Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Sfnith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, March 7,2002
Best Bet
Pac-10 Men’s Tournament:
Oregon vs. Washington
1:17 p.m., FSN
Ducks face familiar foe in first round of Pac-10
Oregon opens
the tourney with
the Huskies,
who believe they
have what it
takes to pull off
the upset
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
LOS ANGELES — So the
topsy-turvy 18-game regular
season has come and gone,
and the No. 9 Ducks have
emerged on top as conference
champions.
The Oregon men’s basketball
team is assured of an NCAA
Tournament berth, and it
would seem that the Ducks
wouldn’t have the same moti
vation for this weekend’s
league tournament as, say,
Washington.
After a 12-year hiatus, the
Pacific-10 Conference Tourna
ment returns in a three-day,
eight-team format at Los Ange
les’ Staples Center. The action
begins at 1 p.m. today with top
seeded Oregon facing off with
eighth-seeded Washington on
Fox Sports Net.
But don’t try to suggest to
Ernie Kent that his Ducks (22-7
overall, 14-4 Pac-10) will have
any less desire to win the tour
nament title just because
they’re already assured of a
spot in the Big Dance.
“I think when you put all
those teams together in one
place and those kids are with
their peers on the same floor,
they’re going to want to play,
and they’re going to want to
win that thing,” Kent said. “I
don’t think anybody will be
motivated any less because
they’re already in the NCAA
Tournament.”
Surely, though, there will be
a fired-up and confident
Huskies team that will enter to
day’s game with the Ducks.
Washington (11-17, 5-13) held
off Oregon State for the tourna
ment’s eighth and final spot but
hasn’t had much success with
the other seven teams involved
— except Oregon.
Washington is 1-8 this sea
son against ranked opponents
with that lone victory coming
on Jan. 24 at home when the
Huskies upended the then
No. 19 Ducks, 97-92. In the
win, Pac-10 Newcomer of the
Year Doug Wrenn scored a ca
reer-high 32 points to lift his
team to an inspiring victory
Turn to Preview, page 14
Conference
honors Kent
as top coach
■ Oregon’s Freddie Jones
and Luke Ridnour also earn All
Pac-10 honors Wednesday night
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent led
his team to the front of the Pacific-10
Conference this season, and he was re
warded as the conference’s Coach of
the Year Wednesday night.
Duck senior guard Freddie Jones
and sophomore point guard Luke
Ridnour were named to the 10-mem
ber All-Pac-10 Team in the same cer
emony. Oregon sophomore forward
Luke Jackson received an All-Pac-10
honorable mention.
Jones was considered a candidate for
the Pac-10 Player of the Year award, but
that honor went instead to Southern Cal
ifornia’s Sam Clancy. Arizona’s Salim
Stoudamire, a Portland native, was
named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.
Kent took last season’s 14-14 Ore
gon team and made it into a 22-7 con
ference champion this season, leading
to his selection as coach of the year.
The former Duck player has a 90-56
overall record in five seasons as Ore
gon’s head coach.
The award was the first such honor
for Kent, who was also named by the
United States Basketball Writers Asso
ciation as the District IX Coach of the
Year on Tuesday. It was the first Pac-10
Coach of the Year honor given to an
Oregon coach since Dick Harter re
ceived the award in 1977.
Jones earned All-Pac-10 honors for
the first time in his career. The senior
from Gresham started every game this
season, averaging 18.6 points to lead
Turn to Men’s, page 16
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Oregon’s Freddie Jones was named to the AII-Pac-10 Team for the first time in his career Wednesday night.
Tournament
offers taste
of Madness
■The first round of the Pac-10
Tournament boasts several
intriguing matchups
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Arizona coach Lute Olson said it
will take depth to win this weekend's
Pacific-10 Conference Tournament.
Stanford’s Mike Montgomery said
the team that can keep its energy will
win. Arizona State’s Rob Evans said
that whichever team avoids injury
could have the best shot.
They’re all wrong. All it takes is
three wins over three days, against
some of the most evenly-matched com
petition in the entire country.
Three wins. Three days.
Whichever team can do that will
walk into the NCAA Tournament as
the Pac-lO’s automatic representative.
Four of the eight teams will be
eliminated today in first-round ac
tion. Two more will be axed in the
semifinals Friday.
Here’s a rundown of today’s games,
by start time. All games will be tele
vised on Fox Sports Net.
No. 1 Oregon vs.
No. 8 Washington, 1 p.m.
Pac-10 officials couldn’t have asked
for a better opening-round game be
tween the top and bottom seeds. Wash
ington has a dismal 11-17 season
record, 5-13 in the Pac-10. Oregon won
its first outright Pac-10 title since 1939
by a full two games and holds a 14-4
conference record.
But one of those four losses came at
the hands of the Huskies. Over the past
three years, the Ducks and Huskies
Turn to Pac-10, page 16
Oregon ready for postseason play, even if it’s not the Big Dance
The Ducks are
looking for an
NCAA bid but
are encouraged
by the prospects
of playing in the
WNIT
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Pacific-10 Conference season is
over, and with a 17-13 overall record,
the Oregon women are on thin ice for
the NCAA Tournament.
Last season, the Ducks finished 17-11
after conference play and were award
ed with their eighth straight postseason
appearance. Oregon is ready to make it
nine straight, but not in the tournament
it was hoping for.
The Women’s National Invitation
Tournament, little sister of the Big
Dance, annually takes the next best 32
teams after the NCAA version claims its
64. The Ducks would be disappointed
to play second fiddle to the real thing,
but know the WNIT is a definite possi
bility and still important.
“It would be very important for our
team given they are very young,” head
coach Bev Smith said. “It would be a
good experience.”
However, the Ducks are still holding
out hope for the NCAA Tournament se
lection committee to include them when
the field of 64 is announced Sunday.
“I still think we are a good team,"
sophomore Cathrine Kraayeveld said. “I
»»«.**• ■
think that (the selection committee)
knows that. We can compete with other
teams outside of our conference.”
If there was a silver lining to the possi
bility of playing in the WNIT, it would be
that Oregon most likely will host a first
round game. Unlike the NCAA Tourna
ment where teams play a majority of
games on a neutral floor, the WNIT is
held exclusively on campus sites, and
with the Ducks leading the Pac-10 in at
tendance for the third-straight year,
McArthur Court is a possible destination.
After hosting the inaugural Pac-10
Tournament and garnering rave reviews
from other Pac-10 squads, as well as
league executives, the Ducks believe
Mac Court would be an ideal host and
could give the team a huge boost.
“It gave us an advantage,” Kraayeveld
said about the tournament. “Even if
they cover up the Oregon stuff (like they
did for the Pac-10), it’s still great for us.”
Smith agreed with Kraayeveld’s
sentiments.
“Our fans would look forward to it,”
she said. “I don’t think there could be a
better place (to play).”
Turn to Women’s, page 16