With 29 seconds left in Saturday’s game at McArthur Court, head coach Ernie Kent subbed out senior Tajuan Porter so he could get the standing ovation he deserved. Porter used the opportunity to bow to all corners of Mac Court before he ran off, and in a season of ups and downs, the Ducks ended on a positive note.
The score was Oregon 74, Washington State 66 in the final Pacific-10 Conference game at The Pit. After the final buzzer, members of the Pit Crew rushed the floor, chanting, “Long live The Pit.” And even though the game wasn’t a sell-out (attendance was 8,761), Oregon fans left happy.
“We play off their energy — Mac Court is them,” Porter said. “So I just wanted to give them thanks and let them know I greatly appreciate them.”
Junior LeKendric Longmire had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Ducks (15-15 overall, 7-11 Pac-10 Conference), and freshman E.J. Singler added 15 points. Porter hit two three-pointers to go with 12 points in his final home game, but the players were all happy to win one last time at Mac Court for him.
“I love him,” Longmire said. “I can honestly say I love him as a person and a player.”
For the Cougars, who shot 35.7 percent from the field, Klay Thompson scored 22 points on 7-for-22 shooting. The last-place Cougars (16-14, 6-12) shot 29 three-pointers, making eight.
“We have good shooters and good looks,” Cougar coach Ken Bone said. “We couldn’t make a basket.”
Oregon led 29-27 at halftime, but the team started out shooting poorly like they have the past few games. The trend didn’t stick in the second half, however, as the Ducks ended up shooting 50 percent. At one point in the second half, the lead ballooned to 17.
“We played a good game defensively,” Kent said. “Offensively, we had some of the same woes we’ve had before. You saw us miss some shots and you saw us miss some basketball plays on the floor.”
Washington State didn’t go away. The Cougars went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to eight points with 2:49 to play, and a three-pointer from Thompson with 1:51 to play made it a seven-point game. But Oregon hit its foul shots, and WSU would not get any closer.
It was a good feeling for Longmire and the Ducks because the win put them in a tie with Stanford for eighth place in the conference and not in last place.
“You never want to finish last,” Longmire said. “All we’ve been through this year, we wanted to finish on a good note.”
But it wasn’t all good news that came out of the game. During the second half, a report from KVAL announced sources had confirmed that Kent had been fired by Oregon Athletic Director Mike Bellotti. Kent and Bellotti both denied the report, but Oregonian columnist John Canzano updated his Twitter account saying a source had confirmed the firing.
“I have not heard the report,” Kent said. “I’m talking about Tajuan Porter and Dick Harter (the former Oregon coach honored before Thursday night’s game), and I don’t know why you guys won’t listen to me on that, because it’s their week and it’s their day.”
“I have no comment about that,” Bellotti said. “Ernie and I have talked and we will continue to talk. And that’s it.”
Longmire and Porter both defended Kent in the postgame press conference and both said they would like to see him come back for another season. Longmire said Kent has been a father figure to him, and he does more than coach basketball.
“Coach is a great guy,” Longmire said. “He helped us grow as men as well as players, and I think he’s done a good job.”
As for now, nothing is official as the Ducks get set to travel to Los Angeles for the Pac-10 Tournament. The team plays Wednesday against the Cougars in the play-in game, giving Porter another chance at breaking the Pac-10 record for three pointers, which he is currently five away from.
“It’ll be better for us to get out on the road and drown out the noise,” Kent said.
For the team, there is still hope they can string together a few wins so the season doesn’t end at the Staples Center, but they will have to win four games in four days to do so.
“Four games in four days doesn’t bother us either, because the more basketball we play, the better we get,” Kent said.
“There’s hope we can get on the roll and win a couple of games and get to the (NCAA)
Tournament,” Longmire said.
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