Ernie Kent and Luke Ridnour weren’t surprised to see Freddie Jones’ 1,000th career point as a Duck come on a thundering dunk.
In fact, they both had similar feelings regarding Jones’ high-wire theatrics for the record books.
“That’s Freddie,” Ridnour said.
Five minutes later …
“That’s Freddie,” Kent said.
Yes, that’s Freddie all right, as the senior became the 22nd Oregon player to reach four digits in points — and he still has nearly an entire season games left to pad those numbers even more.
Jones finished with a modest nine points in Oregon’s season-opening 92-52 rout over Alabama State on Thursday night at McArthur Court, but he played as pivotal a role as any in setting the tone from the get-go.
He gave the 7,315 fans packed in The Pit their first excuse to cut loose when he received a perfectly placed alley-oop pass from Ridnour and slammed it down on the reverse jam to put Oregon up, 12-0.
Jones then followed that up with a three-pointer that finished off the Ducks’ 16-0 run to start the game, which also essentially ended any suspense as to who would win.
But there was just one play that generated chants of “Freddie” from the Pit Crew. With just under three minutes to play in the first half, Mark Michaelis grabbed a rebound and chucked it about six feet in front of the nearest player.
Jones caught up with the pass, leapt off his left foot and then slammed it home with his right hand to give Oregon a 21-point lead and put Jones in an elite class of Oregon basketball players.
“I just think it’s a great tribute to one of the better players that’s ever played here at the University of Oregon,” Kent said. “If it’s going to happen then it needs to happen on a dunk, because he’s put on some spectacular shows here.”
Ridnour and Jones finished off the first half with one last toss-it-up-and-throw-it-down that could foreshadow what some people expect from the two as the season wears on.
“We played a lot together this summer and just have a feel for each other,” Ridnour said. “When I see Freddie running on the right side, it’s easy to throw it up because the guy can just jump over everyone. It makes it more fun to play with someone like that.”