Oregon Hosts Washington Schools at Mac
WHAT’S ON TAP . . . Oregon welcomes its friendly rivals from the Evergreen State to McArthur Court (9,087) this week. Thursday, Feb. 10, the Ducks host No. 11 Washington at 7:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on Fox Sports Net. Then on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m., ABC makes a rare visit to The Pit when Oregon squares off against Washington State.
QUICK HITS...A brief look at what to watch for this weekend:
* 20-20. When Aaron Brooks (21 points) and Malik Hairston (20 points) each scored 20 points last Saturday at Oregon State, it marked the first time Oregon had a pair of 20-point scorers in the same game since Jan. 2, 2004, at USC (Ian Crosswhite -- 22 points, James Davis -- 21 points).
* Motown Malik. Freshman Malik Hairston, from Detroit, Mich., has shaken an early January funk by averaging 15.3 points per game in the last six.
* More Malik. Freshman of the year candidate Malik Hairston now leads all Pac-10 freshman in scoring (13.2 ppg)
* Numbers Game. Oregon’s starting five at Oregon State wore nearly the lowest numerical combination possible on their jerseys (0, 1, 2, 3, 4). The only other legal number lower than four of the those five is 00.
* For the Defense. Oregon has held nine of its opponents below 40 percent shooting from the floor. Overall, the Ducks are allowing opponents to shoot 42.6 percent from the field. See p. 3 for more.
* Close Calls. Oregon is 7-4 in games decided by 10 points or less.
* Kent Opens. Jordan Kent got his first start at Oregon last Saturday at Oregon State. He responded with nine points and three rebounds.
* The Taylor’s Tale. Bryce Taylor’s 26 points at Washington State on Jan. 15 was the fourth-highest scoring effort ever by an Oregon freshman. See p. 3 for more.
* An Extraa A for Effort? Freshmaan Maarty Leunen haas graabbed 10 rebounds three times this season -- twice in Paac-10 play. Despite averaaging under 19 minutes a gaame, Leunen is Oregon’s second-leading rebounder at 4.4 per gaame.
* Rookie Production. Oregon’s six newcomers are accounting for 48 percent of Oregon’s offense (34.5 ppg) and 42 percent of its rebounds (14.6 rpg).
* Deep Bench. Oregon has played at least 10 players in 18 of 19 games this season (and 12 in 11 of the 19). What’s more, the Ducks have nine players averaging at least 10 minutes a game.
* During the Feb. 5 Oregon State game, Junior Ian Crosswhite tied Jerry Adams (1981-86) for seventh on the UO career blocked shots list. Brett Coffey (63/1987-89) is next. Check out page 4 for a look at the career lists.
* Sophomore Topper. Aaron Brooks’ 34 points vs. USC (nine-of-13 shooting/four-of-seven from three-point range) matched Ron Lee for the highest single-game scoring effort by a UO sophomore. See p. 4 for more.
* Drive 55. Oregon’s 55-52 win Jan. 15 at Washington State marked the first time in Ernie Kent’s tenure that the Ducks won when scoring less than 60 points. Oregon had been 0-17 in those games under Kent prior to the win over the Cougars. The Ducks last won a game when scoring in the 50s Feb. 18, 1996 (55-52 vs. Washington).
* Sharp Shooting. Oregon hit 60.7 percent (34-of-56) from the field Nov. 27 against Marshall. That was Oregon’s best shooting effort since hitting 61.5 percent from the floor (43-of-68) Dec. 21, 2002, in a 115-77 win against Washington State.
* 50-50 Club. With 50 rebounds Nov. 19 against Idaho State, the Ducks recorded their first 50-rebound game since grabbing 54 against Pepperdine Dec. 14, 2001.
ABOUT THE 100TH SEASON . . . This is the 100th season (not year) of Oregon basketball. The first year the Ducks played basketball was 1902-03. There were three seasons the school did not field a team for various reasons (1904-05, 1908-09 and 1915-16). Please see p. 42 in the 2004-05 Oregon Media Guide for more details. The UO Athletic Department designed a special logo for the 2004-05 season, printed special commemorative season tickets, has a changing "flashback" feature in the game program, and will be conducting a series of on-line fan polls as part of the 100th season celebration.
DEFENSIVE DUCKS . . . As mentioned on p. 1, Oregon’s defense has been the most reliable component of its game this season. The Ducks have held nine opponents below 40 percent shooting from the floor. Lost among Oregon’s offensive woes against Arizona State on Jan. 22 was the effort at the defensive end. The 64 points scored was a season low for the Sun Devils. Oregon also limited player of the year candidate Ike Diogu to 10 points -- matching his career low. Oregon held its first four opponents this season below 40 percent from the floor. That marked the first time Oregon had done that in four straight games since 1992-93 against Alaska-Fairbanks (37.0, 12/9/92), Idaho (32.3, 12/12/92), Missouri-St. Louis (34.3, 12/19/92) and Pacific Lutheran (37.1, 12/21/92).
