Deja vu on the shot: A Freddie Jones jumper from the right side of the lane in the waning seconds to defeat another Southern California powerhouse, except this one was wearing the blue and gold of UCLA.
Déja vu on the result: Pacific-10 Conference champions. Except this time, the Oregon men’s basketball team ensured that title would belong only in Eugene.
Of course, the Oregon players were sole champions before they took the floor at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night, because of California’s loss at Arizona. But the 65-62 win over the Bruins only sweetened the conference championship cake, and also served to vault the Ducks into the top 10 — Oregon now sits at No. 9 — of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
For Oregon head coach Ernie Kent, the Pac-10 title is vindication for the underdog Ducks.
“We heard it all this year,” an emotional Kent told KUGN after Saturday’s game. “But this team never wavered, and that’s why we were able to persevere.”
The victory also vindicated years of Oregon futility at Pauley Pavilion, where the Ducks hadn’t won since 1984.
The win, though it didn’t matter to the final Pac-10 standings, may matter to the NCAA selection committee next weekend when it hands out NCAA Tournament bids. Oregon can make a strong case for a high West Coast seed after finishing the regular season with five straight wins and after beating both USC and UCLA on the road.
Even if the Ducks falter in next weekend’s Pac-10 Tournament, Oregon is now likely staying close to home — either Sacramento, Calif., or Albuquerque, N.M. — for the first rounds of the Big Dance.
“Anybody who said we had nothing to play for tonight is just crazy,” Kent said. “Before the game there were no speeches about defense or offense. We said, ‘Here’s something for our parents. Let’s stay in the West.’”
But before the NCAA Tournament, Oregon will head back to Los Angeles for next weekend’s Pac-10 Tournament. The Ducks, who are the No. 1 seed, will square off with Northwest rival Washington in the tournament’s first game Thursday at 1:15 p.m. The winner of that game will go on to face the winner of No. 4-seed USC and No. 5 Stanford on Friday at 6:15 p.m. Both those games will be televised on Fox Sports Net.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Oregon point guard Luke Ridnour said. “We’re looking forward to showing some more people what we’re capable of.”
Oregon’s final regular-season win came in typically gut-wrenching style. The Ducks led most of the game, but UCLA kept the score close and even led late in the second half. After a timeout with 42.9 seconds left and Oregon leading 63-62, the Ducks ran a play for Jones.
The senior guard drove the left side of the lane, bobbled the ball, got it back and threw in a runner with 12 seconds left. The Bruins got the ball back and still had one timeout remaining, but never used it. UCLA freshman Ryan Walcott missed a three-pointer with less than three seconds left and Oregon’s Robert Johnson grabbed the rebound to seal the Ducks’ Los Angeles sweep.
“All that from a team that can’t win on the road, huh?” Kent said, referring to the Ducks’ label as a team that loses close games away from McArthur Court.
Oregon was led by Jones’ 22 points and Ridnour’s 14. The Bruins got a career game from center Dan Gadzuric, who had 22 points, but got only 24 combined points from their four other starters.
“Our game plan was to make them bored, take this crowd out of the game,” Kent said.
For much of the first half, Oregon indeed kept UCLA’s crowd out of the game. Over a two-minute stretch midway through the first frame, the Ducks got a pair of treys from senior guard Anthony Lever and led 31-21 with 5:35 left.
The Bruins chipped away at the Ducks’ lead and eventually went ahead 49-48 on a Walcott three with 7:50 remaining in the game. But Oregon guard James Davis answered with a trey of his own, and the Ducks never trailed for the remainder of the contest.
“We just came out here and gutted it out,” said Ridnour, who admitted that the Ducks were “tired” after their emotional win over USC on Thursday.
For Kent, the end of the regular season is only the beginning of a third season: the postseason.
“They’re on a magical run right now,” said Kent of his Ducks.
“Phase three, here we come.”
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
at [email protected].