Oregon Opens Matthew Knight Arena With Men's Hoops Win Over USC

The Univ. of Oregon opened the $227M Matthew Knight Arena last night with a 68-62 win over USC. The arena is named after the late son of Nike Chair Phil Knight, who donated $100M toward the project. Knight addressed the crowd before the game, saying, "This building for me is more than just about cement and glass and hardwood and concrete. There's emotion that went into this building and I hope it carries forward and I hope the main emotion that carries forward is joy." He added, “I got to believe Matt's looking down pleased” ("USC-Oregon," FSN, 1/13).

UO "put on a half-hour spectacle to christen the pavilion, complete with towering jets of flame, green and yellow sparks and firecracker bangs." A "glitch with the scoreboard during the game's first 10 minutes was about the only visible stumble" (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 1/14). The PORTLAND TRIBUNE’s Kerry Eggers writes it is "hard not to like a cutting-edge facility" like Matthew Knight Arena, but there appears to be a "lot of bugs to work out" (PORTLAND TRIBUNE, 1/14).