GAME NOTES: In the Eugene Regional Round of the Progressive Legends Classic, the Toledo Rockets and Oregon Ducks will square off for the first time ever in a non-conference clash Friday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

In their opening game of the Progressive Legends Classic, Toledo entered halftime with 45-42 lead over the 15th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth Rams. However, the Rockets were outscored 45-33 in the second half and the long time members of the Mid-American Conference lost their first game of the season, 87-78.

The Ducks meanwhile have outscored their last two opponents by a combined score of 190-131, putting the Pac-12 members at 2-0. With a big matchup against the 24th-ranked Michigan Wolverines on the horizon, Oregon will look to pick up win number three and gain some momentum before that matchup.

Despite not reaching the NCAA Tournament in 35 seasons, Toledo's squad for 2014-15 could be the first Rockets team to ever clinch a berth in the Big Dance. Led by 2013-14 all-conference point guard Julius Brown, Toledo has a good mix of seniors and veterans along with a lot of young up-and-coming players. This year's lineup includes many players who were annihilated by the Western Michigan Broncos, 98-77,in last season's MAC Championship game. Coach Tod Kowalczyk's players from last season should carry that painful memory into this season, and use it as motivation to win the MAC Tournament and reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

The Rockets first loss of the season came on Tuesday, despite being up 61-57 midway through the second half against VCU. Nathan Boone and Julius Brown led the team in scoring with 18 points and 17 points respectively. Justin Drummond had 12 points in the loss. With just over three minutes left in the game, Drummond hit a layup which made the score 72-73. But the Rams went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes, sealing the victory for VCU. The loss could be seen as a missed opportunity for Toledo given that they hit on 8-of-18 shots from beyond the arch.

Oregon head coach Dean Altman will look to take his Ducks to their third straight NCAA Tournament. However, he will need to do it with a roster that has seen three players dismissed from the team, including a top five scorer from last season. Luckily, the Ducks still have Joseph Young, who was second in scoring in the Pac-12 last season with 18.9 ppg. Young will be looking for assistance given that the team's other top five scorers have departed. That assistance could come in the form of Elgin Cook, who played 16 minutes a game and averaged 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds last season.

After opening the season with a 107-65 victory over the Coppin State Eagles, Oregon added another victory Monday night with an 83-66 win over the Detroit Titans. Young's average of 27 points per game in these two contests is an encouraging sign he's only going to improve from his excellent performance last season. It should be noted that Detroit gave Oregon a bit tougher test than Coppin State, as the Titans and Ducks were tied at 35 going into halftime. However, with fifteen minutes left to play, Oregon's Jalil Abdul- Bassit scored a 3-pointer to put his Ducks up 48-45, and gave them a lead they wouldn't surrender for the remainder of the game. Abdul-Bassit had a great game against the Titans, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds.

Toledo is more than capable of pulling the upset over Oregon on Friday night given their veteran presence and Oregon's new starting lineup looking very different than it did last season. Unfortunately, the Rockets may be somewhat deflated after putting up that fight against VCU. Not to mention they have to take on a Ducks team averaging 95 points over their past two games.