Cascade Conference MBB | Lithia Motors Pavilion
7:30 p.m. Tuesday – Oregon Tech (14-2, 4-2) at SOU (12-4, 6-2)
7:30 p.m. Friday – Corban (9-10, 3-6) at SOU (12-4, 6-2)
7:30 p.m. Saturday – Northwest Christian (9-8, 4-3) at SOU (12-4, 6-2)
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ASHLAND – How far has the Southern Oregon men's basketball team come in a year? Its homestand this week could be as accurate a measuring stick as any.

Winners of seven of their last eight, the 18th-ranked Raiders (12-4 overall, 6-2 Cascade Conference) are back at Lithia Motors Pavilion to replay the same early January stretch that foiled their 2018-19 regular-season hopes and dropped them out of the NAIA DII Top 25 with three down-to-the-wire losses. They'll open Tuesday with second-ranked Oregon Tech (14-2, 4-2) before hosting Corban (9-10, 3-6) on Friday and Northwest Christian (9-8, 4-3) on Saturday, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. each night.

Naturally, the OIT clash is the headliner. The Raiders haven't taken a conference win off the Owls since two-time CCC Player of the Year Mitchell Fink entered the fray, losing second-half home leads of nine points last year and 13 points two years ago. This season, SOU and OIT have produced the same results against all 10 of their common opponents.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: SOU crossed Walla Walla off its schedule by taking both ends of a back-to-back in College Place, Wash., winning 86-71 on Thursday and 86-49 on Friday. In the first game, Aaron Borich hit each of his first six 3-point attempts, becoming the first Raider in seven years to make six in a half and helping SOU open up an early 28-point lead. He finished with 20 points and five assists, and a day later Tate Hoffman led four Raiders in double figures with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. A 21-0 run in the first half allowed them to cruise as they amassed a 44-14 edge in frontcourt scoring.

BRIEFLY:

• Seniors Aaron Borich, Tate Hoffman and Jordan Hunt have joined each other in double figures in each of SOU's last four games, averaging a combined 55 points on 67-percent shooting during the stretch.
• Borich – who is averaging 15.4 points in CCC play – last week became the first Raider in seven years to hit five 3-pointers or more in three straight games.  He's shooting 48.4 percent from deep (46-of-95), the 18th-best clip in the NAIA, and ranks 37th nationally in assists per game (4.2). In his last seven outings, he went a combined 29-of-52 from 3.
• Hoffman is the CCC's third-leading scorer in conference action at 18.6 per game, and he's scored 12 or more in 15 of 16 overall with three double-doubles. Hunt, following a three-game absence due to injury, shot 25-of-35 while averaging 15 points in SOU's last four games, and his field-goal percentage (59.3) ranks 10th nationally.
• The Raiders are No. 3 on the NAIA DII assists leaderboard (19.3/game), a category in which they've been top-10 six of the last seven seasons.
• Tez Allen is the only player in the circuit among the CCC's top-10 in average rebounds (7.1), assists (3.8) and steals (1.4).
• The Raiders have trailed by 15 or more in three of their last six wins. Two of those were at home, where they've gone 43-12 over the last five seasons.

ABOUT OREGON TECH:

• The Owls were the preseason favorites to win the CCC, returning every starter from last year's team that captured the regular-season title and advanced to the NAIA DII championship game.
• The aforementioned Fink is posting 15 points per game and ranks second in the NAIA at 8.1 assists. In eight career games against the Raiders, the senior point guard has averaged 18.8 points, including a 42-point explosion two years ago at Ashland High.
• Fink's backcourt mate, senior Seth Erickson, leads the team at 15.3 points, shooting 46-percent from 3. While he was shut down last year at SOU, Tyler Hieb lifted OIT by scoring 15 of his 20 in the second half.
• The Owls are sixth on the national assists leaderboard (19.2), seventh in scoring (90.2) and eighth in field-goal percentage (50.1).
• OIT is 155-85 against the Raiders in a series that dates back to 1947. Before dropping eight of the last nine matchups, SOU had won nine of the previous 10.