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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1981)
sports Dwindling Ducks seek first conference win By JODY MURRAY Of th« Emerald It's like standing at a shooting gallery and watching the little metal ducks get blasted off the revolving wheel At the start of the men’s basketball season, Oregon had 12 players on the wheel. Then Ray Whiting redshirted for personal reasons. Pow. Then Gary Gatewood broke his wrist and Jerome Williams broke his shoulder. Pow Pow. And now Barry Walker, Oregon's speedy guard, is out for the next two games because of academic problems during fall term That last gunshot leaves Oregon coach Jim Haney with only eight players for Saturday’s game against the Stanford Cardinals in McArthur Court at 8:05 p m. Oregon has nowhere to go but up in Pac-10 competition after losses on the road to Arizona and Arizona State. The Sun Devils nuked the Ducks 104-64 for Oregon’s worst loss since 1968, when UCLA beat them twice by 41-point mar gins. The setbacks dropped the Ducks to 7-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference. "We didn’t play well in Arizona," Han ey said, "not as well as we are capable I feel we ll get back into our playing form against Stanford." Haney expects the Ducks to be emo tionally prepared for the Cards, who were the only Pac-10 team to compile a losing pre-conference record and are expected to be the Pac-10 doormats. Last year at home against the Cards, the Ducks were up by as much as 13 points in the second half but lost 60-59. "That’s certainly reason enough for incentive to go out and perform." . Mike Clark continues to pace the Ducks in both scoring (15.1) and rebounding (9.5). With the loss of Wil liams for the season, Clark is needed at the forward position. But despite his 6-9 stature, he has held his own at center. In the meantime, 7-0 sophomore Ron Burns has been anything but intimidating. He played 25 minutes against Arizona State but didn’t get a single rebound. Clark is followed in the scoring column by forward John Grieg (11.5) and fresh man point guard Fred Cofield (11.4). Overall, Oregon’s shooting percentage has risen to 499, led by freshman for ward David Brantley’s .563. The Ducks three freshmen (John Cheatham is the third) have a combined shooting per centage of .528. Stanford is led by forward Brian Welch, who has averaged 16.2 points a game. Stanford is also having its prob lems at the center position, where 6-10 sophomore Dave Nussbaum is averaging only 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds a game. Walker will miss two games And then there were eight. Because of academic reasons, Oregon junior guard Barry Walker has been benched by coach Jim Haney for Saturday’s game against Stanford and Monday's contest versus Califor nia. "When (Haney) told me yesterday, it was kind of a letdown,” Walker said. “But I’ll still be the old Barry, cheering 'em on in practice." The Ducks had already lost three of the original 12 players available when the season began Walker, who is petitioning the University’s Academic Board, said “I was studying harder than I ever have, I just didn’t do as good as I was sup posed to in finals.” The board will access his petition early next week. Walker said. He ad ded that Haney told him he has a "50-50 chance” to have his petition accepted. In the meantime, he said, he has registered for 16 hours this term Haney said Thursday he might con sider holding a second tryout to bol ster the number of players on his Barry Walker diminishing team, but “we’d spend more time teaching them fundamen tals in practice and they wouldn't help us in the games ” Women caqers come home for two aames The eighth-ranked Oregon women's basketball team, nipped Monday night by Arizona State, return to McArthur Court Saturday night against Boise State at 5:45 p.m. The game will be the first league contest for both squads. Oregon enters league action with a 9-5 pre-league record. Boise State is 3-6. “We shouldn’t have any problems with Boise State if we play our game,” said Duck coach Elwin Heiny. On Sunday, the Ducks take on Louisiana State University at 4 p.m. The Ducks and LSU have met once already this season, at the Queens Classic. It was the Ducks' first game of the season and they breezed to a 83-57 win over the Tigers from Baton Rouge. But Heiny is worried about LSU. “LSU will be a tough one for us,” he said. “They have two of the top guards in the nation in jzmu. Food Service Joyce Walker (20.4 points a game) and Jackie White (13.6 points a game). They will be one of the best teams we ll play at home this year.” Boise State and the Ducks have tangled three times before. In 1978, Oregon bowed to the Broncos, 69-65. The Ducks have won the last two meetings — 93-70 in 1979 and 84-55 in 1980. “We’re really glad to be play ing at home after that trip," said assistant coach Bev Bland. Women gymnasts face PSU Oregon’s women flying Ducks gymnastics team returns to ac tion after the winter break when they host Portland State University Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Gerlinger Annex. * FISHBOWL GRAND OPENING Food Special: Deli # 5 Combo Cheese Reg. $1.20 Sale $1.00 Live Entertainment at Noon Terry Bell Today’s BEER GARDEN features: ATTACK AND THE FUN ID Required 4-7 pm EMU Courtyard >5 Page 8 “The team is really looking good in practice,” said Oregon coach Henriette Heiny. The Ducks finished last season ranked 11th nationally. "We want to see smooth and conditioned routines in this meet. We’ll also be trying new tricks here and there.” Those tricks will be performed by junior Sara Gustafson, fresh man Maureen Nolan and Holly Holms and either Jeanette i Stewart or Chris Krueger, both sophomores. Junior Dawn Haberland, who has alternated with Gustafson as the team’s top all-arounder the past two years, will miss the meet with a shoulder injury. Heiny expects her back in the lineup by midseason. Portland State is coached by George Harris, who was once an Oregon assistant coach under Heiny. m ACTION SURPLUS Lane County’s Only Surplus Outdoor Store has all your winter sports clothing needs Full line of wool clothing inner wear outer wear foul weather gear footwear camping equipment and much more come out and see for yourself 4251 Franklin Blvd. on the Glenwood Strip just before the Springfield Bridge. 746-1301 Friday, January 9,1981
