Fresh off the season’s biggest win, Saturday against then-No. 24 Arizona, the Ducks head north to Pullman, Wash., on Thursday – a place they’ve had success in recent years.
The Ducks (3-2 Pacific-10 Conference, 9-8 overall) are looking for their ninth straight victory against Washington State (2-3 Pac-10, 9-5 overall), and 17th win in their last 18 games overall versus the Cougars.
“You know they are going to be riled up to play against us since we have had success against them,” Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks said. “We’ve just got to match their intensity.”
Oregon swept both games against Washington State last season. After defeating the Cougars 55-52 on the road, the Ducks dropped six straight before picking up a dramatic 69-66 win in Eugene for their fourth Pac-10 victory.
Sophomore guard Bryce Taylor saved his best play for coach Dick Bennett and the Cougars last season. He scored a career-high 26 points in
Pullman and late bucket in the second meeting proved to be the game-winner.
“We’ve been lucky – up there especially. It seems like so many of our games, with the exception of a couple of them, have come down to the last possession or overtime,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “We wouldn’t expect anything different.”
Kent noted that Oregon’s recent switch to a more deliberate and controlled offensive style is like Bennett’s style at Washington State.
“I think it fits exactly the way they play,” Kent said. “Which means to me it’s going to be a close ball game, and it’s going to come down to the last three minutes of making the right decisions, and making your free throws, and officiating calls and those things.”
Oregon’s change to a slowed-down approach on offense has produced mostly positive results so far. The Ducks committed a season-low seven turnovers in a narrow loss to Stanford and again had seven turnovers in Thursday’s victory against Arizona State.
Oregon turned the ball over 17 times in Saturday’s upset of Arizona, but recovered by shooting nearly 71 percent in the second half.
Brooks has especially thrived under the new style. The junior point guard scored 17 points on Saturday, including two critical baskets late in the game.
“Aaron’s done a terrific job,” Kent said. “He’s really settled down, playing smart, heady basketball. I think what we have done, we’ve taken some of the decision making out of his hands, which has made him actually a smarter basketball player, or a more consistent basketball player. At the same time, it’s allowed him to use his quickness a lot more.”
Brooks will match up with a different face at the defensive end due to an injury to Washington State’s starting point guard Derrick Low. The sophomore was averaging 10.5 points per game before suffering a broken bone in his right foot following a 64-49 victory against Arizona State at home.
But losing its top scorer was not enough to stop the Cougars from upsetting in-state rival Washington in Seattle a week later. Reserve point guard Josh Akognon was 6 for 10 from three-point range and scored a career-high 27 points in Washington State’s 78-71 victory.
“Low is such a heady, smart point guard that’s just perfect for the way they play. But what has happened is they have a much more attacking point guard in place right now, who really wants to shoot the ball and can score for them and has the ability to hit five, six threes in a row if you let him do that,” Kent said. “So he is a player we’re definitely going to have to try to shut down to the best of our ability.”
The Ducks and Cougars will tip off at 7 p.m.
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Oregon expects a cat fight in Pullman
Daily Emerald
January 18, 2006
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