There is a measure of finality around tonight’s Pacific-10 Conference Tournament opening game for Oregon that hasn’t existed throughout this long season.
A win over Washington State, the seventh seed, and the Ducks continue their season, while a loss ends the much-chronicled 8-22 season for Oregon and the oft-analyzed freshman season of the six true freshmen.
There is a history of success for Oregon at the conference tournament, one that acts as the counterweight to the Ducks’ inexperience at it that has kept expectations low. Oregon is 12-8 at the tournament since it was reinstated in 2002, and reached the semifinals five of the six years they have played, including titles in 2003 and 2007.
Standing in their way of a second-round matchup with second-seed UCLA is Washington State (16-14, 8-10 Pac-10), which beat the Ducks 74-62 and 67-38 this year.

“I don’t think we match up with them well,” Oregon head coach Kent said. “They’ve got great point guard play, a dominant guy inside and a great shooter on the perimeter. They’re going to be a handful for us.”
All three elements worked to perfection against Oregon last time the two teams met, in Pullman, Wash., on Feb. 12.
Freshman guard Klay Thompson, voted to the conference’s all-freshman team Monday with teammate forward DeAngelo Casto, scored 25 points, while senior point guard Taylor Rochestie scored 16 and senior center Aron Baynes scored 11 points with nine rebounds.
The three players alone would have easily beaten Oregon’s entire team that night, a game Ernie Kent said he wanted his team to forget about. He said the team wouldn’t receive its usual DVD tapes of the game in an effort to forget about their performance, which included only 21 percent shooting from the field.
If Oregon’s defense continues to be a problem, the team’s shooting has at least improved since that road trip.
Freshman forward Drew Wiley, who was Oregon’s top scorer that game with 10 points, made six three-pointers last weekend against UCLA with a team-high 18 points.
“My shot hasn’t really been there all year and it’s finally been coming on lately,” Wiley said.
In lieu of a postseason tournament berth, Oregon is treating tonight’s game like its playoff.
“The conference tournament is the only way we’re getting in the (NCAA) tournament so we gotta go after it,” freshman guard Matthew Humphrey said.
The team doesn’t believe they’re setting unreasonable expectations, either.
“I really think we do think we can get there,” Wiley said. “We’re just setting high expectations for ourselves.”
Unlike the Ducks, who love to push pace and use their energy to their advantage, Washington State plays the game at a snail’s pace. Head coach Tony Bennett’s team limits opponents’ possessions to score on offense, making offensive efficiency the top priority against WSU.
The Cougars average a league-worst 59.4 points per game, but allow opponents to score only 55.2 against them, best in the league. Oregon, meanwhile, gives up nearly 77 points per contest, while allowing teams to shoot 10 percent better against them than WSU (49 percent from the field compared to 39 percent, the worst and best rates in the Pac-10).
Oregon knows an up tempo offense only means so much when you can’t stop anybody else.
“Guys are making plays, defending a little bit better but we still don’t defend enough,” Humphrey said. “Getting stops, not trading baskets. We control our own destiny.”
One they hope won’t end abruptly tonight.
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