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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1977)
---sports Ducks puncture Bruins to share lead By JEFF NIELSON Emerald Sports Editor UCLA Coach Gene Bartow has struggled to escape the ghost of former mentor John Wooden ever since he came to Los Angeles last year And following Oregon s 64-55 upset win in McArthur Court Saturday, the presence of Wooden, who despised playing in the Pit. crept into Bartow s post game talk as he criticized the Oregon fans 'I think it is bad for basketball," said the Brum coach. “It's a sad, sad situation when those people act like they do Bartow, however, had little else to talk about as the Ducks came back from a 37-29 halftime deficit and held UCLA to a measly 18 Pacific-8 Otygon UCLA Owgon Si WsuMiingion WivJuiuflnt) St OoMcxma Stanford Southern CM W L Pet 8 3 727 8 3 777 7 4 636 6 5 546 6 5 646 5 S 500 2 8 200 1 10 091 OB Overall — 17 7 — 20 4 1 15 11 2 15 9 2 17 7 2\t 10 13 5V, 10 13 7 5 18 Saturday a reaoit* Oto^oh 64 UCLA 55 Oregon Stale 80. Sou&tem Cal 65 Wafth»t.gton Stale 69 Stanford 52 f.al«torn4a 86 Washington 58 points m the second half to gain a share of the lead in the Pacific-8 After jumping off to a 7-2 lead in the first half by executing a patient offense, the Ducks nearly fell into the same trap as other teams be fore them — trying to run with the Brum fast break And the only hope for Oregon came in freshman John Murray, who hit shot after shot from the right corner to keep the visitors from running away with the game "That s the Bruce Coldren Syn drome," said Murray. "Bruce told me before the game that when UCLA went to the 2-2-1 zone, the right corner would be open “It was mainly a confidence thing — I knew I would make the shots" Coach Harter then implored the Ducks to "play like men" in the second half — and they did just that Senior guard Greg Ballard went wild, scoring 16 of Oregon s next 18, and with nearly perfect de fense, the Ducks caught UCLA and started to dictate the tempo Kelvin Small tipped one in with just under nine minutes to play to put Oregon up 51-49, Ballard blocked a shot and got the re bound, and Ernie Kent drove for a lay-in to make it 53-49 Although Marques Johnson sank two free throws seconds later to close it to two, the Brums never again re gained the lead Harter couldn t have been hap pier "The story of the game is that we played defense in the second half,' he said. We were just allow ing them to do things offensively in the first half. Luckily, John Murray scored enough then to keep us in it. "Greg Ballard, as I ve said all along, is the best player in the Pac-8 He had a great offensive performance, and Mike Drum mond took charge and got things going out there. Ballard, meanwhile, claimed a record. “I'm even with the Bruins now, smiled GB, who is 4-4 against UCLA "I don't think there is any other player in the country who has a record like that Oregon now has the biggest test of the season ahead This weekend, the Ducks travel north to battle Washington State Thurs day and Washington Saturday. After that, they get to close in Mac Court March 3 with Oregon State The Bruins, however, play two of their final three conference games in the comfort of Pauley Pavilion, against Stanford, California and USC Should the conference end in a tie, a coin flip will determine a home court where a playoff will be held But for Oregon, who has a chance to take a conference title for the first time since 1945, that com flip is a reachable goal — and a satisifying one, especially since this was the year the Ducks weren t supposed to do well be cause of graduation and injuries "For the first time this late in the season, it's up to us now," said Drummond "We don't have to depend on anyone but our selves." UCLA (55) — Johnson 22. Greenwood 10, Hamilton 11. Sptllane6. Vroman 2 Vandeweghe4 Wilkes Townsend OREGON (64) Ballard 28. Drummond 8, Mur ray 14, Kent 4 Closs 2, Small 8 Graham Mack Moreck Nelson Fouled out — UCLA Hamilton Total fouls — UCLA 14 Oregon 15 Technical on Dick Harter Oregon won their third straight over UCLA with outstanding second-half defense, like this high-flying block attempt by Kelvin Small The Ducks now hit the road as they visit Washington State Thursday and Washington Saturday while UCLA hosts Stanford and California. Wrestlers blank WSU Oregon tuned up for its most important week of wrestling Saturday night, when the Ducks blasted Washington State 49-0 at McArthur Court. This week the Ducks host Port land State on Friday, then visit Corvallis for a dual against Oregon State on Saturday. The win over the Cougars was the 20th in 29 meetings and was the most lopsided win ever. It was the eighth straight for Oregon The triumph was the 17th of the year and snapped Oregon's all time dual meet win mark of 16 set in 1975 when the Ducks finished 16-2-1. Oregon is currently 17-3 Oregon Daily Emerald with only two matches left before the Pacific-8 tourney, March 4-5 One match the Cougars were slated to win ended in a disqualifi cation victory for the Ducks Norm Knight when WSU’s Mark Grind staff couldn't continue at the 5:01 juncture. 118—Norm Knight. UO, won by disqualification over Mark Grmdstaff. WSU. 5 01 126—Susumu Hagihara, UO. d Tom Goodwin. WSU. 17-5. 134—Reynold Capps. UO. p Mike Quann, WSU. 3 23 142—Scott Bliss. UO won by forfeit 150—Dan Hollembaek, UO. d Glenn Zuroske, WSU. 5-1 158—Jim Dickason. UO. d Allan Ache son. WSU. 9-5 167—Tim Strobe!. UO. d Mike James. WSU. 11-5 177—Buck Davis won by for feit 190—Bob Bragg UO. p Kim Paul. WSU. 1 22 HEAVYWEIGHT—Brian Dunagan. UO. do Bryan Pfeiffer. WSU. 18-2 TEAM SCORES—Oregon 49, Washington State 0 Women trim Beavers, clinch winning season Although it will probably be re membered as just another close win in what is developing into a fine season, the Oregon women s basketball team s 46-43 victory over Oregon State Saturday in Corvallis should not go ignored for one very good reason. By rallying from a halftime de ficit to drop the Beavers, Coach Elwin Heiny's club upped its re cord to an outstanding 9-3. And the win guaranteed the Ducks of their first winning season since 1971. That may not seem impressive except when it's compared with the futility which encompassed the women s program before this year. And miracles weren't being promised at the start of this sea son But using five freshmen and two sophomores, Heinys squad has been something of a minor mira cle, and easily the surprise of the Northwest College Women's Sports Assn. It was an old-timer who was the deciding factor'against OSU, however. Junior Maggie Bonn dril led home five points in the final four minutes to carry Oregon to the win. Bonn only totaled six counters for the game, but her contributions down the stretch enabled the Ducks to grab the win. Freshman Julie Cushing led the Ducks with 19 points and 11 re bounds Oregon had to rally from a 24-21 deficit at intermission to secure its sixth straight win. It is the Ducks eighth win in their last nine outings against college com petition. Ducks get second SEATTLE—Coach Don Van Rossen had to eat a few of his own words this weekend, and it was probably the sweetest meal around as his Aqua Ducks finished second in the Northern Pacific Swimming and Diving Championships. Racking up a total of 390 points in the three-day meet, Oregon finished behind Washington's 440 %, far better than Van Rossen had expected Before the meet, Van Rossen had all but conceded first and second place to Washington and Simon Fraser because of his team's lack of depth, and he was even wondering if the Ducks could handle third place. Yet with nine teams participat ing, Oregon picked up six firsts in 13 swimming events and sent Simon Fraser dog-paddling to third, 25 points behind the Ducks. Oregon’s Steve Hamilton grab bed firsts in the 100-and 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard indi vidual medley, which qualifies him for the NCAA champsionships in each event. Hamilton's times in both the 200 backstroke, 1:53.73, and the individual medley, 1:54.58, are meet records. Also for Oregon, Bruce Wales won the 50-yard freestyle, in 21.65, Jay Evans captured first in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:43.45, and Ron Wigham netted the 200-yard breaststroke in a winning time of 2:11.76. In the diving, John Uoyd placed second in both the one-and three-meter boards, with 468.85 and 490.90, respectively. TEAM—Washington 440V Oregon 390. Simon Fraser 365. Puget Sound 340. Montana 287. Cen tral Washington State 238. Portland State 230. Idaho 132. Htghfane Community College 92 Gymnast win behind depth SEATTLE—The Oregon wo men’s gymnastics team compiled its second highest score of the season as it defeated Seattle Pacific 126.45-123.55, Saturday. The Ducks didn't win any of the four individual events but Wendy Halberg placed second in the vault ing, balance beam ad floor ex ercise while Karolyn Wold nabbed second in the uneven bars and third in the balance beam to pro vide the needed depth. Oregon’s previous high was 127-90 against Nevada-Reno last week. The Ducks travel to Hay ward, Calif., Saturday to compete in the Western Hemisphere Games before facing Chico State and Long Beach State in a three way meet in Chico, Calif., Sunday. Page 9
