Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Wednesdayjanuary 16,2002
UO sloppy
in win over
Willamette
■Oregon is outhustled by Willamette,
butthe Ducks still win by a hefty margin
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
McArthur Court turned 75 years old
Tuesday night.
At times, the Ducks looked like the “Tall
Firs” from 75 years ago — and it wasn’t just
their pulled-up socks.
The Oregon men’s basketball team went
back in time by playing the Division III
Willamette Bearcats in a rematch of the first
game played at Mac Court, 75 years ago,
when the Tall Firs won 38-10. The Ducks
won Tuesday’s contest
by 23 points, 71-48, but
were often outplayed by
the underdog Bearcats.
“They brought energy
and hustle, and that’s
what they were sup
posed to do,” said Ore
gon guard Freddie Jones,
who led all scorers with 19 points Tuesday
night.
There were enough festivities and special
events to take the spotlight off the poor game
play, but the game continued nonetheless.
The two teams combined for only 10 total
points in the game’s first six-and-a-half
minutes. Willamette went on various scor
ing droughts that lasted 2:14,2:38,3:03 and
10:40. The Bearcats shot only 17.2 percent
from the floor in the first half, and the
Ducks were also below average, shooting
35.5 percent.
“It was a tough game for us to get up for af
ter Stanford and Cal,” Oregon head coach
Ernie Kent said, referring to the Ducks’ last
two wins against Pacific-10 Conference foes.
For three glorious minutes Tuesday
Turn to Basketball, page 14
Adam Amato Emerald
Senior guard Freddie Jones scored a game-high 19 points in Oregon’s 71-48 win over Willamette.
The Pit celebrates
its former players
■ Nearly 50 former Ducks reunite at Mac Court
to honor the building’s 75th birthday
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Unable to find a pen, Greg Bell began asking around.
Finally, after securing a black marker, he walked
over to Ret. Navy Adm. John Dick to see if Dick could
sign his shirt for him.
But Bell had to wait in line. Dick, 83, a member of
Oregon’s storied 1939 championship team, was sur
rounded by fans young and old, all wanting to be in
the presence of the former “Tall Fir.”
And that was just fine with Bell, who, while he
waited, signed a few autographs of his own; after all,
he was a former Duck, too, having played at Oregon
from 1981-85.
It was that kind of night at McArthur Court on
Tuesday, where the Ducks’ 71-48 win over Willamette
received second billing.
This night belonged to the venerable Mac Court,
which was celebrating its 75th anniversary in style by
inviting back nearly 50 former players and coaches.
“Once a Duck always a Duck,” said Bell, who was
voted the most inspirational player on his team two
years in a row in his time at Oregon. “This may sound
cheesy, but more than any one game or play, it’s really
the fans that I’ve always remembered.”
While the 8,561 fans in attendance Tuesday were
given an opportunity to recognize the faces of the
past, the celebration also gave the current Ducks a
profound history lesson.
“I’ve been here four years, and I really have never
understood the whole history of this building until
tonight,” said Freddie Jones, who led the Ducks with
19 points. “Those were the people that paved the way
for us.”
All around the Pit, there were moments to mark the
occasion. On the scoreboard, in place of Ducks, was
Webfoots. During a first half timeout, instead of a fan,
former Oregon player Dave Kafoury (1964-66) partic
ipated in the “Outback Steakhouse 3-point Thriller,”
making a respectable four threes in 30 seconds.
And on the court, Oregon coach Ernie Kent was
wearing an eye-catching lime green jacket that he
called his “throwback outfit,” and most of the Oregon
players were sporting knee-high white socks.
Turn to Mac Court, page 14 ,
Oregon wrestlers break from action, prepare for championships
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon’s Shaun Williams (left) lost to Michigan’s A.J. Grant (right) Friday at McArthur Court and
injured his ankle in the process, Williams and the Ducks have two weeks before their next match.
■The Oregon team focuses on getting healthy
before its next match, two weeks from now
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
After the Jan. 11 loss to No. 4 Michigan ,
which followed dual meets against then-No. 11
Northern Iowa and then-No. 16 Nebraska, the
Oregon wrestling squad finally has some time
off from competition.
Don’t expect the Ducks to sit back for a
minute, though.
“It’s the start of our Pac-10 and national cham
pionship training program,” head coach Chuck
Kearney said.
The next three weeks, during
which the Ducks will face Pacif
ic and Central Washington at
McArthur Court on Jan. 25,
Kearney said that his plan is to
“extremely fatigue” his team in
his two-a-day practices in order to prepare them
for the remainder of the season.
A few of the Oregon wrestlers are coming back
from injuries, and the ideal goal for the team — to
be healthy and in excellent shape for the Pacific
10 Conference dual meets and championship por
tion of the season — seems to be a probability.
Jason Harless, who is 7-0 on the season at the
133-pound weight class but has not competed
since Dec. 1, is back on the practice mat wrestling
at full strength. Tonv Overstake, who last wrestled
WRESTLING
Dec. 20, still has lingering knee pain but is now
drilling in “modified” live wrestling, Kearney said.
Shane Webster also has returned for the Ducks,
and Kearney said that he is wrestling “as well as
any of the guys coming back.”
On the other side of the injury scale, Eric Webb
and Shaun Williams have been sidelined for the
Ducks since Friday night’s loss to Michigan.
Heavyweight wrestler Webb, who aggravated his
toe injury on Friday, now will have his foot in an
immobilization boot for the next 10 days. Williams
is suffering from an ankle sprain and has missed
the Ducks’ last two practices.
Conference foes
In the latest Pac-10 polls, released Jan. 7, Oregon
is ranked No. 3 behind Oregon State and No. 1 Ari
zona State. The Sun Devils are the defending Pac
10 champions and feature wrestlers ranked in the
top-four in the conference in eight of the 10 weight
classes, including the No. 1 wrestler in the nation
at 141 pounds, junior Eric Larkin.
This weekend the Sun Devils, ranked 10th in
the nation, travel to Ohio State to compete in the
2002 Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals. Their first
round opponent will be No. 6 Iowa State. The Cy
clones of Iowa State feature the best 165-pound
wrestler in the country, Joe Heskett. Iowa State’s
lineup also includes No. 1 Cael Sanderson at 197
pounds, who is 20-0 this season and 138-0 in his
collegiate career.
Turn to Wrestling, page 14