Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet -
NCAA basketball:
Duke vs. Michigan State
6 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday, December 3, 2003
Viva El Paso: Ducks earn invitation to Sun Bowl
Oregon is set to play in its third Sun
Bowl game against a team from the
Big Ten that still must be announced
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Oregon linebacker Kevin Mitchell remembers
his trip to El Paso, Texas, four years ago pretty well.
_ The current senior was
IP! 1 iy? a redshirt freshman when
' the Ducks went 8-3 in the
FOOTBALL regular season and de
—- feated Minnesota, 24-20,
in the 1999 Sun Bowl.
"It's nice," Mitchell said on Monday. "The last
time we were down there, we were treated very
well, and we appreciate that.”
Mitchell is set for a return trip to F.l Paso after
the bowl extended an invitation to Oregon on
Tuesday. The Ducks' opponent, set to be from
the Rig Ten Conference, has yet to be named, but
it is expected to be either Minnesota or Michi
gan State with Iowa an outside possibility.
"We had a fantastic experience there in 1999,"
Oregon athletics director Bill Moos said Tuesday.
"The hospitality is second-to-none that the Sun
Bowl people provided for us."
Sun Bowl officials said they voted to have
Oregon come to FI Paso as late as two weeks ago
and never wavered as Washington State lost to
Washington and California defeated Stanford.
For some on the Oregon roster, it will be a sec
ond trip in five seasons to El Paso.
Back in 1999, Mitchell and two other Ducks,
quarterback Jason Fife and Samie Parker, were
all redshirts on the team that defeated the Gold
en Gophers.
Mitchell, for one, took especially well to
events surrounding the game.
Even if that meant getting in the ring with a bull.
"That's the most memorable one for me," he
said. "I fought the bull, and it almost got me, too.
It's brutal. 1 think it was a baby — everyone said it
was old and dying, but either way, the thing
weighed more than I did and it could really hurt
me. But luckily I got away and had a fun time do
ing it."
Don't expect Mitchell to jump in the ring, or
any Oregon regular, for that matter. After a long
season — one that saw the Ducks at 5-4 at one
point — the team will need a full cadre of play
ers to take on its unnamed opponent.
Tight end Nate LiaBraaten and wide receiver
Iordan Carey could very well he available to play
in the Dec. 31 game. LiaBraaten practiced Mon
day, as did linebacker Scott Vossmeyer.
Oregon will practice today, Friday, Saturday
and Sunday this week before taking next week
Turn to EL PASO, page 6
Mark McCambridge Photographer
tan Crosswhite scored 14 points in Oregon’s seven-point win over the Vikings Tuesday.
Ducks earn second victory
in sloppy, error-prone game
Oregon holds on for a seven-point victory
over Portland State Tuesday at McArthur
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Portland State went cold from the field for more than
10 minutes of the first halffuesday at McArthur Court.
The Vikings went cold, so much that the Ducks fol
lowed suit. Together, the teams held a game at the ven
erable old gym that represented more of a pickup
game than a Division-1 college basketball affair.
Oregon came away with the victory, 62-55, although
it wasn't necessarily earned on the merits of talent. The
Ducks earned it the hard way — the Vikings lost their
offense somewhere on the way down from Portland.
Oregon capitalized just enough to pull out its second
win of the season.
"This team needs to play games right now and get
into a rhythm," Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said.
"Offensively, I really felt we were off our rhythm. We
turned the ball over too
much."
The 10-day layoff Oregon ex
BASKETBALL perienced after its first win — a
_ 13-point victory over Fresno
State — may have contributed
to the Ducks' rust. The Ducks said that wasn't an issue,
but shot 42 percent from the field and committed 20
turnovers, proving that Oregon's offense wasn't fully
in sync.
"I expea everyone to step up and play smart basket
ball and within the system," Kent said, alluding to the
team's mental and physical mistakes.
It was a game that saw very few lead changes — just
four, all of which came in the first half— and very few
runs from either team.
The only significant stretch of play for either team
— statistics-wise — came from the 10:51 mark of the
first half to the 1:18 mark. Portland State failed to
score a point during the stretch, allowing Oregon to
extend its lead.
However, the Ducks weren't able to stretch it out
much, scoring 10 points in the more than 10 minutes
that they held the Vikings scoreless.
"We were forcing it too much," Oregon forward Jay
Anderson said.
forward Luke Jackson led the Ducks with 22 points
on the strength of 5 of 11 shooting. He also excelled
at the free-throw line, making 10 of his 13 attempts.
"This is really going to be a good game for us,"
Jackson said. "You really can't teach experience. The
best thing we can do is learn as much as we can
from this game."
That experience will help Oregon's freshmen
starters — Aaron Brooks and Milch Platt — who to
gether combined for four points on 1 of 8 shooting in
a combined 50 minutes of play.
Brooks had a rough game, turning the ball over six
times while dishing out just one assist.
"1 think Aaron is still out of sync after having the in
jury," Kent said of Brooks' sore left knee that he
tweaked before the 1'resno State game. "For a fresh
man point guard in this system, he needs to play."
The game marked the fifth time in the last six con
tests between the two teams where the winner won by
11 -points or less. The Vikings, who lost to Oregon, 69
63, last season in Portland, were led by center Seth
Scott, who posted 15 points in 29 minutes of play.
Portland State committed 16 turnovers — nine in
the first half — and shot just under 40 percent from
the field.
Portland State was markedly better, offensively,
than in its last game, a 70-57 loss to UTEP on Nov. 29
in FI Paso, Texas.
In that game, the Vikings committed 23 turnovers
and allowed the Miners to shoot 48 percent from
the field.
"We've obviously addressed a lot of things," Port
land State head coach Heath Schroyer said. "We've
watched a lot of tape to not turn the ball over. That's
been our achilles heel."
Schroyer said the Vikings were focused on limiting
turnovers, taking away Oregon's transition game and
forcing the Ducks to stay away from the three-pointer.
Turn to WIN, page 6
Free throw shooting saves day for Oregon offensive output
The Ducks pull out a win over
the Vikings despite both teams’
struggles from the field
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Field goals were hard to come by for Oregon
and Portland State Tuesday at McArthur Court.
Fortunately for the Ducks, free throw shoot
ing played a huge factor down the stretch. Ore
gon connected on 22 of 29 freebies for the game
— compared to 7 of 15 for the Vikings — en
route to a 62-55 victory.
Oregon was able to battle through an 18 of
43 shooting night by getting to the line. When
the jumpers stopped falling, the Ducks at
tacked the rim and made plays with their ath
leticism. Oregon took advantage of its trips to
the charity stripe by connecting on 14 of 15 in
the second half.
"The good thing was we shot free throws very
well," Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said.
Portland State had numerous opportunities
to steal a win against a Pacific-10 Conference
team but couldn't hit a big shot when it needed
to. The Vikings got as close as four with 2:27 re
maining, but their poor shooting would eventu
ally catch up with them. They shot 39 percent
from the floor, including 4 of 17 from three
point range.
Junior guard Blake Walker felt the worst of
the Vikings shooting woes, finishing 3 of 17
from the field, including 1 of 7 from three
point range.
While it would be easy for a team like Portland
State to enter McArthur Court as a nervous bunch,
Vikings head coach Heath Schroyer said his team
was prepared to enter a hostile environment.
"I think they were excited," Schroyer said. "1
talked to them about the crowd. You've got to
take away transition and take away the three and
in turn, that will take away some of the crowd. I
don't think our guys were nervous, they were re
ally more excited."
Oregon trio shines
Amidst the shooting struggles of many, Luke
Jackson, lan Crosswhite and Brandon Lincoln
were able to carry the load offensively for Ore
gon. Jackson stepped up his production in the
second half en route to a 22-point performance.
The senior attributed his shooting 1 of 4 in the
first half to the Portland State defense.
"1 wasn't getting a lot of good looks," Jackson
said. "They were staying out on (the perimeter)
and not collapsing on the big guys."
The senior forward's night ended on a sour
note, however, as he took a shot to the stomach
and left the floor feeling sick.
Crosswhite was a force inside and seemingly
was able to score whenever his teammates were
able to get him the ball. The sophomore fin
ished with 14 points on 7 of 10 shooting.
Kent said Crosswhite was "unstoppable" at
times.
Lincoln finished with 12 points and used his
energy to help Oregon on both sides of the ball.
"1 thought Brandon had a good game,"
Kent said. "He was one of the bright spots on
the floor."
High school memories
Lincoln and Portland State forward Antone
Jarrell were opponents Tuesday, but were once
Turn to FREE THROWS, page 6