This weekend, the Oregon men’s basketball team will try to win with the very weapon that destroyed it in losses at UCLA and Southern California earlier this season.
In cheerleader parlance, they’ll use D-D-D-De-fense.
The Ducks (13-10 overall, 4-9 Pacific-10 Conference) will take on the Bruins (17-6, 10-2) tonight and the Trojans (17-1, 7-5) Saturday at McArthur Court in two games that could be crucial to Oregon’s postseason dreams.
“These are going to be big games,” senior forward Bryan Bracey said. “We know we match up well with them, and if we play like we’re capable of, we can beat them.”
Bracey and four other Ducks — Julius Hicks, Flo Hartenstein, David Jackson and Kristian Kristensen — will play their final home games (unless Oregon hosts an NIT game.)
Hicks could be the key to beating UCLA tonight. The center has led a defensive resurgence by the Ducks during the past three games. In that span, Oregon has held opponents to only 67.5 points per game, while Hicks has blocked 10 shots in that period.
The Ducks say they need to keep up the defensive intensity if they want to defeat either of the Southern California schools.
“We need to shut them down on defense,” Bracey said.
When the Ducks and Bruins met in Los Angeles, it was UCLA’s full-court press that wore Oregon down in the second half. The Bruins were able to pull away, thanks in large part to the 16 Oregon turnovers that the press caused.
Hicks was injured for that game, but center Chris Christoffersen had a career night, despite fouling out of the contest. “Big Chris” had 15 points and seven rebounds and outplayed UCLA center Dan Gadzuric all night. Since that game, Christoffersen has injured his wrist and hasn’t performed as well.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said he expects Christoffersen to have another big game against the Bruins tonight.
“The reason Chris hasn’t been doing so well is because of the opponents we’ve been playing: They’re more mobile teams,” Kent said. “But we need for him to get a good game.”
The Ducks may need a little more than Hicks and Christoffersen to beat the Bruins. Last weekend against Washington, Oregon may have finally found a lineup that can play together. The five players that started against the Huskies — Hicks, Bracey, Freddie Jones, Luke Ridnour and Luke Jackson — accounted for 78 of the Ducks’ 85 points in Oregon’s first win since an upset of Arizona on Feb. 1. Each of the starting five scored in double figures against Washington.
As much as they don’t want to think about it, there are larger implications to the Ducks’ final home games.
Oregon has five remaining games and technically needs to win only one to reach .500 and be eligible for the National Invitational Tournament. However, if USC or California aren’t selected by the NCAA Tournament, the Ducks will need to be over .500 to make it, which makes this weekend’s games all the more important.
Oregon will take on UCLA tonight at 7 p.m. and USC Saturday at 6 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on the Oregon Sports Network.