Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Monday, December 8,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
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Marshall no match for run-and-gun UO offense
Oregon received a scare when forward Mitch
Platt went down with an ankle sprain late
in the 29-point win over the Thundering Herd
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
PORTLAND — Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said it was the
best game that Aaron Brooks has played in a Ducks unifonn.
He said senior guard James Davis finally "embraced" his
role with the Ducks and that Brandon Lincoln is continuing to
leam in his role off the Oregon bench.
He said Oregon's 90-61 victory over Marshall on Saturday
in front of 9,409 at the Pape Jam was a perfect win, save for an
injury to forward Mitch Platt late in the game.
"We needed this game to grow and gain confidence in our
system," Kent said.
Overshadowing Oregon's 29-point win at the Rose Garden
was the injury to Platt, occurring late in the second half. The
freshman appeared to step on the foot of a Marshall player, and
quickly limped to the sideline before a timeout was called.
He was carried off the court and to the Oregon locker room.
Reports after the game indicated a high-ankle sprain on his
left foot, but he will be re-evaluated early next week.
"We're going to hope everything is OK with Mitch Platt,"
Kent said. "We're going to hope that it's just a sprain."
If it's not, the Ducks (3-0 overall) expert to have sophomore
Matt Short back into the lineup against Kansas in Kansas City,
Mo., on Dec. 13. He has been sidelined with a foot injury
since before the season began, but Kent said he expects Short
to start drills in practice next week in preparation of his first
game of the season.
Platt's injury may have been the only way to wipe off the ex
clamation point from Oregon's game. The Ducks established
their offense early and often. A 44-30 half-time lead paved the
way for the offense to stretch out Marshall's defense in the sec
ond half en route to the 29-point win.
That was especially important after the Ducks looked slop
py in a seven-point win over Portland State on Tuesday.
'That 10-day layoff took some time for our guys to adjust,"
Oregon forward Luke Jackson said of the previous game. "We
got back into rhythm and prepared for these guys."
Jackson led all scorers with 21 points on 9 of 17 shooting. I le
has scored at least 20 points in each of his three games this season.
Davis, who didn't play against Portland State for academic
reasons, hit four three-pointers and finished with 16 points.
"James Davis tonight completely embraced his role on this
team," Kent said. "If he can continue to do that, he will be
dangerous for us."
Oregon's transition offense returned to its traditional run
and-gun style. While the Vikings were able to hang with the
Ducks' speed, Marshall (2-3) could not keep up.
The Ducks dished out 22 assists, led by Jackson's seven.
Brooks registered six.
"We played a very good basketball team, and we weren't able
to hang in there," Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa said. "Oregon
does such a great job in transition offense."
Overall, Oregon shot 53 percent from the field and made 12
three-pointers. The Ducks limited the Thundering Herd to less
Turn to BLOWOUT, page 9A
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Aaron Brooks skies-high during Oregon's 29-point victory over Marshall Saturday in Portland. The
freshman had six assists as the Ducks improved to 3-0 in the 2003 season.
Oregon plays all-around solid
defense and forces Marshall into
poor shooting and 25 turnovers
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
PORTLAND — Bring on Kansas.
The Oregon defense is ready.
The Ducks showed up Saturday night ready
to play Marshall in the sixth annual Pape Jam.
Oregon (3-0) forced the Thundering 1 lerd to
turn the ball over 25 times in its blowout win,
90-61, in front of 9,409 at the Rose Garden.
"We knew Marshall would turn the ball
over if we mixed up the defense a little bit,"
senior forward Luke Jackson said.
Oregon's 10 days off prior to the Portland
State game Nov. 25 looked to affect the of
fense earlier this week, but in the Ducks' rout
on Saturday, it was clear that the team's de
fense strongly benefited from the time off.
Oregon mixed up its defense throughout the
night between man-to-man and zone, causing
Marshall (2-3) into a scramble several times. At
two significant points in the second half, Mar
shall made poor passes and Jackson converted
with a layup and dunk on the other end.
Oregon led by as many as 33 at one point
late in the second half. The Thundering Herd
had one fewer turnover in the first half than
Oregon had in the whole game.
"We had 16 turnovers in the first half,
which in our case, was almost impossible to
overcome," Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa
said. 'They're quicker. We weren't able to cre
ate any open people even by getting the ball
inside. I thought Oregon did a very good job
guarding us on the perimeter."
Oregon had redshirt freshman Jordan Kent
back from the injured list, which the Ducks
credited as a strong factor in the success of the
defense. Kent, also a star in track and field,
gives Oregon solid quickness on the perime
ter, which forced Marshall to shoot without
solid looks at the basket.
"Jordan Kent, he's a really great athlete,"
Jackson, who had a game-high 21 points, said.
"Where he's most effective is on the defensive
end with his speed."
Oregon's game plan was to take junior
guard Ronny Dawn out of the game.
Oregon did just that.
Dawn was averaging 15.3 points per game
coming into the contest and was leading his
team in scoring. The Ducks kept him to just
three points, which came off a basket from be
yond the three-point line.
"We were outstanding at limiting his
Turn to DEFENSE, page 9A
Oregon rebounds against Rams
The Ducks defeat Colorado State
at the Pape Jam two nights after
being blown out by Portland
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
PORTLAND — The Oregon women's
basketball team rebounded from Thurs
day's 18-point loss to Portland by defeating
Colorado State, 62-50, at Saturday's Pape
Jam at the Rose Garden.
No. 20 Oregon dosed the game on a 17
4 run during the final six minutes, improv
ing to 6-1 on the season. The Ducks played
with a sense of urgency down the stretch,
eliminating many of the mistakes that cost
them the Thursday game against the Pilots.
"We were definitely looking to push the
tempo up a little in the second half," junior
point guard Corrie Mizusawa said. "That's
one of the main focuses of our team, in
terms of mnning the ball up the court, be
cause that's our game. We didn't do that as
much in the first half, but once we were
able to get into a rhythm and play a little bit
better defense, we were able to push the ball
up the court."
It appeared Oregon's season had taken
a turn for the worst when senior All-Amer
ican candidate Cathrine Kraayeveld was
lost for the season after tearing the anteri
or cruciate ligament in her right knee dur
ing a practice last week. After falling to
Portland 76-58 on Thursday, the Ducks
proved Saturday they could win without
their leading scorer and rebounder with
an overall team effort.
Oregon committed only 10 turnovers —
its lowest total of the season — and held
Colorado State to 29 percent shooting for
the game.
"We decided (Thursday's) game was
over," Oregon head coach Bev Smith said.
"There were lessons that we needed to leam
in terms of our preparation and how we ap
proached that game and then we put it in a
little paper bag and left it in the garbage can
in (the Portland) locker room and just
walked away from it."
Junior center Andrea Bills led all scorers
with 17 points and sophomore forward Car
olyn Ganes added 16, helping to fill the void
inside caused by the absence of Kraayeveld.
"Obviously, they're big and they think
they can muscle their way around," Col
orado State head coach Chris Denker said.
"We knew that they were going to take it in
side a lot. We allowed them early on to get
inside and they took advantage of it."
Oregon was able to finish off Colorado
State by knocking down free throws and in
creasing its defensive pressure during the fi
nal 6:05. The Ducks connected on 9 of 10
freebies down the stretch, while holding the
Rams to just four points.
Colorado State (3-3) grabbed a 46-45 lead
on a three-pointer from senior forward Joy
Jenkins with 6:21 remaining in the second
half. A pair of free throws by Ganes 16 sec
onds later put Oregon back in front, 47-46.
The Ducks held the lead for the remainder of
Turn to REBOUNDS, page9A
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Andrea Bills had 17 points to lead all scorers in Portland.