With all the hype surrounding a highly recruited, highly talented freshman class, the veterans on the Oregon men’s basketball team almost got overlooked before the 2000-01 season.
Almost.
In Friday’s season opener against Mississippi Valley State, veterans Bryan Bracey, Freddie Jones and Julius Hicks combined for 52 points to lead the Ducks to an 85-70 victory in front of 7,664 fans at McArthur Court.
“They all stepped up and played like veteran guys, like it was their opportunity and their time,” head coach Ernie Kent said.
Bracey had his first career double-double, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds on the game. Bracey was an “automatic score” in the post, according to Kent.
“He’s done a great job of making himself a better basketball player, and now he needs to focus on making us a better basketball team,” Kent said. “That’s where the rebounds come in.”
Bracey had only two rebounds in each of the Ducks’ two exhibition games before Friday’s season opener.
“That’s my job, to crash the boards, and just play hard to help my team win,” Bracey said. “I’m an offensive-minded player and I love to score, and if that’s what my team needs me to do than that’s what I’m going to do.”
Bracey’s 22 points left him one short of his career-high.
Jones also had an almost-best performance Friday night, scoring 21 points in the third-highest showing of his career. But Jones contributed to the team in another way: He brought back the flashy plays that the Mac Court faithful used to see from Alex Scales last season.
“People don’t realize it wasn’t just Alex doing that last year,” Jones said.
The veterans made up for the poor play of the freshmen. The trio of older players scored 61 percent of Oregon’s points, while the three freshmen — Ridnour, Luke Jackson and James Davis — scored a combined 14 points.
Wisdom over youth? Kent hopes the two will combine at some point.
“We’re going to get there,” Kent said when asked if the freshmen will learn from Friday’s game and gel with the upperclassmen. “It’s just going to take us some time.”