Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
St. Bonaventurevs. St. Josephs
6 p.m., ESPN2
Hank Hager
Behind the dish
Brooks
would've
made big
difference
Oh, what could have been.
That's an easy summation of Oregon's
season, a statement that describes basical
ly every aspect of the Ducks.
Imagine what could have been if Luke
Jackson had a little more help.
Imagine what could have been if Ian
Crosswhite had been a bit more consistent
during Oregon's recent four-game slide.
Imagine what could have been if any
member of the bench aside from James
Davis — and even Davis in recent weeks
— had shown any kind of consistency
during the losing streak.
Better yet, imagine what the Ducks
would be if they had the services of Aaron
Brooks for the entire season.
"I thought Aaron Brooks did a tremen
dous job," Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent said after Oregon's loss to Stanford
on Saturday.
Kent has said all season the Ducks are
a different team with Brooks and even
went into that a little bit after the
blowout to the Cardinal.
The Ducks don't otherwise have what
Brooks brings to the table. It was Brooks
who broke Stanford's 13-0 scoring run to
begin the game, tossing in a tough reverse
layup seven minutes into the first half.
It was Brooks who took over the second
half of Oregon's game against California,
Turn to HAGER, page 6
Oregon lays
claim to 3
NCAA bids
Three Duck wrestlers will
head to the NCAA tournament;
senior Jason Harless was
injured and forfeited matches
By Scott Archer
Freelance Reporter
They didn't do it the easy way but they
still did it.
Oregon wrestlers qualified for the NCAA
Tournament a day after most of its wrestlers
lost their opening
round tourna
ments.
WRESTLING Oregon finished
- the tournament in
ninth place, ahead
of Portland State, the only Pacific-10 Con
ference team it beat this year.
Senior lason Harless, who qualified a
year ago, suffered a concussion in the third
period of the third round and was sent to
the hospital for observation. He had to for
feit his last two matches for a sixth-place
finish; however, he may be selected as a
Turn to WRESTLING, page 6
Oregon hits positive note with wins
Erik R. Bishoff Photographer
Corrie Mizusawa (13) was fouled six times in the second half by a physical California team Saturday.
The Ducks and Golden Bears played
a physical game Saturday that will
give each team motivation for Friday
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
It seemed more was on the line in Saturday's
game at McArthur Court than the No. 8 seed for the
Pacific-10 Conference tournament.
The Ducks (14-14 overall, 6-12 Pac-10) had their
issues in the regular season. Injuries that plagued the
team from the beginning of
the season resulted in losses
that dampened spirits and
never allowed head coach
_ Bev Smith to settle on one
starting lineup.
California, though, might have had the more dif
ficult season. The Golden Bears (11-16,4-14) lost re
serve player Alisa Lewis after she died from bacterial
meningitis on Jan. 19.
Both teams have been in a holding pattern during
conference play. The Ducks spent the majority of the
season eighth in the Pac-10 while the Golden Bears
were right behind at ninth.
"I think our team just really wanted to play for
themselves and to play for (senior) Kayla Steen and
to finish this weekend on a positive note — a sweep
— so that we have a good feeling and sense of iden
tity as we go into the Pac-10 Tournament," Smith
said after Saturday's victory. "I think that's what our
mindset was today."
The emotion of Oregon's first sweep of the sea
son, along with a fired-up crowd and California
team, resulted in a very physical game and some ex
Turn to WINS, page 6
Arizona slips to third in conference
After losing two straight,
Arizona gets a win against
Washington State in Salim
Stoudamire’s return Saturday
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Washington is hot.
Arizona is not.
The Huskies have won 10 of their past
12 games. The 17th-ranked Wildcats
have lost two out of the past three.
As uncom
mon as it may
seem for Arizona
(18-8 overall, 10
7 Pac-10) to not
be one of the Pa
cific-10 Confer
ence's top two
teams, the team is showing signs of life.
After losing two straight, Arizona
made sure not to lose to the conference's
seventh-place team in a 72-60 victory
against Washington State on Saturday.
Salim Stoudamire was back in a Wild
cat uniform after being suspended for
"failure to meet team responsibilities,"
Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. He
scored 21 points against the Cougars Sat
urday, giving the Wildcats a boost.
Stoudamire did what Olson asked in
his return: play defense.
Stoudamire held Washington State's
Marcus Moore to five points. The Wash
ington State guard had scored 36 and 29
points, respectively, in his last two games
against Arizona.
"I went in and talked to Coach O and
he wanted me to get out there and hold
him under 10 points, and I did that,"
Stoudamire said.
Arizona played poorly in the 89-84
loss to Washington on Thursday and Ol
son actually apologized.
"I apologize for it," Olson said. "The
coaches apologize for it. The thing
that's getting old is the lack of our
ability to inspire guys to play like their
life depended on it. That's been a tradi
tion of Arizona basketball — guys play
hard. You get beat sometimes, but it's
not because we didn't play hard. This
team has gotten beat because it doesn't
play hard."
Traffic jam
With just one weekend of conference
action remaining, feelings are becoming
tense regarding who will be in and who
will be out of the Pac-10 Tournament.
Three teams — Oregon, USC and
UCLA — are in a tie for fifth in the con
ference with 7-9 league records. Oregon
plays USC and UCLA this weekend,
making things even more interesting.
Oregon State (11-15, 5-11) also faces
USC and UCLA.
Only eight teams advance to the Pac
10 Tournament. Washington State,
Oregon State and Arizona State hold
down the bottom three spots in the
conference. The Sun Devils are the only
team in the conference mathematical
ly eliminated.
Stanford (25-0, 16-0) is guaranteed to
hold the top spot come tournament time,
which begins March 11 in Los Angeles.
Roy receives weekly honor
Washington guard Brandon Roy was
named the Pacific-10 Conference Men's
Basketball Player of the Week on Mon
day for the week of February 23-29.
Roy led the Huskies to their first
road sweep of Arizona and Arizona
State in two decades. Against Arizona,
Roy had eight assists and 12 points in
the upset win.
Two days later, against Arizona State,
the Seattle native led the team with 18
points, five rebounds and five assists. It
is the first weekly honor for Roy.
Washington is rolling
With a conference record of 10-6, the
Huskies have recorded their highest win
Turn to ARIZONA, page 6
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Arizona guard Salim Stoudamire (20) returned to the court Saturday to
play against Washington State. The Wildcats defeated the Cougars by 12.