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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2005)
■ Men’s basketball Oregon struggles against the Hoyas, lose 71-57 Poor Duck shooting from both the field and the stripe opens the door for a Georgetown romp at McArthur Court BY LUKE ANDREWS SPORTS REPORTER With three seconds remaining in the first half of Oregon’s matchup with Georgetown on Saturday, point guard Aaron Brooks attempted a pass down court only to have it intercepted by the Hoyas’ Jeff Green, who sprinted to ward the basket and laid it in as Brooks was called for a foul. Green completed the three-point play with one second remaining to give Georgetown a 28-23 lead at the break. It was just that type of day for the Ducks (4-2), who lost their second consecutive game of the season, falling 71-57 to the Hoyas (3-1) in front of 9,087 at McArthur Court. The loss ended a 35-game home winning streak for Oregon against non-conference opponents. “I thought Georgetown did an excel lent job. It’s unfortunate we let a game like this get away from us,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “The three-point play at the end of the half was huge. It just gave them the momentum of the game that we really never got back from them from an energy perspective. ” Georgetown’s Ashanti Cook led all scorers with 25 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. He was eight for 10 shooting from the floor. As a team, the Hoyas shot 50 percent from the field. “(Cook) made some tough shots. The kid had a good day,” George town coach John Thompson III said. “I thought our guys showed a lot of toughness in how we went about our business.” The Hoyas’ 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert poured in 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Hibbert also had three blocked shots and was perfect on all six attempts from the free-throw line. “The big fella (Hibbert) was tough inside. He took our inside game away from us completely in terms of chang ing shots and making it difficult for Ray (Schafer) and Ivan (Johnson) to get anything done inside,” Kent said. “Thankfully, we won’t play anyone with that kind of size again. ” Malik Hairston led the Ducks with 17 points, Brooks chipped in 13, and Bryce Taylor had 12, capping the Ore gon players in double figures. The Hoya defense, often switching from man to zone, controlled Oregon’s of fense, which was limited to a season low 57 points and managed only 50 attempts from the field. “Our offense was a little stagnant today,” Brooks said. “We got off to a good start, but they took away our transition and we struggled in the half court.” The Ducks raced to a 12-4 lead early in the first half after a three by Brooks and five straight points from Taylor. But Georgetown managed a 9-0 run — seven from Cook — to regain the lead . . . great events UO Cultural Forum your campus connection to music, film, speakers, visual arts, contemporary issues, and performing arts events Presented by Cultural Forum http://culturalforum.uoregon.edu Campus Radio 88.1FM Oregon’s Ray Schafer (45) contests a shot by Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert Saturday. Georgetown defeated Oregon 71-57, the Ducks’ second loss in as many Tim Bobosky | Photo editor games. at 13-12. It was a lead the Hoyas would not relinquish. “I thought we started the game with tremendous energy,” Kent said. “From the first eight to 10 min utes of the game, we had eight straight stops in a row ... and I thought we were in great shape in the game, and for some reason, we just went flat. Our legs went dead, we stopped defending, and we let Ashanti Cook get away. It went from us controlling the tempo of the game to where they controlled the tempo of the game.” Leading 28-23 at halftime, George town scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 35-23 lead. The Ducks would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as theTloyas effec tively slowed the pace by using most of the shot clock on their possessions. In addition to an impressive shooting performance, the Hoyas outrebounded the Ducks 37-20, limiting Oregon’s second chance points as well. Georgetown also won the battle at the free-throw line, connecting on 21 of 26 attempts, while the Ducks made only seven of 17. “We didn’t play basketball like Oregon today,” Hairston said. Losing two straight games is not the ideal scenario for Kent and company entering the Pape Jam next Saturday against national run ner-up Illinois (7-0). The No. 12 Illi ni, led by senior point guard Dee Brown, defeated the Ducks 83-66 last season before their run to the NCAA Championship game. landrews@dailyemerald. com 768 East 1 3th 345-1651 525 Willamette 343-471 7 EARN A UO CAMPUS ALTERNATIVE SINCE 1974 a proud member of Unique Eugene
