He isn’t faster than a speeding bullet. Or stronger than a freight train.
But Luke Ridnour is Oregon’s Superman.
With “the other” Luke — Luke Jackson — on the bench with a severly-lacerated finger, Ridnourscored 24 of the Ducks’ final 34 points to rescue Oregon from a loss to lowly Washington State.
The Ducks trailed 32-31 at halftime, but, thanks in large part to Ridnour, buried the Cougars inthe second half and won the game 76-66 in front of a sold-out McArthur Court crowd.
“With about 30 seconds left in halftime, I called (Ridnour) over to the sidelines and told himtotake over the game,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “I felt, as a team, we were a littlestagnant, we needed a little more leadership out there. He needed to be a little bit moreforcefulwith things.”
Ridnour was forceful with the ball in the second frame. With a little more than seven minutes onthe clock and the score tied at 51, Ridnour drove the lane, hit a runner and was fouled. Hecompleted the three-point play to spark a 15-5 run that broke the game open. Ridnour scored 11ofthose 15 points.
He finished the game with 28 points to lead all scorers, and added seven assists. IanCrosswhite continued to weild a hot hand, and had 14 points. Andre Joseph, subbing into thestarting lineup for the injured Jackson, had 11 points, including a spectacular dunk at the endofthe game. Joseph, on a break, bounced the ball to himself and slammed it home, causing Kent tocall him over to the sideline.
“We had a parenting moment,” Kent said of the conversation between him and Joseph. “Any of youwhohave children will understand what a parenting moment is.”
It doesn’t take a child to see that the Cougars — who haven’t won a Pacific-10 Conference gamesince Jan. 31, 2002 — weren’t the best team to walk into Mac Court this season. WashingtonState’sone conference victory last year was a two-point win over Washington, and then the Cougars losttheir top returning scorer, Marcus Moore, for the season to an injury. That’s why the halftime standings were distressing to some Ducks.
“We took them lightly, we didn’t think they would be as good as they were,” Joseph said. ‘Whenwecame out of halftime, we got our composure together.”
Joseph seemed nervous stepping in for Jackson at first, but warmed up as the game went on. Hewent0-for-4 from the field in the first half, but went 4-for-7 in the second frame.
The Ducks all agreed that the game was good because it allowed them to adjust to Jackson’sabsencebefore hitting the road next week to play UCLA and USC. Oregon will have to play those two games on the road, where the Ducks have been shaky thisseason.
Oregon is 2-3 on the road, not including its win over Kansas in the Papé Jam, which was playedatthe Rose Garden in Portland.
“We have to understand that (going on the road) isn’t a vacation,” Oregon guard James Davissaid.”It’s not just a chance to eat dinner and stay in nice hotels.”
The last time Oregon went on the road was a disastrous trip to the Bay Area, where the Duckswereblown out by a combined 40 points at California and Stanford. But the Oregon players say they’veput that behind them, and, after winning four-straight, look to turn their road woes around inSouthern California.
“Our goal was to come back here and win all four of these games,” Ridnour said. “Now we have toregroup and hope for the best.”
Oregon’s game against UCLA on Thursday will be televised on Fox Sports Net. Tipoff is scheduledfor 7:30 p.m.
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