Oregon Senior Freddie Jones
On senior night at McArthur Court, seniority defeated youth.
Maturity ruled over immaturity. Oregon’s seniors toppled Washington’s sophomores.
Led by the 33 points from senior Freddie Jones, the Ducks beat the Huskies 90-84 Saturday night in the final home game for six Oregon seniors. Washington, which has only two seniors and no juniors on its roster, showed its youth with key turnovers and defensive lapses down the stretch.
Jones, who ignited the Ducks with several thunderous dunks, wasn’t the only senior to play well Saturday night. Anthony Lever scored 11 points on three three-pointers. Chris Christoffersen had two blocks, five rebounds and four points.
In short, the Oregon seniors reminded the McArthur Court crowd why the players will be so sorely missed next season.
“I’m going to miss this group of seniors completely,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “There’s so much character in there.”
The seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony, and many of their parents showed up to participate.
“I was happy that my family was here to share the moment with me,” Jones said.
Even Christoffersen’s parents came — from Denmark.
Another Oregon athlete honored the seniors in his own way. Former Duck quarterback Joey Harrington showed up in the middle of the Pit Crew with a beard disguise and a T-shirt that had a picture of Christoffersen and the words “The Great Dane.”
The Pit Crew honored the seniors with signed yellow T-shirts for each of the graduating six. The students waved signs that said “I love seniors” and chanted “Fred-die, Fred-die” when Jones was introduced.
“It’s a great feeling,” Lever said, reflecting on a super senior night and senior season. “Compared to what we went through last year, I don’t think you can beat it.”
The game had a number of different factors for Oregon that could have distracted a more youthful team. There was the perfect home record at stake. There was the conference lead at stake. There was senior night.
“Coming into this game, there was a lot of pressure building on us,” Kent said. “But this team has been tremendous all year long. They’ve done a good job and have been able to handle themselves in big games.”
Washington’s youth showed toward the end of Saturday’s game. Sophomore Doug Wrenn, who led the Huskies with 27 points, made a key turnover with 45 seconds left and Washington down by six points. On the other end, he fouled Oregon’s Luke Ridnour, who made both foul shots to seal the Duck victory.
Washington head coach Bob Bender said he was proud of his team’s play Saturday.
“We fought like crazy all night and put ourselves in good position,” Bender said. “But it came down to a couple of defensive lapses.”
Those defensive lapses led to two three-pointers for Jones late in the game. The senior nailed his treys to help lead Oregon to the win in front of a sold out crowd.
“They expect me to hit those shots, and I expect myself to hit them,” Jones said.
He was just one of six seniors to leave Mac Court for good on Saturday night, but Kent was quick to point out that his and the other seniors’ careers are far from over. The Ducks will play at Southern California and UCLA next weekend, then play in the Pac-10 Tournament the following weekend before heading to the NCAA Tournament.
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
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