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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2001)
Monday Best Bet NCAA: Iowa State at Kansas 6 p.m., ESPN SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Laura Smit Emerald Oregon’s Freddie Jones (20) tries to get past Donnell Knight (2) and Alton Mason Sunday. Massacre at Mac Court ■ A year after the “Miracle at Mac Court,” Arizona State blows out Oregon by 27 points By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald Toward the end of Sunday’s Oregon-Arizona State men’s basketball matchup, McArthur Court was rocking hard, bring ing back memories of last sea son’s last-second Ducks victo ry against the Sun Devils. This year, though, the fans were only cheering because they wanted the Ducks to keep Arizona State under 100 points. The Sun Devils (10-10 over all, 2-7 Pacific-10 Conference) obliterated the Ducks (12-7, 3 6), 99-72, in a game Oregon head coach Ernie Kent called “the worst loss I’ve ever been as sociated with.” The defeat was the worst for the Ducks at Mac Court since a 92-60 loss at the hands of Ari zona in 1993. The blowout came three days after Oregon upset No. 7 Arizona, 79-67, on the same floor. “We were shut down,” Kent said. “Mentally and physical ty” The Ducks started the game by missing five of their first six shots, and committed two turnovers in the first four min utes of action. Sloppy play on both ends of the floor kept the game close until Arizona State started to pull away with 10 minutes left in the first half. With 9:30 on the clock, ASU’s Kyle Dodd hit a three pointer to put the Sun Devils up 22-18. That shot started a six-minute stretch when Ari zona State hit seven straight shots, while Oregon went 5 for-12. The Sun Devils carried that momentum into halftime, along with a 48-38 lead. “At halftime, we discussed picking up our intensity,” Ore gon forward Luke Jackson said. But the Ducks weren’t able to match the Sun Devils’ hot shooting in the second half, as ASU came out of the break just as hot as it went into it. The Sun Devils opened the second frame with a 21-4 run over four minutes, and the blowout was sealed. Arizona State’s Awvee Storey, who led all scorers with 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, said the Sun Devils wanted to avenge last year’s “Miracle at Mac Court.” “Last year hurt a lot,” Storey said. “We had that in the back of our heads today.” Oregon’s defense, which held Arizona to 35 percent shooting Thursday night, al lowed ASU nearly twice that on Sunday. The Sun Devils hit 62 percent of their shots, well above their season average of 44 percent. “Defensively, we were just flat-out horrible,” Kent said. “We had no energy, no tough ness.” The Ducks’ lack of defense Turn to Men’s, page 10 It’s time to decide which sort of team Oregon will be ^;HAKUNA * ^ MATATA JEFF SMITH So, what did you do on your Sunday afternoon? My only hope was that you didn’t have to suffer through one of the most ghastly basketball games that my two little eyes have ever witnessed. Seriously, it was pitiful. Only two days after dominating the sev enth-ranked team in the nation in magnifi cent fashion, the Oregon men’s basketball team stumbled, bumbled and crumbled into mediocrity in a 99-72 defeat to the 2-7 Arizona State Sun Devils. For those 8,863 people in attendance at McArthur Court, you deserve an apology — and don’t worry, you got one. “I first want to apologize to these fans here because this team should never come out and play with that type of effort,” Ore gon head coach Ernie Kent said. “There is no excuse for the way we played. We just flat-out shut down ... shut down mentally, shut down physically.” Not even ‘Mama could have predicted there’d be days like this. Arizona State shot a blistering 61.9 per cent from the field and held Oregon to just 38.5 percent, including an abysmal 4-for 22 showing from beyond the arc. The Ducks were out-rebounded 40-27 and out hustled in many key situations. Oregon (12-7 overall, 3-6 Pacific-10 Con ference) was only down by 10 at halftime, but Arizona State scored 21 of the first 25 points in the second half to put the Ducks away. Oregon’s lethargic play had many Ducks fans scratching their head in disbelief as if thinking, “Is this the same team that just knocked off Arizona?” And that’s what made this game so frus trating to watch. Everyone in the building Sunday knew what type of team Oregon can be. We all saw the talent, the poise and the determination in Thursday’s 79-67 vic tory against No. 7 Arizona — a game that now seems like forever ago. After that win, the players admitted that their upset heroics wouldn’t mean a thing if they didn’t get the job done against the Sun Devils. Well, they didn’t. And now a team that appeared on the verge of making some noise in the Pac-10, must look themselves in the mirror and decide which team they will be: Thursday’s version or Sunday’s? “You gotta just throw it away,” junior guard Freddie Jones said. “We’ve been through this a few times this year. It’s not the first time we’ve dealt with a loss like this. We all have to be as one and let it hit us and bounce back from it.” It’s tough for returning Oregon players such as Jones, who experienced last season’s trip tire NCAA Tournament, to deal with de feats like Sunday’s. But it’s time to forget about the Big Dance for now. It’s still not . completely out of the picture, but an invita tion to the NIT is still well within reach. Turn to Smith, page 12 Duck wrestlers fall short of beating Arizona State ■The Oregon wrestling team loses its fourth straight match by less than five points By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald Robbed. The word comes to mind when one thinks of tragic Oregon sports moments such as the men’s basketball team’s overtime loss to Washington on Jan. 18, or the football team’s last-second loss to UCLA in 1999. Now the Oregon wrestling team has a tragedy of its own. After leading No. 15 ranked Arizona State for seven matches, Oregon could have clinched the upset with a win at 157 pounds. Junior Eugene Harris, ranked No. 19 in the nation, knew he would need at least a decision against No. 13 Rocky Smart to push the Ore gon lead to nine points and secure a win. Smart and Harris exchanged take downs and escapes throughout regula tion for a 4-4 deadlock. In overtime, where a takedown results in a win, Smart gained position over Harris out of bounds with one second remaining. Harris responded with a “side whizzer,” a move that prevents control by grabbing onto the opponents’ hips. But after a deliberation between offi cials, Smart was awarded the take down and the win. “It was a tough call,” head coach Chuck Kearney said. “You’d like to see in a situation like that to allow the wrestlers determine it rather than the refs.” “When they made the call I was sur prised,” Harris said. “I’ve been in that position before in matches and I’ve scored out of that position.” Arizona State went on to win the fi nal match by pin to earn the comeback victory. “We want this match to be a motiva tor for us,” Kearney said. “Our main goal for the season is to win the Pac-10 Championship and we're right where we want to be.” The Ducks fell victim to slowdown tactics in the five matches won by Ari zona State. The Sun Devils “do not wrestle with an aggressive style,” Kearney said. “If you allow the opponent to control the tempo, they are getting what they want. We don’t believe in [a slowdown style] but we have to be ready for it.” Arizona State’s No. 15 David Dou glas needed only one takedown against sophomore Brian Watson to earn a win after two and a half rounds of virtually no action. Senior Doug Lee earned a hard fought 8-5 win against a complacent R.D. Pursell at 184 pounds in his last regular season match at McArthur Court. “I was pushing it,” Lee said. “I got much more tired than he did. I don’t think I could have scored much more on him.” Sophomore Tony Overstake earned one of his biggest wins of the season at 141 pounds. The sophomore came into Turn to Wrestling, page 9 .... Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald Despite sophomore Tony Overstake’s 11-5 decision over Arizona State’s Dana Holland at 14T pounds, the Ducks stHllosethematch. .- •
