For the second consecutive week, Aaron Brooks crushed a top-10 team’s hopes by making yet another tough shot in the final seconds.
Last week Brooks beat former No. 1 UCLA with a baseline jump-shot and on his 22nd birthday Sunday, he helped Oregon beat then-No. 10 Arizona with a floating lay-up over two defenders that bounced high off the glass and gave the Ducks a 79-77 lead with two seconds remaining.
“There was no doubt in my mind who was getting the last shot,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said in a broadcast interview. “That was just an incredible play.”
And like Brooks, Maarty Leunen played an instrumental role in the final seconds by again guarding the opposing team’s final shot.
After getting UCLA’s Josh Shipp to miss a possible game-winning three-pointer last Saturday, Leunen was able to defend Arizona’s Marcus Williams well enough for him to miss the game-tying field goal in the final second.
Although Leunen made Williams miss the last shot, the Wildcats’ sophomore led all scorers with a career-high 34 points and added 13 rebounds. Leunen guarded 6-foot-10 inch senior center Ivan Radenovic for most of the game, however, holding him to four points while Leunen scored 14 on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed 14 boards.
The Ducks trailed 77-72 with 3:01 left to play but scored the final seven points to secure the victory. Both teams had their highest leads reach six points in a game that saw lead changes throughout the entirety.
“What composure in this building – this great environment- for us just to play through it, play through some tough calls at times and a couple turnovers and regain our composure and close out a basketball game,” Kent said.
Brooks finished the game with 21 points, tying Bryce Taylor for the team lead. A minute before he made the game winning shot, Brooks tied the game with a three-pointer and made a strong case to be named Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week for the second consecutive time.
“We’re putting the ball in the hands of the same playmakers we did last year except that this year they’re making free throws and they’re making last-second plays,” Kent said about the changes his team has made this season.
The abundance of three pointers certainly helped too. The Ducks went 13-of-26 from beyond the arc while they held the Wildcats to 3-of-15.
With the two wins against the Arizona schools over the weekend, Oregon moved up to No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
The win also marked Oregon coach Ernie Kent’s 180th career victory, moving him into a tie with W.J. Reinhart for second place on the school’s wins list. Howard Hobson is at the top with 212.
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