Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
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Best Bet
NCAA Basketball:
Kansas at Kansas St.,
6 p.m., ESPN
Monday, ^eoruary 4, z(JU2
Ducks steal conference control from Troians
■ Oregon defeats USC with
last-minute heroics from Luke
Jackson and the Mac Court crowd
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Saturday afternoon, the Oregon
men’s basketball team violently
shoved Southern California out of the
passenger’s seat.
The Ducks are driving the conference
bus solo.
In a game that had the atmosphere of a
championship contest, Oregon beat USC
73-69 in front of 9,087 rowdy fans at
McArthur Court. With
the win, the Ducks
moved into the con
ference lead and
knocked the Trojans
into second place.
“I don’t know how
much better it can
get for Oregon right
now,” Ducks head coach Ernie Kent
said after the game.
On the court, Oregon survived its first
close home game of the season to fend
off USC. The game wasn’t decided un
til the final seconds; when the Trojans
failed to hit their shots, the Ducks made
their huge buckets and rode the tide of
Mac Court emotion to the win.
With 38 seconds left and Oregon down
by one point, Duck forward Luke Jackson
drove the lane, hit a floating jump shot
and was fouled by Sam Clancy. Jackson’s
free throw made the score 71-69.
On the Trojans’ next possession, the
Ducks’ defense and a rocking crowd
forced USC to wait for an open shot. Fi
nally, Trojan forward David Bluthenthal
found himself alone at the top of the key
with five seconds left in the game and
two seconds on the shot clock.
“He’s such a good shooter that you
couldn’t tell when it left his hand if it
was off or not,” Kent said.
Bluthenthal’s shot bounced off the
rim, the Ducks collected the rebound,
and James Davis hit two free throws
with one second left in the game to seal
the Oregon win.
Bluthenthal, who averages 11.3 points
per contest, struggled all game and end
ed with just four points. Clancy led the
Trojans with 25 points, but never
touched the ball in the final 50 seconds.
“I wasn’t disappointed,” Clancy said
about not getting the ball in the clutch.
“I had faith in my teammates to hit the
big shot.”
Clancy seemed to be one of the few
USC players who was unfazed by the
Mac Court Pit Crew. He hit two jump
shots in the final three minutes that
temporarily silenced the crazy crowd.
Many Oregon players gave the fans
partial credit for the win.
“The atmosphere tonight was crazy,”
Ducks guard Luke Ridnour said. “That’s
what we all came to Oregon for — to
play in an environment like that.”
Those fans saw a hard-fought game.
There were six lead changes in the
Turn to Men’s, page 6
Bibby: Pit Crew a ‘disgrace’
■ USC coach rips Oregon fans after
insensitive chants during the game
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Henry Bibby has feelings, too.
In heated banter with reporters after
Oregon’s 7T-69 win over USC on Satur
day, Trojans head coach Bibby asked a
reporter if the scribe was sensitive.
“Well, I’m just like you,” Bibby said
when the reporter answered in the affir
mative. “You don’t think I’m sensitive,
but I am.”
Bibby was upset after Oregon fans
taunted him and his team throughout
much of Saturday’s emotional contest.
He was particularly upset over taunts of
“deadbeat dad” and “your son hates
you,” both in reference to Bibby’s son,
Mike Bibby, a point guard for the NBA’s
Sacramento Kings. The two Bibbys
have a much-publicized strained rela
tionship, and the USC coach called the
taunts a “disgrace.”
“They don’t know me, they don’t
know anything about me,” Bibby said.
“I don’t think this kind of behavior
should be condoned anywhere in the
Pac-10 or by the University of Oregon.”
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent re
sponded to Bibby’s comments by de
fending his home crowd.
“I don’t think it’s a disgrace,” Kent
said. “I think this is a great college bas
ketball environment, and I don’t know
why that would be said. I’m sure when
we go down to their place, I’m going to
have to face the same pressure with the
noise and the crowd.”
Emotions reached a fever pitch when
USC assistant coaches jostled with fans
after the contest. According to Trojan
Turn to Bibby, page 6
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon’s Luke Jackson drives in on Sam Clancy in the game’s closing seconds. Jackson made the basket, was fouled and
converted the three-point play to give the Ducks the lead for good, as well as sole possession of first place in the Pac-10.
An epic duel worth savoring
HakunaMatata
It’s a shame that Saturday’s game
might be remembered more for the
postgame frustration than for the
40 minutes of action.
It’s too bad that, when people look
back on this contest, they will probably
recall USC coach Henry Bibby’s words
that McArthur Court fans are “a total
disgrace” more than they’ll remember
the frenzied atmosphere that those fans
helped provide.
And, as a fan of spirited athletics, it’s
upsetting that two skilled basketball
teams can play as intense a game as
there is, and still be overshadowed by
actions and words between the crowd
and the coaches.
Because for those 9,08 7 at sold out
Mac Court, and those watching across
the country on national television, Sat
urday’s Pacific-10 Conference show
down, won by the Ducks 73-69, didn’t
leave much to be desired.
“I don’t know about everybody else,
but I’m exhausted,” Oregon coach
Ernie Kent said. “It was just like a
heavyweight bout with two of the best
teams going at it.”
Both Oregon and USC entered the
game with 8-2 league records, having
Turn to Smith, page 8
After a loss to Arizona, Oregon women come home empty-handed
■The Ducks turn up with
goose eggs in the desert with
an 84-68 loss to the Wildcats
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon women’s basketball
team needed to win Saturday’s game
against Arizona to improve its chances
of an NCAA Tournament berth.
More importantly, the Ducks
knew it.
But they didn’t do it in an 84-68
loss to Arizona at the McKale Center
in Tucson.
Oregon, now 7-6 in. Pacific-10
Conference play (12-10 overall), is
in serious danger of being left out of
the field of 64 for the first time since
the 1992-93 season.
“This loss hurts because we
should have won,” sophomore
Cathrine Kraayeveld said. “We have
to look past this and focus on what
we can do better from this weekend.
We have to focus on the positive.”
The Ducks also lost to Arizona
State, 69-58, on Thursday.
On Jan. 4, Oregon defeated Ari
zona 72-53. On Saturday, though,
Oregon couldn’t buy a basket.
The Ducks committed 25 turnovers
in the game, including eight by senior
Shaquala Williams. Arizona’s feisty
and aggressive defense led to weak
passes and early mistakes.
As the game wore on, Oregon
could seemingly do nothing right
offensively. The
Wildcats “(11-11
overall, 7-6 Pac
10) kept their de
fense in the
Ducks’ faces all
night, forcing
Oregon to shoot
36 percent from
the field.
“I think that we didn’t start ag
gressively,” Oregon head coach Bev
Smith said. “When you do that, you
can’t take the hit and you can’t take
the shot. That’s what set the tone in
the first half.”
As usual, Williams paced the
Ducks, leading the team with 21
points on 8-of-20 shooting. With two
three-pointers in each half, she also led
Oregon in the category, going 4-for-9.
“Shaquala is a great player, and
she always keeps them in the
game,” Arizona head coach }oan
Bonvicini said. “She is the kind of
player who makes everyone around
her better.”
Fueled by a defense that forced
the Ducks to commit 16 turnovers
in the first half, including four with
in the first few possessions of the
game, the Wildcats dominated the
first half.
Although no single player stood
out, as a team, Arizona was more
precise with its play. The Ducks
started off slow, failing to hit a shot
in the first four minutes.
Senior Jamie Craighead nailed a
three-pointer in addition to
Williams’ two, but as a whole, Ore
gon’s shooting was off. To make
matters worse, the Ducks failed to
sink a free throw until 30 seconds
remained in the half when senior
Edniesha Curry made two from the
charity stripe.
Freshman Andrea Bills kept the
Oregon rebounding strong, helping
lead the team to a 23-17 advantage
Turn to Women’s, page 8