Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Monday, March 11,2002
Best Bet
NHL: Colorado at St. Louis
5 p.m., ESPN2
Selection Sunday is a Mac Court celebration
The Oregon
team and a
number of fans
celebrate
the Ducks’
No. 2 seed at
McArthur Court
Sunday
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Sunday afternoon started off being
about the fans. It ended up being about
the players.
But the whole event was a celebra
tion of Oregon basketball.
Thousands of Duck fans turned out to
watch the NCAA Tournament selection
show at McArthur Court Sunday after
noon, and the building buzzed first
with reflection of the Ducks’ successful
season, then with anticipation after the
announcement that Oregon would be a
No. 2 seed in the tournament. The
Ducks will play Montana at 2 p.m.
Thursday in Sacramento, Calif.
The afternoon started with a speech
from Oregon Athletic Director Bill
Moos, who noted that the crowd was in
dicative of Eugene’s support for the bas
ketball team.
“There are places in the Pac-10 that
won’t get this crowd for a ball game,”
Moos told the fans. “Unless they’re
playing the Ducks, of course.”
Moos said he was confident in the
team’s chance in the NCAA Tourna
ment, even before the Ducks received
their favorable seed.
“I told the staff that we need room for
another banner in here,” Moos said
about the Ducks’ Pac-10 championship
banner. “But hold up, because we might
need room for two more.”
Turn to NCAA, page 10
NCAA Ticket Information
At 9 a.m. today, 50 student tickets will be
released for Oregon's first round game
against Montana on Thursday. Tickets wiil
be available at the Casanova Center for
$50; credit card payments are required.
If the Ducks advance to the second round
on Saturday, student credit cards will
automatically be charged an additional
$50 for the second game.
UO women
land WNIT
date at Pit
■The Ducks will host St. Mary’s
at Mac Court on Thursday
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
After all the talk and all the speculation,
it comes down to the Ducks and the Gaels.
Oregon failed to be included in the
field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament for
the first time in eight years, despite
reaching the semifinals of the Pacific-10
Conference Tournament a week ago.
However, the Women’s National Invita
tional Tournament deemed the Ducks
worthy of the postseason.
That postseason begins with a first
round game against St. Mary’s (Calif.) at 7
p.m. Wednesday at McArthur Court. It
will mark the third time the two teams
have faced off, the first time since 1995.
The Ducks have won
both previous match
ups against the Gaels
(16-12 overall, 9-5 West
Coast Conference).
Oregon’s invitation
to the postseason
marks the squad’s
ninth straight year
making it beyond Pac-10 play. The
Ducks won the WNIT in 1989.
The Ducks (17-13,10-8) showed some
disappointment in not being named to
the NCAA Tournament, but understood
their 17-13 overall record most likely
kept them out. The team’s rating per
centage index of 103 was sixth in the
Pac-10 and also played a factor.
“I think there are some games we’d like
to have back that might have made a dif
ference,” first-year head coach Bev Smith
said. “We finished the season out well
and there were some teams that we would
be able to beat in the NCAA Tournament.”
Oregon went 1-7 against NCAA-Tour
nament-bound teams this season, losing
three games to Arizona State, two to
Stanford, and one each to Texas Tech
and Wisconsin-Green Bay. Their only
win against an NCAA-bound team came
against Texas Christian in November at
the Rose Garden in Portland.
The Ducks have had a bit more suc
cess against the teams they may face in
the WNIT. If Oregon is able to defeat St.
Mary’s, they could possibly face Oregon
State, which takes on Hawaii in Corval
lis on Thursday.
Because only Stanford and Arizona
State were chosen for the NCAA Tourna
ment from the Pac-10, the conference will
be well represented at the WNIT.
Turn to Women’s, page 10
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon’s Freddie Jones drives around USC’s Jerry Dupree in the Trojans’ 89-78 win Friday.
Ducks end Pac-10
Tournament Friday
with loss to Trojans
■Top-seed Oregon falls to the Trojans after a
dismal second half Friday at the Staples Center
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
LOS ANGELES — Sitting in the Lakers’ spacious locker
room Friday night, Luke Ridnour didn’t feel like a pro.
He grabbed a pair of scissors and cut off the tape around
his ankles, signaling the end of his trip to the fancy Sta
ples Center.
Across the room, teammate Luke Jackson sat in the cor
ner with an ice pack attached to his back, which was sore
after falling on it hard after he made a dunk in Thursday’s
win over Washington.
For both Lukes, their first taste of one-and-done tourna
ment basketball was disappointing in that they didn’t help
lead their team to the final day as No. 1 seed Oregon fell to
No. 4 USC, 89-78, in the semifinals of the Pacific-10 Con
ference Tournament.
But the season isn’t over for them. In fact, the real sea
son is just beginning with the Ducks set to open the NCAA
Tournament as a No. 2 seed Thursday against Montana
(16-14) in Sacramento, Calif.
Friday night in Los Angeles, though, the Oregon sopho
mores were more concerned with what had just transpired
than anything else. Ridnour was feeling down about turn
ing the ball over nine times. Jackson was frustrated with
his second-half performance, scoring just three points af
ter a 13-point first half.
Ridnour was one of four Ducks (23-8, 14-4) in double
figures with 18, but he felt like he was mainly to blame for
the defeat.
“I had too many turnovers and really hurt us,” Ridnour
said. “We’re disappointed about how we performed, es
pecially in that second half.”
To understand the Ducks’ second-half dropoff, one
Turn to Men’s, page 8
Bibby ‘berates’ ref as USC falls to ’Cats in title game
Adam Amato Emerald
USC coach Henry Bibby (right) was called for a technical foul late in the
second half of Arizona’s 81-71 win over USC in the title game.
■Freshman Salim Stoudamire
scores a career-high 29 points
to lead Arizona to the Pac-10
Tournament championship
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
LOS ANGELES — Oregon students
hurt USC head coach Henry Bibby’s
feelings with personalized chants dur
ing the Ducks’ win at Eugene on Feb. 2.
Saturday, it was Bibby who was do
ing the talking, and he appeared to hurt
the feelings of Pacific-10 Conference of
ficial Charlie Range.
Range issued a technical foul on Bib
by with 1:50 remaining that sealed the
deal on No. 2-seed Arizona’s 81-71 win
over the fourth seeded Trojans in the
championship game of the Pac-10 Tour
nament in front of 18,997 at the Staples
Center.
Afterwards, Bibby was not apologiz
ing for his on-court actions, which in
cluded ignoring the request of Grange to
hand the ball over and simply dropping
it to the floor. Bibby received the tech
nical after continually getting in
Grange’s face.
“I don’t think a technical foul was
warranted,” Bibby said. “I don’t go
out and abuse and curse at the offi
cials. I think you guys should be able
to question the officials on what they
saw out there.”
When asked for his interpretation of
the technical, Grange had a decidedly
different take on the situation.
“It was the fact that Mr. Bibby kept
Turn to Arizona, page 12