Dhoto by James Link
HARTER SHOUTS INSTRUCTIONS, BUT NOTHING WORKED IN 80-60 STINGER
Ducks should have left at halftime
By PAUL BUKER
Of the Emerald
CORVALLIS—The sign on the east
grandstand summed up Gill Coliseum’s
feeling for the man who rode in last year
and shot apart Oregon State.
DOUG LITTLE
UGLY DUCKLING
If that wasn’t enough motivation, the
noisy student section was.
This was it: the long-awaited meeting
between Dick Harter’s Kamikaze Kids, 10
5 and the surprise of the Pac-8, and those
rangy Beavers, 10-5 and mindful of two
embarrasmg losses a season ago.
Never mind the fact that OSU was
bigger, more experienced, and supposed to
be just a little better. The Ducks would
dive for loose balls, crash the boards like a
swarm of bees, and show the 9,063 at Gill
just what freshmen can do.
For one thing, they get awfully
frustrated.
Oregon was never in the game after the
first 12 minutes and the horrendous 80-60
loss was a stinger.
Whether it will turn the Ducks’ season
around, just when it appeared Harter
would get out of conference play alive with
one of the youngest teams in the nation is
another matter.
“If you think you’re going to lull us into
thinking Oregon State is the whole world,”
Harter quietly said underneath Gill
Coliseum Saturday afternoon, “you
won’t.”
“We came out here to win the Pac-8 and
eventually take an NCAA title, not just
beat them.”
Don’t blame a 20-point disaster entirely
on the frosh. Although Bruce Coldren was
held scoreless, Ron Lee lost his cod and
fouled out, and Mark Barwig wasn’t
himself, things like that happen.
Who would have figured the Beavers to
lead by 18 at the half, 49-31, and shoot
almost 60 per cent for the game?
“To make it very simple,” admitted
Harter, “they played very well, and we
played poorly. They shot well—and when
they didn’t, they dominated in other
areas.”
Areas like defense. Oregon was hard
pressed to shoot 40 per cent. And Harter’s
Kamikaze defense never left the runway.
Ralph Miller went with a surprise back
court combination of usual starter Charley
Neal and part-timer Cliff Jones.
Jones, a JC transfer, is the man who
went out of his head at the Far West
Classic and almost pulled the Beavers past
Minnesota. Since then he’s acquired the
reputation of being one of the conference’s
most dangerous streak shooters.
There was no streaking against the
Ducks. He made almost everything.
In the end Jones shot 10 of 13 from the
floor and it was his barrage of 12 paints
early in the second half that eventually
buried the Ducks for good.
The first half of this Hughes Sports
Network “Game of the Week” is best
forgotten.
OSU shot to a 10-5 lead, Harter jumped
up to call a quick timeout, and the Ducks
went out and broke in front 13-12.
Press row began to buzz. It was going to
go down to the wire.
Cliff Jones didn’t help that theory. He
drilled an 18-footer. Big Sam Whitehead
followed with a bank shot, Neal Jurgenson
converted two free throws, and Ron Jones
bombed from outside. 20-13 Beavers and
the barometer was falling fast.
No one got back on defense in the next
few minutes, Neal and Cliff Jones did some
ballhawking, and OSU burst in front 30-15
with 7:13 to go.
Harter’s next move should have been
simple: load the squad back on the busses,
go back to Eugene, and watch the
“Raindrops” dance at halftime.
A rally? No way. Miller’s Beavers were
totally controlling the pace of the game.
“They played fine defense in the second
half,” praised Harter. “That’s the first
time a team has dictated the tempo
against us like that since Kentucky and
UCLA.”
Then there was the hot-shooting Jones,
whom the Ducks turned into Nate Ar
chibald Saturday.
“We knew Jones was a great shooter,”
pronounced the Duck coach. “It didn’t
surprise us.”
Figure it to be even less of a surprise if
Jones starts again Friday when Oregon
and OSU tangle at Memorial Coliseum in
Portland.
That game doesn’t count in the con
ference standings.
This one did—the Ducks are 2-3, which is
fourth place and 2Vi> games behind UCLA.
Harter’s program is just about 2M> years
behind John Wooden’s. But he can get the
Beavers.
“That’s the best we’ve seen this team
play defense in two years,” acknowledged
Dick. “If they play like that, they’re a heck
of a ballclub.”
The only wrong thing anybody at Cor
vallis did was display that sign about
Little. You can’t rattle the Cowboy.
After a slow start, he pumped in 25
points and was the only thing keeping the
Ducks from- losing by much more.
“He played as well as he’s ever played
for us in the second half,” said Harter,
finally smiling.
You can bet nobody was* smiling at
practice Sunday night.
JVs shade TVCC, fall to OSU’s Rooks
By MIKE YORKEY
Of the Emerald
The JV basketball team met the
weekend with mixed success, snapping
a five game losing skein in the process,
but later meeting the same fate as the
varsity in Corvallis on Saturday.
On Friday night in Mac Court, the
JV's who hadn’t won a game in three
weeks, sparkled as a team to defeat
Treasure Valley Community College,
57-45. The game was highlighted by
some stiff defense and team play, two
commodities that have been in scarce
V_
supply for the JV’s in recent weeks. Jim
Haney’s junior Ducks were able to keep
Treasure Valley at bay during the
game, in looking their best since they
started out the season with four quick
successive wins before Christmas.
Saturday afternoon in Corvallis was
another matter. In losing 83-67 in the
preliminary game to the Oregon
Oregon State debacle, the JV Rooks
pulled away from a slender 38-32
halftime lead to defeat the JV Ducks for
the second time in the last week.
The JV’s put up a respectable fight to
the highly-touted OSU JV’s, now
sporting an 11-1 win-loss record. The
main contribution of the JV Ducks
demise was getting back quickly on
defense. The JV men from Corvallis
-continually beat the Ducklings down
the floor, and when they didn’t, the JV
d'^fense was too leaky, a sharp contrast
to the night before.
The Rooks were led by Steve Bakke, a
quick guard who scored 26 points, but
more importantly, he was a perfect 10
10 from the free throw line. Tim Hen
nessey and Craig Hunter of Oregon
State contributed 21 and 19 points,
respectively, to further the Rook cause.
Coach Jim Haney saw fit to empty
the bench and play all who suited for
the match, in trying to find the right
combination against the JV Rooks.
Mike Adams continued to improve on
his play of late, and led the team in
scoring with 16 points. Bob Catchings
and Gary McDonald of Oregon also
tallied in double figures, scoring 14 and
10 points, respectively.
One major reason the JV’s went down
to defeat for the second week in a row
was because of the free throw situation.
The JV Ducks made three of only eight
free throws.