Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, January 29,2002
Best Bet
NCAA Basketball:
Kentucky at Florida, 6 p.m., ESPN
Mens’ teams fight for last tourney spot
■ Washington, Washington State and Oregon State
all hope to finish eighth and snag a tournament spot
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
At the halfway mark of the Pacific-10 Conference schedule,
three men’s basketball teams are vying for one coveted spot.
From here on out, the intensity grows, the urgency mounts
and the room for error shrinks.
Just three games separate these three teams in the stand
ings, with the winner in the end being rewarded with an ex
tension of their season.
What’s at stake is a spot in the Pac-10 Men’s Basketball
Tournament from March 7-9 at the Staples Center in Los An
geles. At the end of the conference schedule, only the top
eight teams get to participate and compete for an automatic
invitation to the NCAA Tournament.
So the race for No. 8 is on, and the three
contenders are the three Northwest schools
besides Oregon.
Oregon State (3-6) is currently in eighth
place after sweeping the Washington schools
last weekend, while the Huskies (2-8) are two
games ahead of the last place Cougars (0-10).
For the Beavers, it was a weekend where
they gained some much-needed confidence after losing their
last five league games heading into the road trip. They almost
lost to Washington State on Thursday, but some lucky breaks
led to the 74-72 win.
And on Saturday, they dominated Washington, 68-53, just
two days after the Huskies upended the Ducks.
So Oregon State is believing and is hoping to keep rolling
this week against the Los Angeles schools.
“It’s a different Oregon State program,” guard Jimmie Hay
wood told the Corvallis Gazette-Times. “We came together as
a team, and we decided that we ain’t gonna be losing no more.
“We want to win and make it to the Pac-Toumament — and
the NCAA Tournament.”
While the Big Dance is indeed a long shot, playing in the
Staples Center is certainly not.
“It feels like we’re in the right direction,” said junior center
Philip Ricci, who was voted Pac-10 Player of the Week.
“We’re setting all our goals right now. Unfortunately, we’d
like to have that at the beginning of the season, but that’s the
way it’s going.
“But definitely we’re starting on the right track again.”
Still, the Beavers will have to keep this newfound swagger
with them throughout the season because the Huskies will be
breathing down their necks.
Washington played its best game of the season against Ore
gon in a 97-92 victory last Thursday. But the Huskies were a
completely different team in their loss to the Beavers, leaving
the Washington players shaking their heads when trying to
comprehend the difference between the two games.
“That is obviously unexplainable,” point guard Curtis Allen
told the Seattle Times. “I don’t know what to say about that.”
As for those Cougars, their last win came on Dec. 7, in a 70-67
Turn to Basketball, page 6A
BASKETBALL
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Oregon State’s Philip Ricci, shooting against Oregon’s Robert Johnson, was the Pac-10 Player
of the Week after scoring a combined 37 points in the two OSU wins in Washington.
Just a few
random
thoughts
Nobody asked me, but...
Pitchers and catchers report for
spring training in 17 days...
Adam
Jude
Out in left field
In his weekly show on KEZI, Oregon
men’s basketball head coach Ernie Kent
vowed to buy donuts and coffee for stu
dents who camped out for Thursday’s
game against UCLA, leaving many to
wonder: How many cream-filled treats
can Pit Crew President Nate Jolly eat? (By
the way, thanks for
the T-shirt, Nate)...
A March 29 exhi
bition game between
the Seattle Mariners
and the San Diego
Padres at PGE Park in
Portland sold out in
less than two hours
Saturday. By the way,
Montreal still has a
baseball team...
After much de
liberation, Joey Har
rington chose
David Dunn as his
agent earlier this
month. Since then,
Joey has been seen driving a new white
Lexus around town...
The Oregon football team is still
searching for an offensive coordinator...
Former Oregon State head coach Mike Ri
ley is unemployed...
Football recruits can officially signFeb.6...
Oregon men’s basketball assistant coach
Fred Litzenberger, a defensive guru and
former women’s assistant under Jody
Runge, has been credited with the Ducks’
success this season. Oregon was last in
scoring defense last year, but has jumped
to fourth in the Pac-io this season.
“Technically, they’re doing things we
were doing,” Runge told the Seattle Times
last week. “Not big things, just little things
that work consistently and give kids confi
dence that when they'’re not as fast or quick,
they can defend just about anybody. ”
Regarding women’s sensitivity com
pared to men’s, Runge told the Times: “I
don’t buyinto that whole mess. Ifyou want
to be a great player, you take coaching and
Turn to Thoughts, page 6A
Competition increases support of Pac-10 women’s basketball
Oregon’s Jamie
Craighead and USC’s
Aisha Hollans
scramble for a loose
ball in a game last
season at Mac Court.
The Ducks and
Trojans are among
five teams with four
losses in conference
play this year.
Adam Amato Emerald
■Attendance figures are up as the
Pac-10 race begins to get interesting
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
Second place in the Pacific-10 Confer
ence is quite simply up for grabs.
Four squads — Oregon, Oregon State,
Arizona State and USC — are tied and
looking for a high seed in the inaugural
conference tournament, to be held at
McArthur Court beginning March 1.
And the fans are beginning to
pay attention.
Only two teams — California and
Washington State — draw less than 1,000
people per game. Oregon is tops in the
conference with 4,574 fans per game,
drawing a little more than half the capac
ity of Mac Court.
In fact, the support the Ducks receive
hasn’t gone unnoticed. Many teams have
called the Pit one of the toughest places
they’ve ever played, and UCLA head
coach Kathy Olivier was impressed on
her most recent visit.
“The Pit — it’s a tough place to play,”
she said. “The fans get behind Oregon, al
most like a sixth player. They are vocal,
and they are loud.
“This is great for
women’s basketball.”
Across the board, at
tendance figures are
strong for the Pac-10
women’s teams.
Stanford, which is
leading the conference
by more than three
games, is a distant second in the confer
ence at 3,663 spectators per game. The
Cardinal play at Maples Pavilion, but the
storied gym seats barely more than 7,000.
Seattle, which may be one of the
biggest hotbeds for women’s basketball
on the West Coast, houses Husky basket
ball, and their fans come out in droves.
Washington draws 3,341 per game and
has ridden that to a 6-4 conference record.
Turn to Women, page 8A