Ducks Meet Wildcats in Pac-10 Quarterfinal
WHAT’S ON TAP . . . Fourth-seeded Oregon will take on fifth-seeded Arizona in a Pacific-10 Tournament quarterfinal game on Thursday, March 8 at 12:20 p.m. at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
OREGON IN THE PAC-10 TOURNAMENT . . . Oregon is 9-7 all-time in Pac-10 tournament games. The Ducks won the 2003 tournament, their first title. Oregon and Arizona have met once previously in the Pac-10 tournament. The seventh-seeded Ducks upset second-seeded Arizona 72-63 in a 1987 quarterfinal game played in Los Angeles. Last season, No. 7 Oregon defeated No. 10 Washington State (66-55) and No. 2 Washington (84-73) before falling to third-seeded California 91-87 in a double-overtime semifinal game.
STAYING POWER . . . Oregon owns the distinction of being the only school to have advanced to the semifinals in every tournament its played in -- four -- since the event resumed in 2002. The caveat to that is that the Ducks did not qualify for the 2005 tournament when only eight teams advanced.
OREGON-ARIZONA THIS SEASON . . . The Ducks and Wildcats split a pair of extremely entertaining games during the regular season. Aaron Brooks hit a running lay-in with :02 remaining to give Oregon a 79-77 win in Tucson. Ivan Radenovic returned the favor by hitting a short jumper with :06 remaining as Arizona won 77-74 in Eugene.
TIED FOR THIRD . . . Tying for third in the Pac-10 with Arizona and USC (11-7) means Oregon finished among the league’s top three for just the fourth time since the conference expanded to 10 teams prior to the 1978-79 season. Three of those seasons have come under current head coach Ernie Kent: 2000 (3rd), 2002 (1st) and this year. The Ducks were also third in 1984.
23 WINS FOR THE SEVENTH TIME . . . This season marks just the seventh time in school history (102 seasons) that Oregon has reached 23 wins. Three of those occasions have come under current head coach Ernie Kent: 2002 (26 wins), 2003 (23 wins) and this year. This year is also the Ducks’ 56th winning season in program history. See p. 5 for more.
RANKINGS RECORD . . . The Ducks are ranked for the 13th consecutive week this week, which is the school’s longest span in one season. The Ducks were ranked for 12 consecutive weeks to start the 2002-03 season. Overall, Oregon’s longest consecutive streak being ranked by the Associated Press is 18 weeks spanning the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.
PAC-10 HONORS . . . Three Ducks, Aaron Brooks, Maarty Leunen and Tajaun Porter, were recently recognized by the league’s coaches. Brooks, the Pac-10’s leading scorer, was named to the all-Pac-10 first team, Leunen was an all-Pac-10 honorable mention selection and Porter was a Pac-10 all-freshman pick. Brooks was also named one of 22 finalists for the Wooden Award and was a first team district selection by the USBWA and the NABC. He is Oregon’s first all-conference player since Luke Jackson in 2004. Porter’s selection continues a recent trend of Pac-10 all-freshmen for the Ducks. He’s Oregon’s sixth in the last seven seasons. See p. 5 for a complete list of Oregon’s season honors.
See the "Article Downloads" to the right for complete Oregon game notes.
