_SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
Men look ahead, not back, as midpoint nears
Ihe Ducks are
2-5 in Pac-10
play, but the
second half of
the season may
be a little more
prosperous
than the first
CC We're
looking to
win about
seven or
eight more
games.
We’re look
ing forward
to the next
two weeks,
playing in
front of the
students.
Luke Ridnour
freshman,
point guard
_n
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Pacific-10 Conference season
just won’t get any easier for the Oregon
men’s basketball team.
A week after dropping two games
on their crucial southern California
road trip, the Ducks (11-6 overall, 2-5
Pac-10) will take on No. 7 Arizona on
Thursday, and then No. 1 Stanford
and California (14-5) the following
week.
On a positive note, all those games
will be played at McArthur Court.
Almost more important than those
games is the invisible milestone that
Oregon will pass after playing Arizona
State on Sunday: the Pac-lO’s midway
point. While the past may look bleak,
the future is bright if the Ducks can
win some games at home that they lost
on the road.
“We’re looking to win about seven or
eight more games,” freshman point
guard Luke Ridnour said. “We’re look
ing forward to the next two weeks,
playing in front of the students.”
Postseason posturing
With only a 2-5 conference record,
and games against the Wildcats, the
Cardinal and the Golden Bears loom
ing, the word “postseason” isn’t really
in Oregon’s vocabulary right now.
But with a little luck and a few key
wins in the second half of the season,
the Ducks may be able to think March
Madness after all.
Oregon would most likely need a
10-8 Pac-10 record to make the NCAA
Tournament. If the Ducks lose to Ari
zona twice and Stanford once, that
means Oregon would need to win the
rest of its conference matchups to
achieve that mark. But the Ducks
have already faced their tough road
tests against California, UCLA and
Southern California. In the second
half of the season, the Ducks will face
those teams in the friendly confines
of Mac Court, and could very well
beat them with a little help from the
Pit Crew.
Road warriors
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent
thought his team would be good on
the road, but so far the Ducks have
failed to win as a visitor in the Pac-10.
Kent, however, believes those losses
will help Oregon in the long run.
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons,”
Kent said. “We’re still growing as a
team.”
Kent said his team made mental
mistakes on the road that it might not
make at home. The Ducks will play
five more road games this season —
against Washington, Washington
State, Arizona, Arizona State and Ore
gon State — compared to six home
games.
The biggest toddler ever
Oregon’s 7-foot-2 center, Chris
Christoffersen, has “come of age” re
cently, according to Kent. The big man
is taking baby steps toward a starting
role as the Ducks’ center, and may
even find himself starting Thursday
against Arizona’s Loren Woods, one of
the premier centers in the country.
“We want to show the rest of the
conference we’re a force to be reck
oned with down low,” Christoffersen
said.
Christoffersen had the best game of
his Oregon career Saturday, scoring 15
points and grabbing seven rebounds
before fouling out late in the contest.
The usually timid big man dunked,
hit free throws and held his own on
defense in the post against UCLA.
Christoffersen had eight points against
USC last Thursday, and 11 against
Washington State in the game before
that.
The Jones-Bracey Express
Freddie Jones and Bryan Bracey
have been carrying Oregon on offense
throughout the 2000-01 season, and
they show no signs of slowing down.
Jones and Bracey combine for 34.2
points per game, more than 40 percent
of the Ducks’ total average. Bracey is
currently the Pac-lO’s leading scorer
at 19.4 points per contest.
UHii
Laura Smit Emerald
Oregon’s Chris Christoffersen netted a career-high 15 points against UCLA on Saturday.
Ailing Ducks climb back to health for Arizona trip
Laura Smit Emerald
Senior forward Brianne Meharry is just 19 points shy of 1,000 total
points for her career.
■Although not completely
healthy, Oregon will still have all
of its weapons available for the
Arizona trip this week
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
For the first time in two weeks, the
Oregon women’s basketball team may
have its entire lineup healthy for a
change.
Knock on wood.
Starting point guard Kourtney
Shreve will play this weekend in Ari
zona after being treat
ed for a mild concus
sion suffered in
Oregon’s game
against UCLA last
Saturday.
Senior forward
Angelina Wolvert,
who sprained the
medial collateral ligament of her left
knee Jan. 18 at Washington, will
again come off the bench against Ari
zona. Wolvert, the team’s leading
scorer, scored seven points in 17 min
utes against UCLA.
“Getting Ange back on the floor is
such a plus for this team,” Lindsey
Dion said. “She’s such a presence out
there.”
And Dion, who head coach Jody
Runge said is still not 100 percent, said
the swelling of her ankle is slowly
starting to go down.
Shreve led the No. 22 Ducks (12-5
overall, 5-2 Pacific-10 Conference)
with 11 points in the 54-43 victory
over the Bruins on Saturday. She is av
eraging 7.3 points and 2.7 rebounds
per game.
“I’m still a little light-headed,”
Shreve said before Tuesday’s practice,
the first time she had gone full speed
since being knocked unconscious in
Saturday’s game. “We’re ven lose to
being full strength now ... and defi
nitely more confident with Ange and
Lindsey back in the lineup.”
Meharry lights it up
Brianne Meharry will be searching
for the record books this weekend.
The senior forward is just 19 points
shy of the 1,000 career-point total, and
if she maintains her average this week
end (9.8 points a game) she will be
come the 15th player in school history
to accomplish such a feat.
Coincidentally, Meharry is expected
to start against Arizona Thursday, re
placing Wolvert, who recorded her
1,000th career point Dec. 9 at Texas.
“Bri is just an invaluable player,”
Runge said. “She is willing to take
whatever role we give her and do
whatever it takes to help the team suc
ceed. She’s a gamer.”
Things that make you go hmmm
Since the 1996-97 season, Oregon
has started each Pac-10 season with a
5-2 record. The last two years, of
course, have produced conference
championships.
In an almost identical scenario last ,
season, Oregon came home from a win
at UCLA to host the then-19th ranked
Arizona — and lost to the Wildcats, 73
66.
Hmmmmm.
The Pit is packed
Duck fans have jammed McArthur
Court this season, making the women’s
hoops team the biggest attraction in the
Pac-10.
Last season, Oregon ranked 12th na
tionally in total attendance, averaging
5,852 fans per contest. This year, the
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