He wanted it. He got it. And he delivered.
Senior Freddie Jones hit the biggest shot of his career Thursday night to give the Ducks their first conference championship in 57 years.
Jones’ running, one-handed floater in the lane with one second left clinched No. 13 Oregon’s 67-65 victory at No. 18 USC and at least a share of the Pacific-10 Conference title.
Jones’ heroics also guaranteed the Ducks (21-7, 13-4) a No. 1 seed in the March 7-9 Pac-10 Tournament.
“During the timeout I told the team I wanted to make the play,” Jones told KUGN radio. “When I got out there on the court, I looked at coach and he gave me the ‘OK’ to go and get it.”
The reason Oregon was in the nail-biting situation to begin with was because of USC senior David Bluthenthal’s clutch, long-range three-pointer that erased the Ducks’ lead. Bluthenthal, who was just 1-of-11 from the field and 0-for-5 on threes before the shot, nailed a trey from the top of the key to even the score at 65 with 31 seconds left.
Then came the series of three timeouts to set up the game’s final play. Oregon had the ball with 24.3 ticks left. Luke Jackson in-bounded it to Luke Ridnour who passed it back to Jackson. Jackson then threw it over to James Davis, who put it back in the hands of Ridnour with 10 seconds left.
It was at this time that Jones displayed his senior leadership.
“Freddie wanted that ball,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “He looked at Rid and said, ‘Give it to me.’”
Ridnour did just that and the game was in Jones’ hands with five seconds remaining. Jones penetrated past Bluthenthal and found some room in the middle of the lane for a clean look at the basket.
“It seemed like they just opened a big wide lane for me to get to the paint, and once I got in the paint, I just elevated and shot a little floater that I’ve been working on for I don’t know how long,” Jones said. “And finally it worked.”
The ball sailed in and the Oregon bench went wild, but the victory wasn’t official just yet. USC’s Brandon Granville heaved a 60-foot shot at the buzzer that nearly sent the Trojans a shocking victory.
“Do you realize Granville’s three almost went in?” Kent said. “I think I would have still been lying out there on that floor. Somebody would have had to give me mouth-to-mouth because I would have just been gone.”
Instead, Granville’s desperation heave bounced off the front of the rim and the Ducks all mobbed one another as the 11,505 at the L.A. Sports Arena made their way to the exits.
There the Ducks were, finally celebrating a close win on the road. Their last road trip consisted of two heartbreaking overtime defeats in the Bay Area that pushed their record in games-played away from McArthur Court to 4-7.
“This win is because of what happened in the Bay Area,” Kent said. “We knew this was going to be the game. Incredible. Just incredible.”
Ridnour led the scoring for the Ducks with 17, including five three-pointers, and Jackson contributed 12. Jones wasn’t in his offensive flow for most of the game, missing all six three-point attempts, but still managed to record a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
As a team, Oregon shot just 42.3 percent from the field, committed 21 turnovers and got outrebounded 44-39. The Trojans appeared to be in control of the game when they took a 53-42 lead on an Errick Craven three-pointer at the 11:04 mark. But then USC’s Sam Clancy, who led all scorers with 25, picked up his fourth foul and the momentum changed.
“We know we’re never out of the game,” Jones said.
Jackson, who was held scoreless for the first 28 minutes of the game, scored 11 points in a game-altering 18-2 Oregon run that ended with the Ducks on top, 60-55, with 4:11 to play.
“I’m proud we’re able to bring home a Pac-10 trophy back to Eugene,” Kent said. “But we still have work to do. We didn’t come down here to share the crown.”
Oregon now has a chance to clinch sole ownership of the Pac-10 title with a win against UCLA at 1 p.m. Saturday in a game televised nationally on CBS. The Ducks are one game ahead of California (12-5), which stands alone in second place, and two games ahead of a four-way tie for third.
Let the madness of March begin.