Oregon daily emerald., January 21, 2005, Image 7

• BASKETBALL EXTRA ®
Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, January 21, 2005
“The whole second half we were knocking at the door;
we just didn’t kick it down. ”
Aaron Brooks | Oregon point guard on the Ducks’
failed comeback attempt against Arizona
Bryce Taylor
Heralded as one ofthe University's best recruiting |
classes. the 100th year of men's basketball at
Oregon is dominated by its youngest.
Young. Talented. Fresh into conference players.
Freshman Br\>ce Taylor is the secondplayer in a
five-part photo series providing a closer look at
Oregon's newest recruits.
with
no
SENIORS
Nickname: “My name says enough. I don’t need a nickname.
The Mac Court experience: Goal.
“It’s exciting, 9000 people cheering on
for you, and it’s exciting that all those Pac-10 freshman
people are there to see you play and to team.”
have the opportunity to show them
whyyou are there. ” Hometown:
San Diego, California
likes: Music,movies, reading novels
#4 • Guard • 6-5 • 200
■ Men’s basketball
Oregon suffers 74-66 loss to No. 13 Arizona
Awi^:' •; &
Lauren Wimer | Senior Photographer
Oregon forward Ian Crosswhite struggled against
Arizona, scoring only five points.
Despite being down by 17 in the first half, the Ducks mounted a
comeback to get within three, but were unable to pull out a win
BY CLAYTON JONES
SPORTS EDITOR
Portland native Salim Stoudamire and the
rest of the 13th-ranked Arizona basketball
team showed that experience is vital in the
Pacific-10 Conference.
The Wildcats came to McArthur Court Thurs
day night, and with the help of a 16-0 run late in
the first, they catapulted past the Ducks 74-66.
Led by Stoudamire’s 27 points and fellow sen
ior Channing Frye’s 17 points, seven rebounds
and four blocked shots, Arizona (14-3 overall, 4-1
Pac-10) won its 13th game in its last 14 contests.
“I feel like we came out a little timid,” Oregon
freshman Bryce Taylor, who had an Oregon
game-high 20 points, said. “For some reason, we
might have been a little intimidated.”
Oregon (11-4, 3-3) head coach Ernie Kent said
his young squad — with two freshmen, two
sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup —
was outmatched defensively early in the game.
“Those freshmen got lost on curl screens,
they forgot to help and got beat on backdoor
(plays),” Kent said. “These veteran players
are crafty that they are playing against, and
they really make them pay when they have
those mental breakdowns.”
The game was tight early in the first half, and
Oregon’s early offense came down low with
Mitch Platt scoring six of Oregon’s first nine
points. With 11:09 left to play in the half, Oregon
would hold its biggest lead of the game at three
points, 20-17.
But Stoudamire caught fire and made back-to
back three-pointers with defenders’ hands right
in his face to ignite a 16-0 run that Oregon would
never recover from. Stoudamire scored 20 of his
27 points in the first half.
“We were playing a very good basketball
game,” Kent said. “The score was 20-20, and
we had a good inside-outside game going, but
we stopped going inside and took a couple of
rushed shots.
“They got out in transition and put an 11 or
12-point lead on us, and that was the difference
in the game.”
The Ducks made a run in the second half
and closed within two points with 8:26 left in
the game, but couldn’t quite make it all the
way back.
Arizona’s veteran team held off the Ducks for
the rest of the game with Ivan Radenovic’s three
pointer from the top of the key with 2:31 remain
ing, giving the Wildcats ait eight-point lead and
dashing all Oregon hopes i a comeback.
Arizona head coach Lute Olson said despite
Oregon’s youth, the Wildcats respected and were
prepared for the team’s young talent.
“Brooks is a load at the point guard position,”
Olson said. “We tried to limit the number of looks
Taylor got, and (Malik) Hairston is tough too.
They just missed some shots they normally
would’ve knocked down.”
Olson added that it will be a lot tougher for
Oregon’s younger players when they visit the
Wildcats next month.
“Youth is usually not as much of a problem at
home as it is on the road,” Olson said. “So we’ll
see how they react to the McKale Center.”
claytonjones@dailyemerald.com