The Oregon men’s basketball team ventures on its first Pacific-10 Conference road trip tonight as it faces No. 14 Washington at 7 p.m. in Bank of America Arena.
Coming off a 73-64 win against Oregon State, the Ducks (10-2 overall, 2-1 Pac-10) will face a Husky squad loaded with offensive talent. Washington (13-2, 3-1) is averaging 89 points per game and has reached the 100-point mark on three occasions. With six players averaging double figures in scoring, Washington is sure to give Oregon everything it can handle defensively.
“It’s going to be an offensive game,” Oregon forward Maarty Leunen said. “But it will come down to defense and who gets the stops at the end. It will come down to desire.”
Junior point guard Nate Robinson is the spark plug in Washington’s offensive engine. Generously listed at 5-foot-9, the Seattle native is averaging 17.3 points per game and is shooting 44 percent from three-point range.
A first-team all-conference selection last season, Robinson scored 20 points during last year’s 83-74 win against the Ducks in Seattle, including an end of the game, insult-to-injury dunk that is still in the minds of Oregon’s returning players and coaches.
In charge of shutting down Robinson is Oregon’s sophomore point guard Aaron Brooks, who is making a homecoming of his own. The Seattle native missed last season’s game in Bank of America Arena with a hand injury and will need to have a big game if the Ducks are going to stay competitive.
“Nate is a good player,” Brooks said. “He’s going to get his buckets. We just need to go out there and play our regular defense and we can contain him.”
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said the matchup between Brooks and Robinson will be a good one but it shouldn’t be the focus of the game.
“People are going to see two great point guards,” Kent said. “Hopefully Aaron won’t get too hyped up going home. This is his first opportunity to do that (because of last year’s injury). We can’t get caught up in too many one-on-one battles. We have a game plan that we have to stick with.”
Tre Simmons (16.9), Brandon Roy (13.6), Bobby Jones (11.5), Jamaal Williams (10.3) and Will Conroy (10) are also averaging double figures for the Huskies.
The Ducks will also be battling a raucous Washington crowd, with its student section located directly
behind the opposition’s bench.
“It’s going to be brutal,” Kent said. “It’s going to be an eye-opener for these kids which is good. For us and our program, the next step forward is to take this team on the road in conference play. We’ve been pretty good at home and we need to go out on the road because the adversity will force us to grow.”
How Oregon’s freshmen react to the pressure of a conference road game will also be a focal point tonight. Guards Bryce Taylor and Malik Hairston will face plenty of pressure from a Husky defense that has held opponents under 70 points seven times and is quick to jump passing lanes.
“We know we already let one slip away against UCLA,” Taylor said. “We’re going to try to be as prepared as possible for this game and try to steal a ‘W.’”
Ducks head north to Seattle for first Pac-10 road game
Daily Emerald
January 12, 2005
Freshman Bryce Taylor will play in his first Pac-10 road game tonight against the Huskies at Bank of America Arena.
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