■ Men's basketball
Platt shines despite Ducks'
70-62 loss against UCLA
Mitch Platt provided the Ducks with a strong inside
presence as outside shooters stiffened under pressure
BY JON ROETMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
Lost among the fury of Oregon’s
failed comeback attempt against
UCLA on Sunday was the perform
ance of Mitch Platt.
While Oregon guards struggled to
knock down perimeter shots during
most of the Ducks’ 70-62 loss, the
sophomore forward banged and
bumped his way to a career-high-ty
ing 15 points on 7 of 8 shooting.
With UCLA’s defense focused on
pressuring Oregon’s athletic shooters,
the Ducks forced the ball inside to the
6-foot-10, 265-pounder, who used an
assortment of spin moves and bank
shots to burn Bruin defenders.
“Mitch had a great game,” point
guard Aaron Brooks said. “UCLA
came out and did what they were
supposed to do by taking away the
three-point shot.”
As poorly as Oregon played in the
first half — shooting 37 percent —
Platt kept the Ducks close with 10
points on 5 of 5 shooting.
Platt did his damage against sev
eral different defensive matchups.
At first, UCLA tried to stop Platt
with forward Dijon Thompson, but
Platt capitalized on his 55-pound
weight advantage and overpowered
the lanky senior.
“We knew they were going to start
Dijon at (power forward), so we
thought we had an advantage,” Platt
said. “We were going right inside and
went at him.”
Later in the half, Platt had his way
with 231-pound freshman center
Lorenzo Mata. Finally, the Bruins
used 7-foot, 270-pound center
Michael Fey in an attempt to slow
Platt down, but the Duck forward
continued to score.
“We made the determination to
pound the ball inside until we could
get back into the flow of things,” Ore
gon head coach Ernie Kent said. “I
thought Mitch responded really, real
ly well in scoring the basketball down
there, and it gave him some tremen
dous confidence.”
Despite not touching the ball as
much in the second half, Platt was re
sponsible for starting Oregon’s sec
ond-half run. With the Ducks trailing
49-36 with less than 12 minutes re
maining, Platt sent the McArthur
Court crowd into an uproar with a
two-handed dunk.
Several possessions later, Platt re
ceived a pass in the post, turned to
face the basket and knocked down a
bank shot. Along with connecting on
1 of 2 free throws, Platt’s five consec
utive points sparked an 18-5 run that
narrowed the Bruin lead to two.
Despite the loss, the Ducks dis
covered a reliable scoring option
inside when their talented guards
are having an off shooting night.
“(Forwards) have been getting
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
Oregon’s Mitch Platt scored 15 points to
tie his career-high during Oregon’s loss to
UCLA on Sunday.
double teamed, and that’s been caus
ing some problems,” Platt said. “But
tonight they tried to play us one on
one in the post, and we took advan
tage of it. ”
)onroetman@ daily emerald, com
IN BRIEF
Pac-10 spotlights Bills
for women's hoops
Andrea Bills has been Oregon’s
workhorse for the last couple of
weeks, and the work paid off as she
was recognized Hiesday as the Pacif
ic-10 Conference Player of the Week.
The senior center led Oregon with
18 points and 15 rebounds — both
season-highs — while acquiring her
first double-double of the season in
an eye-opening 62-58 defeat of then
No. 5 Stanford on Dec. 29.
Earlier in the week, Bills played a
factor in the Ducks’ Pac-10 season
opener victory against California. In
13 minutes, she posted 10 points and
six rebounds as Oregon cruised by
the Bears, 81-50.
Bills shot 62.5 percent (10 of 16) in
that two-game span and collected
two blocked shots, two steals and
two assists.
For the season, the Moreno Valley,
Calif., native is shooting a team-best
.580 from the field. Bills registers sec
ond in scoring (10.7 points per game)
and rebounding (6.7) for the Ducks.
She is averaging better than her ca
reer marks in all three categories.
The 6-foot-3 Bills is nearing, or has
already passed, several benchmarks.
She has played in every game of her
collegiate career (103) and has made
84 starts. Bills’ 687 rebounds is good
for eighth on Oregon’s all-time list,
and she is only 25 points shy of
reaching the 1,000-point mark.
Oregon’s last Player of the Week
was Cathrine Kraayeveld during her
sophomore season. She was honored
on Feb. 18, 2001.
— Stephen Miller
Jones: Salary cap would be
perfect move for baseball
Continued from page 11
haven’t won a World Series since
2000. They are depleting their minor
league system with trades that have
sent all their talent to other clubs.
Each year they replace their holes
with high-priced free agents and chip
away at something that is needed in
baseball — chemistry.
The Yankees haven’t won a World
Series since they had players that
they developed in their own minor
league system; like when Andy Pet
titte, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter
and so on were leading the team.
But the high-priced players have
guaranteed the Yankees regular sea
son success as they have made the
playoffs every year since.
I heard an interesting thing while I
was listening to sports-talk radio: A
caller said he hopes the Yankees
start winning championships to
prove that their large bankroll gives
them an unfair advantage over the
rest of the league.
You know small-market team own
ers are screaming for a salary cap,
and if the Yankees start winning,
teams like the Red Sox and Mariners
(who have decent pay rolls) will join
the crusade.
Well, hopefully for the sake of
baseball, the Yankees won’t be re
ceiving anymore gifts (i.e. Beltran),
and the baseball world can wise up.
Oh, and have a happy new year.
claytonjones@dailyemerald. com
O2004-05 Oregon
Men's Basketball
Student Ticket Release
All incidental fee paying U of 0 students can pick up one ticket for each game
at the ticket offices located in the EMU or at the Len Casanova Center. In most
cases, tickets are distributed two games at at time. For men's basketball, a
total of 2,300 tickets per game are available for UO students. Students must
have a current UO student photo ID card to pick up tickets. Student tickets
are funded by the ADFC through student incidental fees.
Opponents (Game Dates)
Oregon State (Jan. 8)
Arizona/Arizona State (Jan. 20/22)
Washington/Washington State (Feb. 10/12)
California/Stanford (Feb. 24/26)
Release Dates
Monday, January 3
Monday, January 10
Monday, January 31
Monday, February 14
For more information, contact the Oregon Athletic Ticket Office at (541) 346-4461 or the ASUO at (541) 346-3724.