Oregon daily emerald., January 20, 1978, Page 13, Image 13

sports
A rivalry-filled weekend for Mac Court
Oregon vs. Oregon State
and this meeting counts
By MIKE GRADY
Of the Emerald
The Oregon Ducks, 2-2 in Pac-8 conference play, will be
hoping to come out of Saturday afternoon's game against Oregon
State in a tie for third place with the Beavers.
Scheduled as the only Pac-8 action this weekend, the game will
be telecast live from Mac Court over the NBC/TV's sports network
at 4 p.m. It will be the Ducks’ last Pac-8 game until Feb. 2.
“It means everything,” said Oregon coach Dick Harter in refer
ence to the importance of this season s second “civil war” action
between the two schools. “It means a lot more than just the
league standing too.”
“If we win this game, we put ourselves in good position,” he
said. And by good position Harter doesn’t mean just the aspect of
where Oregon would physically stand in the league, but the
psychological aspect of where they would be as well.
It’s no secret to Oregon followers that consistency has been an
absent element in this year’s squad. If Harter’s troops are to level
out in any games this season, tomorrow’s, as well as the following
week’s game against the University of Cal.-Davis, would be the
ones.
One man who’d like to see things work out differently is Beaver
head coach Ralph Miller. Since Dec. 4, on a night that Miller
watched his team get trounced by the Ducks in a non-league
game in Portland 78-51, he hasn’t had too much to frown about.
The Beavers have won nine of last 12 since that date and cur
rently hold down second place in the Pac-8 with a 3-1 record.
The big surprise is that they’ve done all this after losing their big
offensive punch in 6-10 center Steve Johnson. After Johnson
broke a bone in his foot and was relegated to red shirting, many
people counted the Beavers out and figured them to aim for the
future with their talented freshmen and the eventual return of
Johnson. But not so.
“After Steve's injury, the players realized that they were gonna
have to do more themselves,” Miller offered as a reason for
success. “It’s just a matter of trying to improve our execution and
becoming a smarter basketball team. It takes time for the younger
players to learn but they’re doing it. They’ve really adjusted well.
Harter agreed that the Beavers, who invade the Pit Saturday,
will be of a different quality than the team the Ducks faced earlier
this year in Portland and echoed Miller’s views on what has
happened in the meantime.
“They’ve had some misfortune and when that happens you
usually get closer together,” said Harter. “I’d say that they ve
done so far what we did last year.’’
Photo by Stave SctmeMer
Mjke Cjark may hgVe to see extra duty this weekend, as the injury to guard Rob Closs might force Dick Harter
to borrow one of his forwards to fill the gap. Tip-off for the televised contest with OSU is 4 p.m.
Flying Ducks host potent ASU
In what Coach Bill Ballester
terms the "barn-burner of the
year," the third-ranked Flying
Ducks of Oregon will face their
toughest test of the season tonight
when the dazzling and inventive
Arizona State Sun Devils invade
(Continued from Page 12)
Swimming
of the meet lies on our divers tak
ing one and two in both events.
That is one area where they
(Puget Sound) are not two or three
swimmers deep.
“We saw Puget Sound at the
Husky invitational and they did a
super job. By their current times
matched against ours it will be
very dose,” Schleicher added.
Oregon must also gear for Mon
tana, which sports four good
swimmers and Portland State,
which Schleicher admits is pretty
much of a secret. For Montana,
Charlie and Jim Billings head the
crop, followed by freestyler Tim
Morean and Doug Amonce. Youth
could play a part over the
weekend.
“It really depends on what
freshmen they (Portland State
and Montana) have,” said
Schleicher, who has the inside
track on only two Portland State
swimmers, Jim Mendahl and
Kenny Rousch.
Two Ducks who most likely will
not make the trip, according to
Schleicher, will be Steve Graffeo
and Ron Wiggim. Wiggim will not
compete due to an allergy and
academic commitments.
Graffeo was injured at
Tuesday's Southern Oregon meet
when he attempted to retrieve a
basketball hoop near the pool side
and was knocked unconscious by
the board.
Photo by Mai* Stewart
Gene Christensen will be one of Oregon's keys as an all-around per
former in the most important dual meet weekend of the year, as the
Ducks host Arizona State and New Mexico.
Mac Court for what should be one
of the finest gymnastic meets the
nation has to offer.
The ASU match up will be the
first in a back-to-back home stand
for the Ducks, as Western Athletic
Conference powerhouse New
Mexico comes to town Saturday
night to take on the Ducks.
A perennial national foe of
Oregon, Arizona State boasts
perhaps the nation’s most
dynamic team. Led by All
Americans Scott Barkley and
Steve Economides, the Sun De
vils are in Ballester’s words, "the
flashiest and most outgoing team
in the nation.
“ASU is known as a true throw
throw and go' (trick) team,” said
Ballester. “They use some wild
routines that really are exciting to
watch. We’ve had them up here
before and some of their perfor
mances are really wild to look at.
The crowd really gets a treat see
ing them perform."
"This will undoubtedly be one of
the biggest meets of the year,” he
added. ‘‘We have been pointing to
ASU for quite some time now and
we feel confident we will do a good
job against them.
"Our practices have all been
good and hard and I think the
squad is ready to compete in top
form. Our main concern at this
stage is that we perform to our top
abilities once we get out on the
floor."
According to Ballester, the key
to the Ducks’ performance against
ASU will be on the side horse,
where Oregon has one of the best,
Tom Truedson.
“We have probably the world’s
best in Truedson and it will be
tough for ASU to match up with us
in this event,” said Ballester.
Of course, the Ducks will have
the rest of their usual star-studded
cast on hand for tonight’s meet,
led by two-time high school All
American Jim Kelch.
After facing the Sun Devils to
night, the Ducks will have to dig
into the reserve tank for some
extra fuel, as New Mexico comes
to MacCourt Saturday night to
challenge the Ducks.
The Lobos face the unenviable
task of going against the Ducks
with several of their star perform
mers not in the lineup. Perry
Genovese, the strongest per
former for the Lobos, is out with a
shoulder injury, while teammate
Chuck Walter, who is the defend
ing NCAA champ on the side
horse, is also unable to compete.
And as if the medical report isn't
bad enough for the Lobos, all
around champ Steve Ortis has
quit the squad.
However, the Lobos are not
without some firepower, as three
of their top four all-around com
petitors have posted scores of 50
points or better. Balance appears
to be the strongest asset for the
Lobos.
In addition to Kelch, who holds
the Oregon all-around record of
over 108 total points, the Ducks
will counter with Gene Christen
sen, who has also gone over the
50 mark with an optional total of
51.70, and Jim Hamilton, who has
a season best A-A total of 50.15.
Meet time for tonight’s impor
tant matchup with ASU will be at
7:30 p.m., while the New Mexico
meet has been moved back to
8:30 p.m.
The Ducks will be attempting to
extend their string of 25 straight
home victories with a win over
ASU tonight. Undoubtedly ASU
will have something to say about
that.
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