Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hank hager@dailyemerald.com
Monday, March 29, 2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Online Exclusive:
See how the Oregon men's and women's
tennis teams did during spring break
only at www.dailyemerald.com
Hank Hager
Behind the dish
Pit Crew
rightfully
shows its
softer side
Two games in a six day span.
Games against two non-traditional rivals
— Colorado and George Mason — that
play in the Big 12 Conference and Colonial
Athletic Assodation, respectively.
Two crowds that shook every beam and
every fabric of McArthur Court. And that
was with finals week and spring break in
full force.
In fact, the 7,000-plus in attendance was
as impressive as Luke Jackson's 29 straight
points during Oregon's comeback win
over Colorado. The scoreboard was shak
ing, press row was rocking (a first, accord
ing to many members of the media) and
the 78-year-old building was living up to
its image.
Six days later, Oregon's 68-54 win over
George Mason was sold out, and the fans
who attended made it clear how much
they loved what the Ducks were doing.
Turn to HAGER, page 13
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Luke Jackson played his final game at McArthur Court in a win over George Mason.
Three wins down, on to New York
Oregon rolls to three victories
in an eight-day span to advance
to the semifinals of the NIT
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Luke Jackson scored 29 straight
points and 31 of Oregon's last 33 in a
win over Colorado.
Andre Joseph
scored a career
high 22 points
against George
Mason as the
- Ducks rolled past
the Patriots.
As a team, the Ducks held Notre
Dame to 61 points in a win over the
MEN'S
BASKETBALL
Fighting Irish.
What does that all add up to? A trip
to New York for Oregon (18-12 overall)
for a chance at the 2004 National
Invitation Tournament championship.
The Ducks' came from behind to
defeat the Buffaloes, 77-72, dominated
the Patriots, 68-54, and outlasted Notre
Dame, 65-61, to get on a roll.
"Especially with Aaron (Brooks) com
ing back and getting into a better rhythm
with the team, we're playing better
defense," Jackson said. "It kind of seems,
especially after the Stanford game, we're
a little bit battle-tested and guys believed
what we're able to do if we just defend
guys.
"I feel good about the way we're playing
right now."
The Ducks can feel good about them
selves because of an 18-point comeback
against the Buffaloes. Oregon found itself
down by 15 at halftime and in an almost
assured one-and-done position.
Not so, Jackson said. He catapulted the
Ducks back from the brink, scoring 14 of
the team's 16 overtime points. Before that,
he had scored Oregon's last 17 points of
regulation, including a leaning three
pointer with 20 seconds to play to send
the game into overtime.
The Creswell native ended the game
with 40 points, two shy of a career best.
"Forty points is an amazing number to
hit," Colorado center David Harrison said
after the game. "When he came down and
Turn to BASKETBALL, page 11
Tenacious competitors lead Ducks
Oregon finds success in Tucson
as a trio of Duck decathletes
post personal bests during break
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
The performance of three Duck decath
letes highlighted a successful spring break
for the Oregon men's track and field team.
points March 23 and 24 at the Mike May
WIEN’S
TRACK
Andy Young,
Gabriel LeMay and
Ryan Voge eOach
finished in the top
six and eclipsed the
NCAA provisional
standard of 7,000
nard Wildcat Combined Events in Tucson,
Anz.
The event marked the season opener for
the trio, with each finishing among the top
four collegians.
Young, a redshirt sophomore, led all
collegiate athletes and finished third over
all with 7,179 points. He finished with sec
ond-day marks of 15.23 seconds in the 110
hurdles, 121 feet-5 inches in the discus, 15
7 in the pole vault, 170-2 in the javelin and
4:22.73 in the 1,500 meters.
Young's second-day total of 3,669
points was a personal best for the Newberg
native. His first-day total of 3,510 was also
a personal best, including marks of 11.70
in the 100, 22-0.25 in the long jump, 34
8.25 in the shot put, 6-3.5 in the high
jump and 50.27 in the 400.
Voge, a redshirt sophomore, finished sixth
overall with 7,054 points, topping his former
personal best by 606 points. The Hillsdale
native's previous best of 6,448 came during
the 2003 Mountain West Championships
when he competed for New Mexico.
Voge's second-day performance includ
ed marks of 16.00 in the 110 hurdles, 95-4
in the discus, 14-11 in the pole vault, 160-7
in the javelin and 4:42.56 in the 1,500.
His second-day total of 3,191 was nearly
300 points better than his previous sec
ond-round best of2,894 points during last
year's California Invite.
LeMay, a redshirt senior, finished
fourth overall with 7,175 points and
Turn to TRACK, page 12
Oregon hurler
throws no-no
Ani Nyhus threw a no-hitter Saturday against
Utah State, striking out a school-record 16
batters for Oregon’s 25th win of the season
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
DUCK
SOFTBALL
Oregon pitcher Ani Nyhus had the keys to stop the bleeding
at Howe Field this weekend.
Nyhus scripted the team's storyline — she pitched in all
three of Oregon's games and picked up
two dramatic wins, including a come
from-behind victory to open Pacific-10
Conference play, and setting a strikeout
record while throwing a no-hitter
~~ against Utah State.
The weekend closed with Nyhus'
no-hitter, a 2-0 victory against the Aggies in the second
game of a doubleheader on Saturday.
It was a close call in the seventh, however, when Aggie batter
Casey Smith hit a shot to Oregon second baseman Erin
Goodell. Goodell bobbled the ball slightly in her attempt to
throw it to first baseman Kristi Leiter, but Smith was safe at
first when the ball got to Leiter. The decision was made to call
the play an error on Goodell, preserving Nyhus' no-hit per
formance.
'The no-hitter was more on my mind than the strikeouts," Ny
hus said. "It was early on in the game that I started looking at the
scoreboard, but in the seventh I didn't think about it as much."
Nyhus also struck out a career-high and Oregon single
game record 16 batters, including striking out the side in the
first and second. The old record, 15 strikeouts by Rachelle Tay
lor, was set in 1994.
In the bottom of the first, third baseman Dani Baird scored
on a single by Kayleen Hudson to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.
Oregon padded its lead in the fourth with another run. It was
all the Ducks needed to hold on for the 2-0 victory behind Ny
hus' stellar game.
Turn to SOFTBALL, page 12
9
Ani Nyhus threw a nohitter in Oregon’s 2-0 win against Utah State.