Out of the 12 losses that the Oregon men’s basketball team has endured this season, there’s no doubt which one shook them up the most — and still does.
It was less than a month ago.
The Ducks were coming off a superior 79-67 upset victory over then-No. 7 Arizona.
Their confidence was sky high, and they spoke with sincerity about their newfound chances at making a run at the NCAA Tournament.
And then, it all blew up in their faces.
The Arizona State Devils, who had won just one league game at the time, ran the embarrassed Ducks out of McArthur Court in a 99-72 laugher on Feb. 4.
Although to the Ducks, there was nothing funny about the cold reality that the NIT was their most likely destination.
But now, even that is in question, as Oregon prepares for its rematch with Arizona State at 6 p.m. tonight at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
“I thought it was a very embarrassing game for us when we played them at home,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “That should be motivation enough. The biggest thing is we get a chance to redeem ourselves.”
The Ducks (13-12 overall, 4-11 Pacific-10 Conference) are coming off a winless homestand and now must secure one more victory to be eligible for the NIT. Most likely, though, they will need to win two of their remaining three games to secure a postseason berth.
And to the players, there’s no better team to try to get that first win against than Arizona State (11-14, 3-11). The one player who appears to be the most excited about tonight’s game is Anthony Norwood, a Tucson native who has not let the 27-point defeat to ASU escape his mind.
“I know I am [excited],” Norwood said. “Because that last game was just horrible. It was like a nightmare. Personally, I want to go back and show them that that wasn’t us.
“It’s revenge.”
Norwood will be one of the key factors in tonight’s game and will be looked upon to continue his recent resurgence from the field. After having the lid of the rim seemingly closed to him for weeks, Norwood busted loose and scored 12 points against UCLA last Thursday and 16 against USC two days later.
“My part of the game is going to come,” Norwood said. “It was good shooting, but I want a win.”
Arizona State is obviously hoping for a repeat of its earlier meeting with Oregon, when the Sun Devils exploded for season-highs with 99 points, 39 made field goals, a 62 percent field goal percentage and 51 second half points.
“We did play our best basketball game of the season, and shot the ball extremely well,” Arizona State head coach Rob Evans said.
The Sun Devils are led by junior forward Awvee Storey, who leads the Pac-10 with 9.4 rebounds per game and leads his team with 13.9 points per game.
After tonight’s game, the Ducks will travel an hour-and-a-half to Tucson to face the No. 9 ranked Arizona Wildcats in the always-tough-to-play-in McKale Center at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“We’ve just got to play like we have everything on the line, like this is our livelihood right now,” Oregon junior guard Freddie Jones said. “For us to make it to the postseason, we have to have this.”
Added Norwood: “Coach is telling us what the NIT people want and that’s our main focus. We’ve got to keep our spirits alive and keep pushing. We’re not going to back down.”