Ducks Meet Bears in Pac-10 Tourney Opener
WHAT’S ON TAP
Defending champion Oregon will be the fifth seed for the 2004 Pac-10 Tournament and will take on No. 4 California in an opening round game Thursday, March 11 at 2:50 p.m. at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Fox Sports Net will televise the game live nationally.
OREGON-CAL THIS SEASON
It’s the rubber match between two teams hoping to extend their seasons in the form of a postseason bid. Oregon won the first meeting of the year 68-56 Jan. 29 in Eugene. Luke Jackson had 17 points and Ian Crosswhite added 16 in the win. Cal tripped up the Ducks 85-81 in overtime Feb. 26 in Berkeley as Richard Midgley went for 22 points and Leon Powe added 20 and 11 rebounds.
OREGON-CAL HISTORY LESSON
This will be the first time Oregon and Cal have met in the Pac-10 Tournament. However, when Oregon won the NCAA Championship in 1939, the Ducks defeated the Bears in a best-of-three Pacific Coast Conference championship series to gain entry into the NCAA field, which consisted of eight teams at the time. And Cal claimed consecutive PCC titles in 1925-26 and 1926-27 by sweeping Oregon in the league championship series.
OREGON’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The Ducks huddle up after practice
By defeating UCLA on Saturday, Oregon reached a couple of historic milestones. At 14-11, the Ducks have clinched their sixth
straight .500 or better season (that hasn’t happened in Eugene in 26 years). Oregon last had six straight .500 or better seasons under coach Dick Harter from 1972-73 to 1977-78 (led by UO’s 2004 Pac-10 Hall of Honor inductee Ron Lee). And at 9-9 in the Pac-10, Oregon finished .500 or better in the conference for the third consecutive season -- something the UO had not done in 49 years. The Ducks last posted three consecutive .500 or better league marks between 1952-53 and 1954-55, when Bill Borcher’s squads went 8-8, 9-7, and 8-8, espectively.
in The Staples Center Wednesday.
REMEMBER OREGON’S AMAZING 2003 PAC-10 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP?
It was a story that needed a Hollywood setting to keep pace with all the drama of the 2002-03 Pac-10 Tournament. The quarterfinal matched two teams scrambling for their NCAA Tournament lives -- No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 Oregon. In a see-saw game, the Ducks were up by five with 24 seconds left but an ASU three, an Oregon turnover and a three-point play by Pac-10 freshman of the year Ike Diogu turned the tide to an 82-81 Sun Devil lead with just 12 seconds remaining. But Luke Ridnour came to the rescue with a driving lay-in with 3.3 seconds left and the Ducks won 83-82. In the semifinal vs. UCLA -- who had upset No. 1 Arizona in spite of the media circus surrounding the Bruins’ soon-to-be-dismissed coach Steve Lavin -- all but had the game won, leading 73-62 with 3:12 remaining. But Oregon went to the full court press and forced three turnovers that resulted in a pair of threepointers from James Davis and baskets from Ridnour and Luke Jackson to close the score to 73-72 at the 1:17 mark. After a Bruin free throw made it a two point lead with 40 seconds to play, Ridnour attempted a three that was long, but Robert Johnson tapped the ball out and Ridnour collected the rebound. He then found Jackson at the top of the arc, and his three from straight on with 17 ticks left was true and the Ducks pulled off the 75-74 comeback. In the championship game versus USC, the tables were nearly turned as the Ducks held a 69-54 lead with 8:38 remaining, but a tired UO squad lost its legs under the Trojan press. The lead dwindled to four but the Ducks hit enough free throws to hold offUSC and win its first ever Pac-10 Tournament title 74-66. Ridnour was named the Tournament MVP, while Jackson and Davis joined him on the all-tournament team.
CENTURY CLUB
When Jay Anderson steps on the court Thursday versus Cal, he will become the third current UO player to play in 100 career games, giving Oregon the most experienced team in the Pac-10. Among active players, seniors Luke Jackson, James Davis and Anderson all rank in the league’s top seven in terms of games played. Jackson leads the conference with 120 games worth of experience, with Davis (109) and Anderson (99) not far behind.
