The Ducks lost their third-straight close road contest, this one a
75-72 heartbreaker to Minnesota in Minneapolis Monday night.
Oregon had four players score 11 points, but the Ducks couldn’t overcome
the 28 points scored by Golden Gopher freshman Rick Rickert. The
former McDonald’s All-American led his team to its fifth victory of
the season. Oregon moved to 4-3.
Oregon lost its third-straight non-conference game, the first time in
four years that the Ducks have done so.
Minnesota started strong, outscoring Oregon 12-0 in the first four minutes. The Ducks slowly crawled back into the contest, as they controlled the game’s tempo, created fast-break opportunities and led 34-33 at halftime.
In the second half, the Ducks and Gophers reversed their play.
Oregon started hot, but Rickert single-handedly got his team back into
the contest. He scored 11 points over an eight-minute span in the
middle of the second half, and his drive and dunk at the 6:54 mark
put Minnesota up, 60-59.
The Ducks ended the game frigid, as they scored only three field
goals in the final 10:55. Two of those baskets were desperation
three-pointers heaved up by Luke Ridnour and Freddie Jones in the
final seven seconds of the game.
Jones and Ridnour were two of four Oregon players to score 11 points.
Center Chris Christoffersen and guard James Davis also netted 11.
Christoffersen was a force for Oregon down low, but foul troubles
kept him out of the game for long stretches.
Oregon returns home to face up-and-down Pepperdine on Monday. The
Waves have already played Pacific-10 Conference powerhouses UCLA and
Southern California, but are coming off a 68-51 loss to Santa Barbara
on Sunday. Pepperdine is led by former NBA coach Paul Westphal.
Emerald sports reporter Peter Hockaday can be reached at
peterhockaday@ dailyemerald.com