After ending one streak last Saturday, the Oregon men’s basketball team looks to begin another today against the No. 20 Washington Huskies.
The last game between the Ducks and Huskies – a 78-59 Washington win that determined the early conference leader – started Oregon’s six-game losing skid, which ended Saturday with a 98-87 victory against Arizona State on the road.
Today, the Ducks (11-14 overall, 5-8 Pacific-10 Conference) will try to string together consecutive victories for the first time since a Jan. 14 win against Arizona, a game that marked the middle of a three-game winning streak.
“I think the monkey is kind of off our back,” Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks said. “Except for the Washington game being such a blowout, losing five close games definitely put a monkey on our back.”
Prior to Saturday’s victory, Oregon lost its previous five games by a combined 20 points and slid to seventh in the conference standings.
The Ducks ended the streak by shooting 59.2 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from three-point range against the Sun Devils. Oregon also made 29 of 33 free throws, season-highs in both makes and attempts.
“I think that we can build on (Saturday’s win) offensively. Certainly, again, we’ve done some things well enough in the other (games) that have kept us in ball games,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “If that offense stays where it is, I think it can mean a lot for us because I saw a team that got into a great rhythm where everything was going in. Not only that, they were sharing the ball. If they can continue to do that, then they have a chance to get on a little bit of a run.”
Oregon’s season-high 98 points Saturday was its highest scoring game in three years and the most points ever scored by the Ducks at Arizona State. Malik Hairston led five Ducks in double figures with a game-high 22 points.
Another of those in double figures was guard Chamberlain Oguchi. Filling in for the injured Bryce Taylor, the sophomore from Houston entered the trip last week averaging 5.7 points per game, but scored 21 points Thursday against Arizona and 20 Saturday against Arizona State.
He connected on 12 three-pointers in the two games, making him just the third player in Oregon history to make at least 12 three-pointers in a two-game stretch.
“I think he’s a guy that, if his confidence stays, if he continues to take good shots, he should continue to shoot the basketball – maybe not at the clip he’s shooting it at, but certainly well enough that it keeps him on the floor and keeps us in rhythm offensively,” Kent said.
Oguchi and company will face the challenge today of defending Washington guard Brandon Roy, the league’s leading scorer in conference games at 22.6 points per game.
Last week, Roy earned Pac-10 Player of the Week for his 25-point, 11-rebound performance against USC and 20-point, seven-assist effort versus conference-leader UCLA.
“He’s a great player,” Oguchi said. “He’s very shifty. He’s tall and he has moves. He’s a tough match-up for anybody in this league. He might get his points, but if we can limit everybody else, I think we can be successful.”
Roy’s point total against the Bruins marked his fifth-straight game with at least 20 points.
The victories against the Trojans and Bruins ensured the Huskies their first regular season sweep of the Los Angeles schools since 1987.
Washington (18-5, 7-5) will bring its two-game winning streak to McArthur Court and a three-game winning streak overall against Oregon.
The Huskies pulled away from the Ducks in the first half of their first meeting in Seattle on Jan 21.
The Huskies outrebounded the Ducks 42-26 and were paced offensively by a trio of seniors in Jamaal Williams (20 points), Bobby Jones (15 points) and Roy (19 points).
“The biggest difference in the game with them is that their physicalness was far superior to ours,” Kent said. “We’re going to have to play a much tougher basketball game this time around here to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Washington, the conference’s fifth-place team, leads the league in scoring margin (plus-13.3), rebounds per game (38.7), rebound margin (plus-6.7), assists per game (17.2) and points per game (83.4).
The last four games between the Ducks and Huskies at McArthur Court have produced above average scoring totals for both teams, including a 95-88 Washington victory in overtime last season.
The winning team has scored an average of 90 points in the last four games between the two teams in Eugene.
The homestand against the Washington schools this week is Oregon’s last of the season. The Ducks travel for their last three games of the season to USC (Feb. 23), UCLA (Feb. 26) and Oregon State (March 4) before the Pac-10 Tournament beginning March 8 in Los Angeles.
Saturday’s game is also Senior Day – the final home game for Oregon seniors Brandon Lincoln and Matt Short.
Correction:
Due to an editor’s error, Thursday’s “Ducks’ mission: Extend win streak” should have reported that the Ducks lost their previous five games by a combined 18 points.
The Emerald regrets the error.
 

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