7:30 p.m. PST Friday – No. 13 SOU at Eastern Oregon – Live Stats | Live Stream
6:30 p.m. PST Saturday – No. 13 SOU at No. 2 College of Idaho – Live Stats | Live Stream

With a 9-1 preseason and a handful of confidence-building wins away from home in the rearview, the real road work begins for the Southern Oregon University men's basketball team this weekend with the opening of Cascade Conference play.

The Raiders will knock out their most daunting back-to-back of the season early, playing Friday at Eastern Oregon (4-6) and Saturday at defending CCC champion  and second-ranked College of Idaho (11-1) – a trip they've left winless the last two years.

NAIA TOP 25: In the first NAIA Division II Top 25 coaches' poll of the regular season, the Raiders moved up nine spots to No. 13, tying the biggest improvement for any team relative to the preseason poll. College of Idaho, which appeared in last season's national semifinals, jumped one spot to No. 2 and collected three first-place votes in the poll behind defending national champion Indiana Wesleyan. Elsewhere in the CCC, Warner Pacific (6-2) went up to No. 17 and Oregon Tech (8-3) fell to No. 22.

CLARIFYING THE WIN TOTAL: SOU has only played eight contests, but its 9-1 record is not an error. Like every other team in the CCC, the Raiders were given the option of accepting two forfeit victories when Walla Walla (Wash.) announced the cancellation of its season earlier this month due to "extreme circumstances." SOU was originally scheduled to host the Wolves on Jan. 4 and 5; those forfeit wins have been changed to non-conference counters for all schools, meaning the CCC schedule has been reduced to 18 games.

HOLMES' FAST START: SOU was named the CCC Team of the Week and senior guard Tristen Holmes received the CCC Player of the Week award Monday following last week's wins at UC Merced, 68-61, and Menlo, 71-68. Holmes averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in those games. At Merced, he scored the go-ahead three-point play with five minutes left during a 14-0 run, and at Menlo, he assisted Jordan Hunt's three-point play with 3.6 seconds on the clock. His preseason had already been eventful before that trip: He was just off a career-high with 27 points on Nov. 2 against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), and he became the 21st player in team history to score 1,000 career points with 18 on Nov. 17 against Antelope Valley (Calif.). He's leading the team with a scoring average of 14.3.

BRIEFLY:

• After giving up 80 points per game last season, the Raiders rank fifth nationally in both opponents' scoring average (65.3) and opponents' field-goal percentage (.381). In five games against teams not named New Hope, they've given up 70.8 points and a 44-percent clip.
• In the frontcourt, Jordan Hunt is posting 13.9 points on 54-percent shooting and a team-high 6.3 rebounds, and Tate Hoffman (9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds) has registered two double-doubles despite being slowed by injuries. Last year, the pair combined for 25 points and 13 rebounds per game.
• The elephant in the room has been SOU's league-worst 30-percent mark from 3-point range. The Raiders can hope for some regression to the mean in that department: They ranked third in the CCC last year, and of six returning players with at least 10 3-point attempts, five of them are shooting a worse percentage than they did in 2017-18.

ABOUT EASTERN OREGON:

• The Mountaineers played arguably the strongest non-conference schedule in the CCC, and last week stopped a six-game losing streak (all on the road) with neutral-site wins against Montana Western and Northwest Indian. They tied SOU at fourth in the standings last year and were picked to finish fifth in the preseason.
• Sophomore guard Jordan May, the 2017-18 CCC Newcomer of the Year, is one of the most dangerous scorers in the league and is averaging 20.3 points on 50 percent from the field and 30-of-70 from 3. He was joined by a large influx of junior-college transfers, including guards Joel Anderson (14.9 points, 4.8 assists) and Landon Jones (11.1 points, 6.1 rebounds).
• SOU is 103-85 all-time against the Mountaineers and took two of three matchups last season, including a 97-73 decision in the CCC quarterfinals. The Raiders have dropped three straight in La Grande after winning their previous three trips.

ABOUT COLLEGE of IDAHO:

• The Yotes lost a couple of All-Americans from last year's team that went 18-2 in the CCC, but they brought back plenty of firepower and are ranked No. 2 for the first time since 2014. In non-conference play, their only loss was at Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) – an NCAA Division II team that they also defeated.
• Last year's Yotes led the NAIA in scoring defense (64.2 points) and held SOU to 50 twice. This season they're third in that category (65.2) and second in opponents' field-goal percentage (37.9). Offensively, forward Nate Bruneel is the leading scorer (14 points, 5 rebounds) but junior point guard runs Talen Pinckney runs with show with 9.9 points, five assists and 2.1 steals per game.
• SOU is 24-52 against the Yotes and the teams have split their last eight conference matchups. Over the last decade, however, the Raiders have only won twice in Caldwell.