Men’s
continued from page 9
control of the rest of the half and hit
the locker room with a 48-30 lead.
Jones ended the game with 20
points and his second-straight Pape
Jam Most Valuable Player trophy.
The senior from Gresham earned
co-MVP honors for his 23-point
performance against Massachusetts
in the Pape Jam last season.
“It’s special coming home,”
Jones said. “But I feel like I have
support all throughout the state. ”
The Louisville defense stymied
Oregon’s guards in the first half,
but after the Ducks’ big men
opened things up down low,
Jones and the other guards had
free reign in the second frame.
Jones had his first dunk — a re
verse jam on a break after he stole
the ball — four minutes into the
second half. The senior showed
his acrobatic skills later when he
took an off-target pass from Rid
nour and converted it into a re
verse lay-in on a fast break.
“We knew that if we just kept
going, that later in the game we’d
get some easy buckets,” Jones
said.
Pitino had few positive things
to say about his team, but gushed
over the play of the Ducks.
“They’ll be the best offensive
team we will face all year,” said
Pitino, whose Cardinals play in
Conference USA. “They’re fun to
watch on film, not fun to play
against.”
The coach said he was most im
pressed with the play of Oregon’s
point guard and floor general.
“I love Ridnour,” Pitino said.
“He’s got great savvy. He stayed
within himself tonight and made
everybody else better. ”
The Cardinals’ breakdown
came when they failed to imple
ment Pitino’s trademark full-court
press. Louisville’s players were
not fast enough to keep up with
Oregon’s guards, and they were
too small to defend Oregon’s big
men. The result was a far cry from
Louisville’s season-opener, when
the Cardinals beat South Alabama
92-38 in Kentucky.
“I didn’t pay attention to that
game,” Pitino said. “I pay atten
tion to practices, and we had an
awful practice (Friday). Some
where in the middle of all the situ
ations is the truth. ”
The Ducks, meanwhile, will
head out on their first road trip of
the season this week as they travel
to U-Mass for a rematch with the
Minutemen on Tuesday. Oregon
will face Portland in the Rose City
on Sunday, and head to Minneso
ta to play the Golden Gophers on
Dec. 10.
Peter Hockaday is a sports reporter for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
Men’s side
continued from page 9
hoping they’d be quicker than us.”
Combined with 6-foot-9 center
Brian Helquist and 6-foot-8 forward
Robert Johnson, Christoffersen
helped patrol the paint and force
Louisville to make just 37.5 percent
of its shots. j
Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds and
scored eight points, while Helquist
scored 10 points in his 22 rr/inutes of
action that all came with
Christoffersen on the bench as the two
rotated in-and-out together.
“Every time we can get Chris,
Brian and Robert to come out and
have a good night, then we feel
we’re going to be really hard to stop
that night,” said Freddie Jones.
Six-foot-10 forward Mark Michaelis
didn’t play Saturday because of back
spasms, but he’s also involved in the re
volving big men, including Jay Ander
son, the head coach Ernie Kent is excit
ed about using in different situations.
“We have five big guys that allow us
a lot of freedom and a lot of miles there
if needed,” Kent said. “They’re effec
tive right now as a group.”
And a big reason why is Christof
fersen, who admits that he’s a long way
from where he wants to be. He missed
five of the six free throws he shot. He
wants to move his feet quicker on de
fense. And he wants to stay out of foul
trouble.
New Louisville head coach Rick
Pitino came away impressed with
Christoffersen, but saw another area
that the Oregon center can improve on.
“I think when the big guy leams to
pass the ball better out of the post and
pass to the weak side rather than just to
the top, it’s going to make him really dif
ficult to play against,” Pitino said. “He’s
7-2.”
Yes, that’s tall. But height without
confidence isn’t useful.
Jeff Smith is the assistant sports editor
for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
Women’s
continued from page 9
Oregon’s guards, Curry and
Shaquala Williams, who com
bined for 43 points on 13-of-25
shooting.
“We’re still finding our chem
istry with each other,” Curry said
of Williams. “I think today was
the first game that we both
clicked on all cylinders.”
Texas Christian center Sandora
Irvin, niece of former NFL star
Michael Irvin and a high school
All-American last year, scored 20
points for the Frogs. But she was
held in check for most of the
game by Oregon’s posts, senior
Alyssa Fredrick and freshman
Andrea Bills.
“We knew they were a very
athletic team and when you have
teams like that, their goal is to get
out in transition,” Williams said.
“Our goal was to improve on our
defensive transition, slow them
down and make them beat us in a
five-on-five situation. And we
did all those things.”
Offensively, the Ducks were
able to establish presence in the
paint, which opened the outside
game for the guards. Oregon shot
better than 45 percent from the
floor and 44 percent from three
point range.
“We realize that this season
wasn’t going to be easy, that there
would be a few bumps, and that
we might not come out of the pre
season in great form,” Williams
said. “We just wanted to improve
every game and I think we’ve
done that.”
Texas Tech
Improvement will be key
tonight as the Ducks host Texas
Tech at 7 p.m.
Last year, in Lubbock, Texas,
the then-14th-ranked Ducks fell
to the llth-ranked Lady Raiders,
79-75, in overtime. This year,
Texas Tech (1-1 overall) — a 64
BO winner over Oregon State on
Saturday — comes to Eugene as
the favorite.
Like Oregon, the Raiders are
anchored by their backcourt.
Sophomores Natalie Ritchie and
Jia Perkins lead the Raiders with
a combined 35.5 points per
game.
Adam Jude is the sports editor for the
Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
Women’s side
continued from page 9
ahead for good at 13-4.
“At one point, we were trading twos
for threes,” TCU head coach Jeff Mittie
said. “And you can’t do that. ”
At the end of the first half, the Ducks
shot 44.4 percent from downtown, setting
the pace for what would later open up the
Ducks’ inside game. Freshman Andrea
Bills, after scoring only two points in the
first half, penalized the TCU defense for
eight points late in the second half.
The Homed Frogs (2-1 overall) out
rebounded the Ducks by two, 38-36,
but it was Oregon’s ability to play an
up-tempo offense off a quick transition
that led to the wide-open looks.
“Our execution both offensively and
defensively enabled us to shoot well,
be comfortable and not be so tight,”
Curry said*
Curry led the Ducks with four three
pointers, and Williams and Edwards
pitched in with two of their own. Over
all, the Ducks were 8-of-18 from be- *
yond the arc and established a part of
their game that was sorely lacking be
fore the Pape Jam. Without a dominant *
inside force that it has had in the past,
Oregon’s three-point shooting becomes
more important this season.
“We didn’t force the threes and real
ly got some good penetration,” Oregon
head coach Bev Smith said. “(We)
move the ball so we spread them and
now we can use some of our quickness
to penetrate. When we kick it, we have
people sliding and getting some
rhythm, and when you’re a shooter,
that’s very important. ”
Hank Hager is a sports reporter for the Oregon
Daily Emerald. He can be reached at
hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
WORLD AIDS DAY
December 1st
Join the University Health Center’s World AIDS Day Ceremony
Friday, November 30 at 12:00 p.m.
In front of the Health Center (13th & Agate)
Student Speakers • Reflection • Music • Ribbon Ceremony
Performance by UO Music School Saxophone Quartet
A Styrax (Japanese Snowdrop Tree) will be rededicated in memory of
UO students, faculty and staff whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS
U N I VERSIT Y
HEALTH CENTER
We’re a matter of degrees ^
Open weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., except Tuesdays (9 a.m.), and Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Appointments and after hours: 346-2770 • Web: http://healthcenter.uoregon.edu/