When the Oregon men’s basketball team trounced then-No. 17 Washington back on Jan. 2, the Ducks were in the midst of a six-game winning streak with what looked to be a promising season ahead of them.
Oregon was atop the Pacific-10 Conference standings and seemed like a possible contender for a conference title.
But with March now upon them, the Ducks (14-14 overall, 6-10 Pac-10) are tied with Washington State for last place in the conference, and are on the brink of finishing dead last for the second straight year.
“It’s not the perfect situation because you’d like for your record to be better and everything else,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “I just think it’s a good place to be that we’re closing out the season at home.”
After defeating USC and UCLA on the road this past weekend for the first time since the 2001-02 season, Oregon now has the opportunity to close out the year on a four-game winning streak and take that momentum back down to Southern California for the Pac-10 Tournament.
When the Ducks matched up with Washington (19-9, 9-7 Pac-10) more than two months ago, sophomore center Michael Dunigan played arguably one of his best games in an Oregon uniform. The Chicago native posted 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in that contest, but has only surpassed the double-digit scoring mark on one occasion since then — a 14-point effort against Arizona.
Whether Dunigan will be a factor tonight in the first of Oregon’s final two Pac-10 games at McArthur Court is uncertain at best, but senior guard Tajuan Porter’s play looks to be a bit more promising.
Porter exploded for 29 points against UCLA on 7-of-9 shooting from three-point range, and he is now just nine three-point makes away from breaking former Arizona star Salim Stoudamire’s all-time Pac-10 record (342).
“I just think he’s been playing with tremendous heart,” Kent said of Porter. “He’s been having some really, really good practices.”
While sophomore point guard Malcolm Armstead paced the Ducks with 21 points and six assists the first time Oregon matched up with Washington, Porter used a 4-of-8 shooting night from beyond the arc to chip in 16. The two accounted for 10 of the Ducks 13 assists on the night, and five of the team’s seven three-point makes.
Porter said he is still taking things one game at a time and trying to not focus on his last two games ever at Mac Court.
“It’s just the last home games for me,” Porter said. “I don’t think it’s that important. I wouldn’t put it over in anything other weekend, it’s just more special I guess.”
He went on to say that there wasn’t any specific change that sparked his offensive outburst against UCLA, just the same formula he’s been using for the past four years.
“I played with confidence, as I usually play, and I was able to hit shots,” Porter said.
The entire Oregon backcourt will have its hands full defensively, with the Pac-10’s top-ranked offense (80.3 points per game) that features two of the conferences top five scorers in senior Quincy Pondexter and sophomore Isaiah Thomas.
“They’re still Washington,” Kent said. “They’re going to come at you defensively, they’re going to come rebound the ball, they’re going to run you in transition, they’re going to beat you off the dribble. They’re a very good team.”
Pondexter scored 16 points against Oregon the first time around, more than two points lower than his season average of 19.8 points per game. Thomas, on the other hand, used an 11-for-12 shooting effort from the free-throw line to score a game-high 25 points. He is averaging 17.2 points per game on the season.
Notes:
Former Oregon coach Dick Harter and former Washington star Brandon Roy will serve as the games’ honorary captains. In 1977, Harter became the first Oregon coach to receive the conference coach of the year award. Kent is the only other Duck coach to also receive that recognition, doing so in 2002.
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