Oregon senior Flo Hartenstein will play an important role against USC’s big men tonight.
In a season full of pivotal contests, no two games might mean more to the Oregon men’s basketball season than the two it will play in Los Angeles this weekend.
Should the Ducks beat Southern California and UCLA, they would be re-energized at 4-3 in the Pacific-10 Conference.
One loss to either team wouldn’t devastate Oregon, but if the Ducks drop both, they would take a 2-5 league mark into a four-game homestand with the Arizona and Bay Area schools.
And you better believe the players (11-4 overall, 2-3 Pac-10) realize this.
“This is a really big weekend for us,” Oregon junior guard Freddie Jones said. “For us to be where we want to be and where we feel we should be, we have to come out with some victories on the road.”
First things first, and that’s the No. 22 Trojans (13-4, 3-2) tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the L.A. Sports Arena.
Typically before a game, Oregon head coach Ernie Kent will speak of one or two opposing players that the Ducks should try to key in on. At the end of Tuesday’s practice, however, Kent spoke of the Trojans’ entire starting unit.
“They’ve got four guys averaging in double figures,” Kent said. “They’ve got so many weapons on the floor that it becomes more of a one-on-one battle at every position.”
The top one-on-one duel will be between the Pac-10’s two leading scorers in Oregon forward Bryan Bracey (19.3 points per game) and USC forward Sam Clancy (19.0).
“With Clancy, his mismatch is his power and shooting,” Kent said. “Clancy is such a warrior. He’s a very difficult matchup.”
And then there’s junior guard Brandon Granville.
“He’s a really good shooter and does a good job controlling the game and then breaks it down when he has to,” Kent said.
What problems do USC big men Brian Scalabrine and David Bluthenthal pose? “Their size and shooting,” Kent said.
And last, but not least, is the return of high-flying senior guard Jeff Trepagnier, who is playing himself back into shape after missing 13 games this season because of a combination foot injury and an NCAA suspension.
“[With] Trepagnier, [it’s] his athleticism, where they run the baseline and throw all the lob dunks to him,” Kent said. “We can’t just focus on Clancy because they are a team that tries to expose mismatches. They pester you to death and the key thing for us is not to lose our composure.
“It’s going to be an absolute war.”
Kent didn’t start Jones and Bracey in Oregon’s win against Washington State last Saturday, and he didn’t rule out making other changes on this trip.
“I just felt like I needed to energize my team a little bit,” Kent said. “I don’t have any problem bringing those two off the bench, or even someone else.”
A big part of Oregon’s preparations this week have centered around going back on the road after dropping both games in its first Pac-10 road trip. If the Ducks want to keep alive any hope of a return trip to the NCAA Tournament, they must start winning games away from the friendly confines of McArthur Court.
“If we can steal two games on the road, that’d be awesome for us, for our conference record, for everything,” Oregon freshman point guard Luke Ridnour said. “We’ve just got to go down there and take care of business.”
Note: Tonight’s game is not televised, but Saturday’s matchup with UCLA will be broadcast nationwide at 5 p.m. on Fox Sports Net.