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CRASH
continued from page 7
14 on the strength of 5 of 7 shooting.
James Davis kept his hot hand going,
moving into fourth place on the
Ducks' all-time three-point shooting
list after making two.
He's now got 195 for his career,
passing Jamal Lawrence.
"They made us play better," Joseph
said of Washington State. "They made
us accountable for every offensive
possession."
A low spot for the Ducks did come
during the 9:02 span that held them at
58 points until Mitch Platt scored on a
layup with 58 seconds left in the game.
During the span, the Ducks took
five shots. For much of that time, the
Ducks were without most of their
starting five. Still, Oregon was in con
trol at that point and Washington
State never challenged for the lead.
"The rhythm of the game just got a
little out of sync," Kent said. "We were
just turning the ball over too much
with the group we had out there."
Shami Gill led the Cougars with nine
points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Washington State lost for its fifth time
in seven games. The 45 points tied for
the third-lowest amount the team has
scored in a game this season.
The Cougars did control the offensive
boards, grabbing 18 to Oregon's six. At
halftime, the Ducks were comfortably
controlling the glass, limiting Washing
ton State to 12, including six offensively.
"The bottom line is, we need to
block out better," Jackson said.
Not to be overlooked, it was Ore
gon's fifth straight victory over Wash
ington State and its 13th win in its last
14 games against the Cougars.
Not bad.
That's a win, no matter how you
slice it.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
CONFIDENCE
continued from page 7
focus on using their momentum for
the upcoming week.
Oregon heads bade on the road to
face Arizona State on Thursday and
Arizona on Saturday. The road trip
in the desert is never easy on
the Ducks.
Kent said Oregon must focus on de
fense, but Joseph has a different idea.
"If we can play offense like We have
in the past two games, we'll be al
right," Joseph said.
In the past two games, Oregon has
averaged 72 points as a team and is
shooting better than 50 percent from
the three-point line. The Ducks have
shot better than 54 percent from the
field and are handing out a total of 35
assists as a team.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.
HAGER
continued from page 7
to guide Washington State. Saturday
was his first visit to McArthur Court.
It wasn't pretty. The Cougars scored
18 first-half points and during the fi
nal 10 minutes of the game, when
Oregon went cold, Washington State
basically did nothing as well.
That's a tough night, one that has
plagued the Cougars all season long.
The 45 points Washington State put
on the board was the sixth time this
season it has failed to post 50 or more
in a game. The Cougars' highest-scor
ing night came against USC on Jan. 10
in Spokane, Wash.
They scored a whopping 76 points.
"Offensively, we're very poor," Ben
nett said. "We really have no scorers."
That includes Marcus Moore, who
had to leave the Oregon game early
because he twisted his ankle. Last
year's leading scorer at 18.2 points per
game, he averaged 13.4 coming into
the game against Oregon.
Moore scored five points in 26
minutes of play against the Ducks.
"Marcus likes to have the ball in his
hands, and it's hard for these kids to
do much because he holds onto it,"
Bennett said. "He just doesn't shoot it
well enough to have the ball in his
hands that long."
At this point, it has to be hard for
Bennett to say anything else. The
Cougars are in a bad spot. They
haven't had a winning record since
1995-96 and haven't made the NCAA
Tournament since 1994.
Suffice to say, they really have
nowhere to go but up.
That will all happen when Bennett
gets the chance to coach more of his
"own" team. The group that was on
the floor against Oregon doesn't
know what it takes to win. They
haven't tasted that culture during their
time in Pullman, Wash.
Bennett knows that culture all too
well. Despite taking over a team that
has seen its fair share of losses in the
past few seasons, he's beginning to in
still a winning attitude — albeit a little
one — into Washington State, even if
its just a .500 record (8-8) at this point.
Bennett is taking baby steps this sea
son, one at a time, and in a manner that
will benefit the fans at Friel Court in the
next few years. It may not always be ap
parent, but he knows how to get the best
out of his teams, evidenced by his track
record at the previous three schools.
He's brought over a sleepy, tired of
fense that drains opposing offenses of
their rhythm. The Ducks fell into that
trap, shown by their 37 total shots
and 60 points.
Against a team of lesser athletic
ability and propensity to shoot from
the perimeter, the Cougars could have
pulled out the win. For the mean
time, though, Bennett's teams will suf
fer against the Pac-10's powerhouses.
Against a conference that likes to run
more than anyone else, Bennett will
have his growing pains. He will go up
against teams such as Stanford, which
can play the same style as the Cougars,
only the Cardinal can shoot the ball.
Teams such as Arizona and Oregon
will run, run and run more, forcing
the few shots the Cougars take to mat
ter that much more.
This year, Bennett will take his
lumps. Next year, Bennett will take his
lumps. And so on and so on...
But soon enough, Bennett will be giv
ing those lumps instead of taking them.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
TRIPS
continued from page 8
take two steps back as we did after the
Oregon State game" Oregon held the
Cougars to 50 points, marking the
third time this season that the Ducks
have held an opponent to 50 points
or less.
"I've never underestimated Wash
ington State," Davis said. "They're
known to sneak up on you. I knew
they were going to come back hungry
in the second half."
The Ducks extended their 27-21
halftime lead and led by as many as 21
in the second half. Washington State
pulled to within nine with 4:31 re
maining, but couldn't get any closer.
Up next, the Ducks host Arizona at
McArthur Court on Thursday followed
by Arizona State on Saturday. TipofF is
7 p.m. on Thursday and noon on
Saturday.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.