Oregon 66
Simon, Bibby steal the show
Miles Simon and Mike
Bibby combined to score
45points in Arizona’s
win over the Ducks
By Rob Moseley
Spoils Reporter
Third-ranked Arizona stepped
into McArthur Court Saturday af
ternoon and delivered a message.
The subject was the Wildcats’
domination of the Pacific-10 Con
ference and the rest of the nation,
and the couriers were Arizona’s
starting backeourt of senior Miles
Simon and sophomore Mike Bibby.
The pair drove the point home
soundly by combining to over
come a sluggish Arizona start and
unimpressive play by the front
court to put Oregon away.
“They are a very excellent team
on the perimeter," Oregon head
coach Ernie Kent said. “We knew
that one of those guys would step
up, and both certainly did and
played extremely well."
Sometimes the numbers alone
speak for themselves: 45 points,
eight assists, 17-of-33 shooting
and six of 13 from three-point
range from Simon and Bibby.
It was, however, Bibby’s and Si
mon’s teammates, coaches and
opponents that spoke volumes
about the pair.
“They’regood players,” Arizona
center A.J. Bramlett said. “We
know they’re going to hit us when
we’re open if we just run the court.”
Arizona head coach Lute Olson,
who has coached 20 consecutive
20-win teams, had heard this mes
sage before.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise
to anyone,” Olson said. “Both of
these guys have a way of turning it
up when you really need it the
most. Not only in terms of how
they scored, but they did a good
job of providing the leadership
and making sure we stayed sound
with our game plan.”
Oregon senior Jamar Curry was
faced with the task of guarding one
of the two nearly every time he
was on the court, and he came
away impressed.
“This team knows its strengths,
and they go to them,” Curry said.
“They’re great players. When
you’re talented and smart, that’s a
big part of the game.”
Talent plus smarts usually equals
NBA riches, and no matter how im
pressive the numbers Bibby and Si
mon put up against the Ducks, they
should be dwarfed come draft day
when both should be lottery picks.
Although just a sophomore, Bibbv
is not expected to return to Tucson
foranother season.
One aspect required of an NBA
player is the ability to put shaky
performances behind him, a task
both players were faced with fol
lowing an 83-82 win over Arizona
State on Feb. 15 and a 71-70 victo
ry over Oregon State on Thursday
that took a last-second prayer by
Simon to win.
“I said after the game [on Thurs
day] that we were going to be a new
team on Saturday,” Simon said,
“and we came out and did it."
Both players knew beating the
Ducks at home would be no easy
chore.
“We weren’t really focused
against Oregon State,” Bibby said.
“But we knew ifwe wanted to win,
we had to come here and play tough
and play as hard as we could.”
That meant taking over the game
from the backcourt, something
both Bibby and Simon can handle.
“The guards know we’re tough
to stop," Bibby said. “So I was just
telling them if you got it, take it,
and things will happen."
Simon got it and took it early in
the first half, hoisting up a three
pointer that found nothing but the
bottom of the net. Fortunately for
Oregon fans, the ball didn’t pass
through the hoop first, and the
sellout crowd of more than 9,000
voices quickly reminded him of
the airball each time Simon had
the ball in the first half.
Loss: Bibby sparked 17-6 run in first half
M Continued from Page 7
the perimeter,” Smith said. “We gave them some open
looks and they hit them.”
Particularly when it mattered the most.
The key for Oregon during its recent string of suc
cesses has been its ability to maintain a five- to six
minute stretch where its offense and defense are
clicking together. But on Saturday, every time Ore
gon started a run, it was squashed by Arizona.
After going scoreless in the first four minutes, 11
seconds of the game, Oregon rattled off eight straight
points to go up 8-7. Bibby answered, though, by
scoring eight consecutive points, including back-to
back three-pointers, sparking a 17-6 Arizona run
that put the Wildcats up by 10.
The Ducks cut away at the lead and were within
five points, 30-25, with 2:53 left in the first half and
looked to have some momentum going. But with Ore
gon having to sit center Flo Hartenstein because of
foul trouble, Arizona was able to work inside with lit
tle resistance.
Subsequently, the Wildcats scored eight points —
all under the basket — to end the half up 38-29.
Four of those points were by reserve forward Eu
gene Edgerson on consecutive tip-ins off missed
shots.
"I thought it was a great job by our guys of being
mentally ready to play,” said Arizona head coach
Lute Olson. “This is a tough place to play and this
was a real critical win. We came out and got the
lead and kept the crowd under control. Every time
they made a run, we seemed to answer it pretty
well.”
Madden scored Oregon’s first six points in the
second half as the Ducks opened with an 8-2 run
that brought them within three.
But once again, the Wildcats had an answer —
and once again it was Bibby. The sophomore point
guard scored 10 points as Arizona broke the game
wide open with a 17-2 run that left Oregon down by
18 with 11:03 remaining. From then on, Oregon was
all but out of the game.
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