Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hank hager@dailyemerald.com
Monday, March 15, 2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
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Stanford swats Oregon's upset bid
The Ducks came close Friday,
but couldn’t upset Stanford
in the Pac-10 Tournament
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
LOS ANGELES — Slouched in the Los
Angeles Clippers' locker room, Luke
Jackson sat stunned in near disbelief at
what Oregon had gone through just 15
minutes before.
The Ducks had Stanford where they
wanted them all game. Oregon was in
prime position to upset the No. 2 team in
the country and top seed in the Pacific-10
Conference Tournament.
Then a shot — or lack thereof — sig
naled the end.
WIEN'S
BASKETBALL
With 2:19 left,
Jackson went up for
a three-pointer that
would have put the
Ducks up by three.
Stanford's Matt Lottich came from Jackson's
right, blocked the senior's shot and went
running.
Josh Childress grabbed the blocked
shot, sent it up court to Lottich, who went
up for a layup and was fouled by Andre
Joseph. Lottich sank his only free throw,
putting Stanford up by three, 64-61.
That proved to be it. The dagger that
went through Oregon's heart in a 70-63
defeat at Staples Center.
"1 didn't even see him," Jackson said of
Lottich. "I don't know. He came up from
my blind side. I wish I had that one over."
"Everyone was scrambling on the play
and I saw Luke with the ball," Lottich said.
"He is so clutch and I knew if he got it up,
he would make it."
Maybe Lottich got a piece of Jackson in
addition to the ball, maybe he didn't. Jack
son didn t think so.
"It was a dean block, I thought," Jackson
said. "I didn't see him coming. I thought I
was wide open. I even kind of took my
time. He just came screaming from the oth
er side. But that's not an excuse."
Oregon shouldn't have even been that
close. Jackson scored three points in the
first half; Oregon had 24.
The Ducks shot 31 percent from the field
in the first half, created just three assists and
was 3 of 12 from beyond the three-point line
Stanford, however, couldn't piece to
gether any kind of attack. The Cardinal
looked flat, sluggish and seemingly in
awe of the fact that a team it had beat
by 21 points less than three weeks ago
was hanging in there. Stanford (29-1
overall) had 23 points in the first half,
the sixth opponent this season that
Oregon (15-12) has held to less than
25 to start the game. The Cardinal did
n't earn an offensive rebound until the
second half.
"I think we were the aggressor for most
of the game," Oregon forward Mitch Platt
said. "Their backs were against the ropes
most of the time. We battled, but there
were a couple key moments where if you
have a mental lapse, the/re all over it."
Maybe that was the difference between
the Ducks and the Cardinal. Stanford did
n't physically overwhelm Oregon. The Car
dinal was out-rebounded by four, and by
six on the offensive glass.
Stanford shot 4 of 11 from beyond the
three-point line; the Ducks were 8 for 25.
"You can't tell me that Stanford is that
much more athletic or bigger than we
are," Jackson said, still stunned, hanging
his head at times. "A lot of that is leader
ship and understanding their roles on
the team. When you have seniors and
juniors that have played a lot of minutes,
which they do have, you're able to dig
out wins where it's a little bit tougher
with younger guys."
Turn to STANFORD, page 12A
Karl Mondon Contra Costa Times
Matt Haryasz kept Mitch Platt from getting to the basket on this play. Stanford eventually won the Pac-10 Tournament.
Hank Hager
Behind the dish
Cardinal
too much
for Jackson
LOS ANGELES — Entering Oregon's
game with Stanford on Eriday at Staples
Center, Oregon forward Luke Jackson
needed a quiet 20 points.
He absolutely needed to allow the
Ducks' offense a chance to spread out,
which would have given James Davis, An
dre Joseph and whoever wanted to step up
in the post area looks at the basket.
Jackson had a quiet 12 points against
the Cardinal, the second-lowest scoring
output of the season. His worst output?
Eleven in Oregon's loss to Washington
in Seattle, a game the Ducks had led by as
much as 13.
That's beside the point.
Eor all the issues the Ducks faced against
Stanford, Jackson's inability to get any
kind of decent looks at the basket was the
most pressing.
Time after time, the Cardinal made sure to
get a hand in the senior's face. Whether that
was Matt Ix>ttich, Josh Childress, or even at
times Nick Robinson, it didn't matter.
Jackson had three points in die first half.
Surprisingly, the Ducks managed to take a
one-point lead at halftime.
Turn to HAGER, page 12A
Cal can’t come through, misses postseason
AmitTamir scored 24
points in his final game
in a California uniform
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
LOS ANGELES — California need
ed to get to the Pacific-10 Conference
Champi
onship game
just to be eli
gible for the
nit.
But it didn't
happen. The
Golden Bears left the Ducks as the
only Pac-10 team eligible for the less
than-desired postseason tournament.
"You always hope for them as sen
iors that this won't be their last game,"
California head coach Ben Braun
said. "I think (A.J. Diggs) came out
with a lot of intensity in the first half.
He single-handedly kept our team in
the game in the first half."
Diggs had 11 points in his final
game for California, shooting 3 for 3
from the field and 4 for 4 from the
free-throw line.
That, however, isn't nearly enough
to overshadow the lack of postseason
for the Golden Bears. It's the first time
since the 1997-98 season, Braun's sec
ond in Berkeley, that California will
miss the postseason altogether.
Better yet, it's the first time since
2000 that the Golden Bears won't go
to the NCAA Tournament.
"Talent-wise, the sky is the limit
for (California)," third-year senior
Amit Tamir said. "This year was a
learning experience for them. We
learned to bring consistent energy.
They can do great things next year.
They can make an even better run."
The Golden Bears loseTamir, Diggs,
Conor Famulener and Gabriel 1 lughes.
Hughes didn't participate in Califor
nia's game against Oregon due to what
was reportedly unhappiness with the
playing time he was being given.
Last<second surprise
Shot of the Pac-10 Tournament?
It goes to Arizona's Mustafa Shakur.
The guard scored 16 points in the
Wildcats' first game of the tourna
ment, connecting on one three-point
er in the win over Southern California.
That three-pointer may have kept
Arizona's tournament alive. With
four seconds left and the game tied
at 76, the Wildcats inbounded the
ball and got it to Shakur, who sank
the team's fifth three-pointer of the
game with one second left.
"We feel very fortunate to get this
one," Arizona head coach Lute Ol
son said.
The win, quite honestly, comes as
a surprise. No other coach has been
as opposed to the Pac-10 Tourna
ment as Olson.
Before the game, Fox Sports Net
cameras caught Arizona forward An
dre Iguodala talking on a cell phone
as the Wildcats were watching Wash
ington wrap up a victory over UCLA.
That prompted Los Angeles Times'
reporter Paul Gutierrez to write, "Any
questions about how uninterested
Arizona was in playing in the Pacif
ic-10 Conference Tournament were
Turn to CAL, page 13A
Duck women continue solid play in tourney
Oregon picked up win
No. 20 Saturday with a 9-1
victory against Long Island
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
The Ducks started another win
ning streak
during the
DUCK weekend.
SOFTBALL N°
_ 16 Oregon
women's
softball team lost its first game of
the UNLV Tournament, 4-3, to
Southern Utah on Friday before
bouncing back to win its next three
games.
Hie Ducks ended their preseason
tournaments at 20-7, with four non
conference home games remaining
before Pacific-10 Conference play
begins March 26 with a game
against Oregon State at Howe Field.
"We are starting to rebuild some
of the momentum we had earlier,"
Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen
said. "I'm very pleased with how we
played this weekend."
Oregon split Friday's action with
an 8-1 win against Jacksonville fol
lowing the loss to Southern Utah.
Ashley Richards, who split time be
tween third base and catcher in the
tournament, hit three home runs Fri
day — one in the losing effort to
Southern Utah and two against Jack
sonville. Outfielder Kayleen I ludson
also hit two home runs in the Jack
sonville win.
Pitcher Ani Nyhus threw five in
nings and gave up one hit for the
win against Jacksonville. She also
took the loss to Southern Utah.
Against Jacksonville, the Ducks
took the lead in the top of the fourth
inning when Richards hit a one-out
home run. Beth Boskovich followed
with a triple then scored when Hud
son hit her first home run of the
game.
The three hits were the first hits
Oregon had against Jacksonville's
Stacey Bell. After 1 ludson's home run,
freshman Katie Buell relieved Bell.
The Ducks added three runs in
the sixth and two in the seventh for
the 8-1 final.
Turn to SOLID, page 11A