When forward Ian Crosswhite got in early foul trouble and wasn’t able to contribute in the post, Oregon had to look at other options.
Enter freshman forward Adam Zahn, who has seen limited action throughout the season.
“It was really nice, I actually broke a sweat,” Zahn said. “It was just nice to get an opportunity, coach gave me it, and so I just tried to not let him down.”
Zahn finished the game with four points and one rebound. The numbers aren’t huge, but his four points equal a season-high and it did impress his teammates.
“Adam Zahn is one of those guys that comes to practice every day and works hard,” senior Luke Jackson said. “In my opinion, he could be right in there with all our big guys. It was nice to see him be aggressive. I was happy to see Adam come in and do well.”
All of Oregon’s post players saw action in the Ducks’ win against Southern California. Senior Jay Anderson played 16 minutes and earned five points. Sophomore Matt Short, who started the game, played three minutes but didn’t score.
Crosswhite played 20 minutes without attempting a single field goal. He earned four points off of free throws.
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent was happy to see his post players get some confidence and play within the team’s system.
“When you look at Adam Zahn, Matt Short and Jay, those guys are system players,” Kent said. “They’ve got to gain confidence from our numbers. Our strength is in our numbers. As soon as this team started to play in rhythm and share the ball, that got Adam Zahn involved, it got Matt involved and it got Jay involved.”
Zahn, a native of Redondo Beach, Calif., played 10 minutes. It was the most minutes he has seen since playing 19 against Santa Clara on Dec. 18, 2003.
“For a guy that sat there all year long and to be able to come in and give you those minutes, my hat’s off to him, he did a tremendous job,” Kent said.
It was a physical game between both teams and Zahn was left to defend USC’s Rory O’Neil, who finished with 10 points.
Zahn had a run-in with USC’s Desmon Farmer under the hoop at one point. Zahn went up for the shot and Farmer was tagged with an intentional foul for hitting Zahn in the head instead of going for the ball.
Zahn was happy that he was aggressive. The freshman was quick to always turn to the basket and go up hard rather than hesitate.
“I was kind of timid and hesitant and I’ve realized that just gets you nowhere,” Zahn said. “Trying to go up and trying to dunk everything, tonight I should have tried to dunk that other one. Definitely that aggressive nature is what coach wants and he’s probably going to give me more playing time.”
Zahn admits he still has plenty to learn. He finished 1 for 3 from the field and was 2 for 4 on free throws.
“Tonight I got a lot of minutes,” Zahn said. “It gives you that confidence to know you can play with somebody. I definitely think there’s going to be some times where I might be able to step up especially with the matchups.”