Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2003)
Sports Editor: Hank Hager hank hager@dailyemerald.com Oregon Daily Emerald SPORTS Best bet NCAA basketball: Missouri vs. Indiana 1 p.m. Saturday, ESPN Friday, December 5, 2003 Herd, Ducks battle in Portland The Ducks are looking for their third win of the season against a dangerous Marshall squad By Hank Hager Sports Editor Marshall the football team has pro duced such future NFL stars as Chad Pen nington and Byron Leftwich. Marshall the basketball team has, well... Maybe that excellence in basketball isn't there just yet. The Thundering Herd is Oregon's oppo nent Saturday at the sixth annual Pape Jam in Portland. The game, which is held at the Rose Garden, begins at 6 p.m. The Oregon women open the day against Colorado State at 3:30 p.m. It would be easy for the Ducks to over look the Mid-American Conference member, but a 13-point loss to Kentucky on Monday proves that Marshall may be more than advertised. "Hopefully people understand now, at this level, everybody can play and any body can beat anybody else," Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said after the Ducks' seven-point win over Portland State on Tuesday. "You saw what that basketball team did to Kentucky. They can shoot it, they can score inside, they're very well-coached. It's going to be a tougher matchup than people think." The Ducks will have to be ready for the Ron lirsa-coached team that kept close to the Wildcats in every respect. The Thun dering Herd shot 45 percent from the field and made 10 three-pointers, five more than Kentucky. Marshall was led by guard Ronny Dawn, who scored 23 points in the loss. The junior is averaging 13.7 points per game through Thursday night and is a playmaker, evidenced by his seven three pointers against the Wildcats — which ties a Kentucky opponent record for the most in one game. For the Ducks, the game will represent a chance to get back on track after a slop py win over the Vikings. Portland State got to within four late in the contest and a 10-minute scoreless streak by the Vikings may have saved Oregon's victory. "This is going to be a really good game for us," Oregon forward Luke Jack son said. "Early on, you want to have a game like this because it shows you that you have to come out and you have to play perfect basketball. I think that's a lesson that a lot of younger guys don't know. They think sometimes you can just show up." The game begins a stretch of key con tests for the Ducks. Oregon will take next week off from competition for final ex aminations, but will get a big test after the short hibernation in the form of No. 1 Kansas. Oregon travels to Kansas City, Mo., to Mark McCambridge Photographer Mitch Platt (3) will lead the Ducks in Portland against Marshall at the sixth annual Pape Jam. face off against the Jayhawks on Dec. 13. After that, it's a game at McArthur Court against Santa Clara on Dec. 17, a trip to Las Vegas on Dec. 20 against Alabama at the Las Vegas Showdown and finally a a road game Dec. 22 against Portland. But for now, the Ducks will have to fo cus on Marshall, a veritable wolf in sheep's clothing. The Thundering Herd is looking to be the first team to defeat the Ducks at the Pape Jam, something that Kansas, Louisville, Massachusetts, Min nesota and Vanderbilt have failed to do. Let's see if the Ducks can make it she in a row. Contact the sports editor at hankhager@dailyemerald.com. Oregon loses in first contest sans Kraayeveld Oregon suffers its first loss of the season at the hands of Portland Thursday at the Chiles Center By Jon Roetman Sports Reporter PORTLAND — It was expected that Oregon would be a dif ferent team without injured forward Cathrine Kraayeveld, but no one could have expected this. Turnovers and lackluster play doomed No. 20 Oregon as it fell to Portland 76-58 in front of 334 fans at the Chiles Center. It was the Ducks' worst defeat since an 85-54 loss to Stanford Feb. 6 and their second consecutive loss at the Chiles Center. Kraayeveld sat out Thursday's game and will miss the re mainder of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate liga ment in her right knee during Tuesday's practice. Without their senior All-American candidate on the floor, the Ducks looked like a completely different team. Oregon was sloppy on both ends of the floor and could never estab lish any kind of a rhythm. Sophomore Carolyn Ganes started in place of Kraayeveld and finished with nine points and two rebounds in 20 minutes. "You could definitely feel that she wasn't on the court," Ganes said. "Everybody needs to kind of take a little time and get used to that feeling and re-adjust our roles." Portland (2-2 overall) cashed in 23 Oregon (5-1) turnovers for 34 points in its most lopsided win of the season. Portland led from the 16:47 mark on after a short jumper by forward Ashlee Omdorff, giving the Pilots a 7-5 lead. Orn dorffs basket was part of a 20-2 Portland run that spanned more than seven minutes, putting Oregon in an early hole that it couldn't climb out of. "It all started in warm-ups," Oregon point guard Corrie Mizusawa said. "We didn't come out ready to go. I don't think we were going hard intensity-wise." Oregon struggled defensively, allowing Portland open perimeter shots and clear lanes to the basket. The Pilots took advantage, knocking down 51 percent of their shots, includ ing 7 of 18 from three-point range. Pilot forward Khalila O'Rielly-Williams led all scorers with 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting in 30 minutes. Oregon pulled to within 12 early at the 18:21 mark of the second half when a jumper by Ganes made the score 44-32. After a Mizusawa steal on the ensuing Portland possession, junior Brandi Davis missed a three-pointer from the left comer that would have cut the lead to single digits, lhe Pilots scored 19 of the next 25 points to put the game away. "I don't want to take any credit away from (Portland), but I don't think defensively we were in the right position at the right time to challenge those shots," Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. "They played very well and shot very well and I tip my hat to them for that." Without Kraayeveld on the floor, the Ducks often looked flustered offensively. They had trouble creating open looks and forced some shots after falling behind. Oregon shot 40 per cent from the floor, connecting on just 10 of 29 in the first half. "We were a little bit on our heels," Smith said. "Each and every one of us tried to take the shot that was going to be worth 15 points rather than be patient. "This was just a nasty game all over." Mizusawa led Oregon with a season-high 12 points in 36 minutes. Bills, Oregon's second leading scorer at 15.2 points per game, finished with six on 3 of 8 shooting. Contact the sports reporter atjonroetman@dailyemerald.com. Larwin leads early season swing for young wrestling Ducks The Ducks have a busy winter break with matches against No.l Oklahoma State and Oregon State By Scott Archer Freelance Reporter It's a word that may be used a lot when describing the Duck wrestlers this season: young. Oregon entered its second tourna ment of the year two weeks ago when the team traveled south to the South ern Oregon University Best of the West competition in Ashland. The Ducks had a strong perform ance from Luke Larwin after the jun ior finished second in the 165-pound weight class. Larwin finished the day with a 4-1 head-to-head record. "I saw some good things and some bad things," Oregon head coach Chuck Kearney said. "A young team will make young mistakes." Joey Bracamonte finished third in the same weight class after losing to Oregon State's Matt Ellis. Dustin Fish er rounded out the more impressive finishes of the day with a 4-2 record in the 184-pound weight class. Looking ahead The wrestling team's opening Pacif ic-10 Conference match will be against arch-rival Oregon State next week. It must then enter a match against No. 1 Oklahoma State. "We are looking inward," Kearney said. "We aren't worried about oppo nents because we can't control oppo nents, we can only control us. Hope fully, in the end of a match we have a hand raised." Oregon is looking at the matches against Oregon State and Oklahoma State as a way to prepare itself for a tough Pac-10 schedule. While positive results are always desired, it's experi ence the young Ducks want to gain. "Oregon State is big for Pac-10," sophomore Chet McBee said. "We were picked seventh or eighth in the Pac-10, they were picked third or fourth, and we are just as good a team as them if not better." The matches will afford the Ducks the opportunity to gauge where the rest of their season could go. "We shouldn't (treat the matches differently than the rest), but we prob ably do against Oregon State," McBee said. With Oklahoma State, "We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If they come here and have a bad showing, that makes us look good." "It's a great opportunity to make a name for ourselves," Kearney said. "You can't become one of the best 'til you beat one of the best." Oregon travels to Reno on Dec. 18 for the Tournament of Champions, and then it visits Lincoln to take on Nebraska on Jan. 3. Scott Archer is a freelance sports reporter for the Emerald.
