Oregon daily emerald., November 23, 2004, Image 9

Oregon Daily Emerald
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
“I think they fit the system perfectly, finding
open shots and finding open dudes. ”
Aaron Brooks on the freshmen after the Ducks’ victory over Idaho State on Friday
■ Men’s basketball
Ducks hand New Mexico first defeat
Oregon pressures opponents into 25.8 percent
shooting in the last half to grab their second win
BY CLAYTON JONES
SPORTS EDITOR
A strong defensive effort in the
second half helped the Oregon
men’s basketball team hold off a
tough New Mexico squad and
hand the Lobos their first defeat of
the season, 79-75 at McArthur
Court Monday night.
Led by strong defensive efforts
from freshmen Maarty Leunen and
Ray Schafer off the bench, the
Ducks (2-0 overall) held the Lobos
(4-1) to 25.8 percent shooting in
the second half.
“We thought defense would be
the key to this game,” Oregon head
coach
Ernie Kent
said. “Our
goal was
to keep
them un
der 35 per
cent, and we kept them under 39
percent. I’m proud the way this
team stepped up and played de
fense against a very good basket
ball team.”
The defense, combined with
Oregon’s 50.0 percent shooting led
by Aaron Brooks’ career-high 22
points and eight assists, appeared
to be the difference for the Ducks.
While Oregon never trailed after
junior Ian Cross white, who had 12
points, hit a three pointer early in
the second half, New Mexico was
within striking distance to the end.
With less than 17 seconds left in
the game and trailing 78-75, the
Lobo’s junior point guard Mark
Walters sprinted up the court. Dri
ving down the left side of the lane,
his footing slipped out from under
him and the ball trickled out of
bounds, giving possession to Ore
gon.
Despite shaky free-throw shoot
ing at the end of the game, the
Ducks secured the victory.
In the first half, Oregon had
troubles guarding New Mexico for
‘Aaron Brooks is like no other
point guard in the Pac-10. ”
Ritchie McKay | Oregon State head coach
wards Danny Granger and David
Chiotti down low. They combined
to score 22 of the Lobos 43 first
half points.
Kent said going to a zone de
fense in the second half was essen
tial for the Ducks’ to slow down
Granger and Chiotti.
“We had a hard time shutting
down their big guys, so we wanted
to take the inside away and make
them a one-dimensional team,”
Kent said. “When Ray (Schafer)
was in the game, he caused them
both some problems, and Maarty
Leunen also gave us some serious
minutes.”
The Lo
bos strug
gled from
behind
the arc all
game,
shooting
24.1 percent, a sharp contrast to
their previous games. New Mexico
was connecting 44.8 percent of
three-point shots coming into the
game, which is why head coach
Ritchie McKay said his team hasn’t
faced a zone this year.
“Teams haven’t zoned us be
cause we’ve been shooting 44 per
cent from the three,” McKay said.
“I will promise you that we won’t
shoot 7 for 29 again.”
New Mexico’s main problem all
night was slowing down the
speedster Brooks.
“Aaron Brooks is like no other
point guard in the Pac-10,” McKay
said. “He affects the game like Ja
son Kidd. His ability to get the ball
from the free-throw line to the oth
er end compromises so many de
fensive matchups.”
Brooks’ play of the game wasn’t
on offense, but on defense.
New Mexico’s Tony Danridge, a
6-foot-5 guard, went up for a dunk
when Brooks, listed at 6-foot,
came out of nowhere to swat the
ball away and get the crowd of
Erik R. Bishoff | Photographer
Oregon forward Ian Crosswhite finished with 12 points Monday during the Ducks’
79-75 victory against New Mexico at McArthur Court. The junior’s three-pointer two
minutes into the second half gave Oregon a lead it didn’t relinquish.
9,087 on its feet.
“It opened up and he looked at
me like I as short or something,"
Brooks said. “He went soft, and I
got the block.”
The Ducks travel next to West
Virginia to play Marshall Saturday.
claytonjones@dailyememld. com
Jordan Kent
vital force
in victory
over Lobos
Primarily a defensive stopper
last season, Kent breaks out
offensive game for New Mexico
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
Jordan Kent the athlete took a huge step
toward improving to Jordan Kent the bas
ketball player Monday.
More known for his athleticism and ac
complishments in track and field, Kent played
the best game of his Oregon basketball career
to help the Ducks seal a 79-75 win against
New Mexico at McArthur Court.
The redshirt sophomore scored 14
points and swiped three steals while
knocking down 6 of 8 field-goal attempts
in 20 minutes.
The majority of Kent’s prior contribu
tions to the team came at the defensive
end. That changed Monday when the 6
foot-5 swingman converted on several
fastbreak layins and drained a big three
pointer with the Ducks down by six mid
way through the first half.
“(Kent) had a breakout game,” sopho
more point guard Aaron Brooks said.
While Kent did many things well, one
play stood out above all the rest.
With less than 12 minutes remaining in
the second half, Kent, who was isolated
on the left wing against Lobo forward
Sean Phaler, drove past the lanky fresh
man and sent the crowd into an uproar
with a thunderous, one-handed dunk.
Kent said the play — which is called “21
rip” — was designed to isolate a slower
defender on the wing.
“I put a move on him, and he bit more
than I thought he did,” Kent said. “I just
figured I’d go to the hole hard. It just kind
of opened up really big.”
The move impressed one particular team
mate, who teased Kent after the game.
“It really surprised me,” Brooks joked. “I
didn’t know he could dunk.”
KENT, page 10A
Senior Laura Har
mon (615) tries to
pass Colorado’s
Natalie Florence
(170) at the 2004
NCAA Cross Coun
try Championships
Monday. Harmon
placed 31st and
became Oregon's
32nd female All
American runner
since 1974.
Geoff Thurner | Oregon Media Services
■ Duck cross country
Harmon steadily races to capture
All-American honors in Indiana
Senior finishes 31st out of255female racers from across
the nation in NCAA Cross Country Championship race
BY BEAU HASTES
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Laura Harmon saved her best race of
the season for just the right time. The
senior from Vancouver, Wash., took
All-American honors Monday at the
NCAA Cross Country Championships
in Terre Haute, Ind.
“It’s exactly how I wanted the sea
son to end,” Harmon said.
Oregon’s top runner all season, Har
mon finished 31st (21:08) at the LaVern
Gibson Championship Course against
the nation’s best 255 female harriers.
“She ran an awesome race,” cross
country head coach Marnie Mason
said. “Everything played out how we
planned.”
Harmon started off the race with her
usual patient approach, waiting until
the last 800 meters to make her move.
“1 ran pretty conservatively,” Har
mon said, but added that “it felt ag
gressive for me. ”
After the first mile, Harmon was
near 70th place, moving up to around
60th by the halfway mark. With a little
less than a mile left, she positioned
herself in the 38th spot. To finish the
race, Harmon picked off several more
runners in the final 400-meter stretch,
securing an All-American end to her
cross country career.
“She had an awesome finish,” Ma
son said. “When I saw her with a half
mile to go, I knew with her speed she
would be in the All-American hunt.”
Harmon had additional motivation
for the NCAA meet after a sub-par per
formance at the West Regional.
“She wasn’t super pleased with re
gional, but it gave her fuel to do well
here,” Mason said.
Mason was also happy with Har
mon’s composure at her first individ
ual national race (Harmon competed
as a freshman with the 2000 Duck
cross country team at nationals).
“The impressive thing was how in
telligently she competed in her first
time at the national level and wasn’t
shaken during the race,” Mason said.
“It shows her maturity and how big a
goal being All-American was.”
HARMON, page 10A