-45 home win over North Carolina Central on Tuesday night at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.  The Ducks, playing the night-cap in the first day of the three-day Global Sports Hoops Showcase, improved to 7-3 overall with the victory. North Carolina Central dropped to 5-6 on the year.  Oregon (7-3) returns to action tonight when the Ducks host Prairie View A&M at 7 p.m. (PT) at Matthew Knight Arena. Stephen F. Austin and North Carolina Central will play the early game on Wednesday, with tip-off set for 4:30 p.m. SFA.

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Oregon State plays at Chicago State tonight in a men’s basketball game.

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Oregon State sophomore guard Ahmad Starks was named Bank of the West Pac-12 Men's Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 12-18, commissioner Larry Scott announced on Monday.  Starks led the Beavers to a 3-0 record on the week with 17.0 points, 2.0 steals, 2.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, including a career-high 22 points against Howard. He shot an astounding 75 percent (12-for-16) from three-point range, including a career-high five three-pointers in back-to-back games, and made all seven of his free throw attempts.

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Jared Cunningham was named a candidate for the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award as announced on Monday by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.  The annual honor, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guards in college basketball. Almost 60 candidates have been nominated for the 2012 Bob Cousy Award.  Cunningham leads the Pac-12 Conference in scoring (17.0) and steals (2.9) and had back-to-back games with 35 and 37 points against Hofstra and Texas, respectively. He was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for Nov. 14-20 games and was also named to the TicketCity Legends Classic All-Tournament Team.

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Oregon freshman Liz Brenner has joined the UO women’s basketball team.  She had been practicing with the Ducks since Saturday, and was cleared for competition by the NCAA.  Brenner played Monday night in Oregon’s 79-75 win over Cal State Northridge.  The Portland native checked into the game at the 13:38 mark and played 13 minutes, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds.  Brenner recently finished her freshman season competing for the UO women’s volleyball team.