Arizona leads
Pac-10 teams
with No. 1 seed
Five Pac-10 teams make
the NCAA Tournament,
splitting the four regions
Mindi Rice
Freelance Sports Reporter
The Pacific-10 Conference man
aged to get five men’s teams in the
tournament, with the lowest seed go
ing to No. 10-seeded Arizona State.
While the Ducks head to Nashville,
Tenn., as a No. 8 seed, Arizona, Stan
ford, California and Arizona State
will find their way through the other
three regions.
Arizona (25-3 overall, 17-1 Pac
10) earned the No. 1 seed in the West
region, and will face No. 16-seed Ver
mont in Salt Lake City on Thursday.
Vermont is in the NCAA Tourna
ment for the first time in school his
tory after beating Boston, 56-55, for
the America East Conference title
and the conference’s automatic berth
in the tournament.
, The Catamounts (21-11 overall,
. 11-5 America East) are the third-best
rebounding team in the nation with a
^ +7.9 rebounding margin. Vermont
has won 18 of its last 23 games, play
ing strong during most of the season.
The winner of Arizona-Vermont
will face the winner of No. 8 Cincinat
ti-No. 9 Gonzaga on Saturday.
Joining Arizona in the West is rival
Arizona State (19-11 overall, 11-7
Pac-10), which drew a No. 10 seed.
The Sun Devils will face No. 7-seed
Memphis (23-6 overall, 13-3 Confer
ence USA).
Memphis’ last game was a loss to
Louisville in the semifinals of the C
USA tournament. Memphis lost by
three points on a last-second shot
by Louisville.
The winner of the Arizona State
Memphis game will face the winner
of No. 2 Kansas-No. 15 Utah State.
Stanford (23-8 overall, 14-4 Pac
10) received a No. 4 seed in the South
region, drawing No. 13-seed San
Diego (18-11 overall, 10-4 West
Coast Conference) in the first round.
San Diego earned the WCC auto
matic berth with a win over Gonzaga
in the conference championship
game after ending the regular season
with a loss to Gonzaga.
It is the Toreros’ first NCAA berth
since 1987, and the first under their
current head coach.
The winner of the Stanford-San
Diego game will face the winner of
the No. 5 Connecticut-No. 12
Brigham Younggame.
California (21-8 overall, 13-5 Pac
10) found a spot in the East region
with a No. 8 seed. The Bears will face
No. 9-seed North Carolina State (18
11 overall, 13-5 Atlantic Coast Con
ference) in the first round.
NC State finished the season with a
loss to Duke in the ACC tournament
title game. The Wolfpack gave up a
15-point lead and eventually lost the
game by seven points.
In the Wolfpack’s last five games
before the conference tournament,
they shot 88 percent from the free
throw line, making 90 shots in 102
Adam Amato Emerald
Arizona guards Salim Stoudamire (20) and Hassan Adams (21) are the No.1 seed in a tough West region.
attempts. They are also a strong
three-point shooting team, making
38 percent from behind the line in
their 18 wins, while shooting only 29
percent in their 11 losses.
The winner of the Califomia-NC
State game will face the winner of No. 1
Oklahoma-No. 16 South Carolina State.
The Pac-10 teams have some room
to breathe in their brackets, but can
not forget that March Madness often
means upsets all around.
Mindi Rice is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
Adam Amato Emerald
Luke Jackson, guarding UCLA's Jason Kapono, and the Ducks earned a No. 8 seed.
Ducks
continued from page 1B
“We’ve got work to do in the
NCAA Tournament,” Ridnour said.
“We want to go deep like last year or
even deeper. We’ve got to refocus
and get ready to go.”
One advantage the Ducks have is
playing on Friday instead of Thurs
day, allowing for an extra day off.
The team will rest today before
practicing on Tuesday, and then
travel on Wednesday.
Overshadowing the short break,
though, is finals week.
“Rest is the key to preparation right
now,” Kent said. “We’re going to take a
couple days to let our bodies bounce
back and get going on finals. We’re go
ing to stay right on top of finals
through the tournament run that
we’re fortunate enough to have.”
To make any kind of run, the
Ducks will first have to get past Utah
(24-7), the Mountain West Confer
ence regular-season co-ehampion
with Brigham Young.
Kent said he is familiar with Utah
head coach Rick Majerus’ system,
and the Utes are familiar with Ore
gon, too. Utah assistant Silvey
Dominguez was Kent’s assistant for
five years at St. Mary’s.
“We know their program in terms
of being able to prepare for them,
and I’m sure (Utah) is feeling the
same way,” Kent said.
A common opponent of Oregon
and Utah this season was Arizona
State. Oregon won two out of three
against the Sun Devils — including
a last-second, one-point win Thurs
day at the Pac-10 Tournament —
while the Utes split a pair of games
with ASU, including a 78-55 win in
Salt Lake City on Dec. 7.
“This is an exciting time of year
for us to be a part of March Madness
again,” Kent said. “This is an excel
lent opportunity for us to continue
to showcase who we are and what
we’re all about.”
Friday’s tipoff time at The Gaylord
Entertainment Center will likely be
announced today.
A win over Utah would probably pit
the Ducks against Kentucky (29-3) on
Sunday. The Wildcats, who have won
23 straight games, play 16th-seed In
diana-Purdue-Indianapolis Universi
ty ui the first-round. A No. 1 seed has
never been upset in the first round.
“If we’re fortunate enough to get to
(the second round), that would be a
very good basketball game,” Kent said.
“Kentucky is a great program, and ob
viously they’ve had tremendous suc
cess this year. When you look at Utah
and you look at Kentucky, those are
schools that we can get up for.
“We feel like we can play with any
body if we’re on our game.”
The Ducks showed that at times
this year, with a win over Kansas and
its championship run in the confer
ence tournament. Their success,
however, is countered with road
losses to Washington and USG.
In a season that featured a high of a
No. 5 national ranking and the low of a
“bubble” label, the Ducks are hoping
they’ve peaked at the right time.
“We’re battle-tested and we’re
ready,” senior center Brian Helquist
said.
Ready for a little rest, for sure. But
that can wait until the madness is
over, perhaps in a few weeks.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
Women's
continued from page 2B
represent ourselves extremely well.”
If Duck fans recognize any team at
Mac Court, Washington (22-7,13-5 Pa
cific-10 Conference) would be that
squad. The Huskies, after bowing out to
NCAA-bound Arizona in the semifinals
of the Pac-10 Tournament in San Jose,
Calif., return to the Pacific Northwest.
Last season, the Huskies were not
assured of an NCAA Tournament berth
entering the Pac-10 Tournament, and
a loss to Oregon in the team’s first game
doomed them to the WNIT.
This year, well, is a different story.
“We're in... and that's the most im
portant thing,” Husky head coaeh
June Daugherty told The Tacoma
News-Tribune before the team’s se
lection. “You can't control where
you're going and who you'll play. You
can't get caught up in worrying about
what the committee will or won't do.”
If Loree Payne gets hot, the
Phoenix will have to look out. The
Husky senior scored 15 points in
the second half against the Ducks at
Mac Court this season, ultimately
leading Washington to victory.
Both games represent first-round
contests. Winners of both games will
meet Monday night in the second
round to determine who goes to the
West Regional at Maples Pavilion in
Palo Alto, Calif.
Contact the sports reporter
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
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