Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Friday, March 5,2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NCAA basketball:
North Carolina vs. Duke
6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN
Oregon clinches Pac-10 Tournament berth
■" *Ftii
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
It was a record-breaking night for senior Luke Jackson. Jackson became the first player in Oregon history with three 500-point seasons.
The Ducks start slow, but dominate the second
half in a five-point victory over USC on Thursday
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Yeah, Luke Jackson admitted, he was a little bit worried
about the outcome of Oregon's game against Southern Califor
nia Thursday.
After a start to the game that saw the Trojans pull ahead by as
much as 10, the Ducks looked flat, uninspired and on a straight
shot to lose their fifth game in a row.
So much for that.
f&it f Oregon eventually caught its rhythm,
iw! !E£ IM S tied the game and dominated the second
BASKETBALL ^alf en route to a 75-70 victory over USC
_ in front of a sold-out 9,087 at McArthur
Court.
"It took us a little while to get in our rhythm" Jackson said.
"We're a tough team to beat when we have confidence at home."
The win is a sigh of relief for the Ducks, whose four-game slide
in the last two weeks gave the impression Oregon would miss the
postseason all together.
That would have meant the NCAA, NIT and Pacific-10 Confer
ence tournaments. Not any more. Oregon can now at least book
its flight to Los Angeles next week. The win over USC (12-14 over
all, 7-10 Pac-10) gave the team its eighth win of the season,
enough to clinch a berth in the tournament.
The eighth win that has teased the Ducks during the team's last
four games, all losses.
"ft definitely feels good," Oregon guard James Davis said. "Me
and 'Dre (Andre Joseph) were talking in the locker room and
(said), 'Man, it feels good to win,' and that isn't a good feeling to
have because since I've been here and 'Dre has been here we've
been on a successful basketball team. We're definitely not used to
consecutive losses like that."
The laundry list of issues the Ducks faced during the four-game
losing streak were pushed to the side when they faced the Trojans.
Davis found his shot again and Oregon (13-11, 8-9) learned it
has to play some semblance of defense — especially down the
stretch — to win games.
Davis, who came into the game having scored in double-dig
its just once in Oregon's last seven games, started slow but
warmed up as the game went on. He was 5 of 8 from beyond the
three-point line, moving him into second place on Oregon's ca
reer three-pointers list.
He now has 226 in four seasons with the Ducks.
"When you've got your coaches and teammates constantly telling
you to keep shooting it, that gives you all the confidence in the
world," Davis said. "And tonight, it was a relief to finally hit some."
While Davis warmed up from the outside, USC's Desmon
Farmer did not. The guard scored 16 points in the first half, but
connected for nine in the second. He was 4 of 11 from the field
in the second half and 1 for 5 from the three-point line.
"I tried to limit his touches as much as possible," Joseph said.
"You know he'll shoot it about 99 percent of the time he gets it, so
you've got to get up on him and hope he doesn't get the ball.
When he does get it, try to play the best defense you can."
The Ducks learned against the Trojans that sharing the ball
Turn to CLINCH, page 9
Ducks face similar foe in Cal
Oregon faces California in the Pac-10
tournament today, six days after closing
the regular season against the Bears
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
Oregon is going to try it again.
After facing California on Saturday and picking
up a 77-62 victory, the Ducks and the Golden Bears
play each other today in the first round of the Pacif
ic-10 Conference tournament.
"Our plan is to just go in, play the first game
and win the first game," Oregon head coach Bev
Smith said. "We're very focused on Cal and on
playing well."
The Ducks (14-14 overall,
- 6-12 Pac-10) opened their
WO MFIJPS conference season with a 61 -
DACVCTDAI | 57 loss to California (11-16,4
BAoIxtl I BALL 14). when the two teams
closed their regular seasons in
Eugene, the result was very dif
ferent.
Oregon put together its first consecutive confer
ence wins of the season when the momentum of a
67-66 victory against No. 10 Stanford carried over
into the victory against the Golden Bears.
"Saturday's game showed us what we are capable
of doing against Cal as long as we play as hard as we
did that night," Oregon center Andrea Bills said.
"You can never be overprepared because each team
may add something different to their game. We defi
nitely cannot take Cal lightly. They will be ready and
build on things they may not have gotten done in
the previous game, and we have to match that."
The Golden Bears and the Ducks seemed to be
more than one place apart in the Pac-10 standings
when the two teams met Saturday at McArthur
Court. Bills led Oregon with 10 rebounds and a ca
reer-high 22 points. With 3 minutes and 21 seconds
remaining in the first half, the junior scored a bas
ket to put Oregon ahead, 29-28, and the Ducks did
n't look back.
In a very physical and emotional game, Califor
nia head coach Caren Horstmeyer was called for a
technical foul in the second half. The Ducks were
into a bonus situation with fouls in the first ten min
utes of the second half. Saturday was also senior
Kayla Steen's last game at McArthur Court.
The Ducks aren't looking past the Bears.
"They could make adjustments," Smith said. "We
can only control what we do to play well. They're a
Turn to CAL, page 8
NCAA Tournament bid
up for grabs in San Jose
The Pac-10 Tournament allows
teams one final chance to earn
a berth into the NCAA version
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Think of the women's Pacific-10 Confer
ence Tournament as a potential four-day
do-over.
It's a chance for teams that struggled
through the season to suddenly catch fire
and earn an automatic berth to the
NCAA Tournament.
With the conference's supposed domi
nant team, Stanford, struggling at the end
of the regular season, it appears every team
has a shot at winning the tournament title.
Games begin tonight, starting with No.
7 Oregon State taking on No. 10 Washing
ton State, which is followed by No. 8 Ore
gon against No. 9 California. Play will last
through the weekend, concluding with
Monday's championship game.
1. Stanford
(21-6 overall, 144 Pac-10)
The Cardinal enters as the tournament
favorite after grabbing a share of its fourth
consecutive conference tide.
Stanford is led by Pac-10 Player of the Year
Nicole Powell, who averaged a double-dou
ble during the regular season.
Powell, who is
one of the nation's
top players, is often
relied upon to sup
ply the majority of
the Cardinal's offen
sive output. This
was a problem for
Stanford late in the season as opponents fo
cused on shutting down Powell and her
teammates couldn't deliver.
Stanford will face the winner of Oregon
PAC
10
Turn to PAC-10, page 8