LOS ANGELES — It hadn’t even been a week since they had been celebrating their outright league title on the floor of Pauley Pavilion.
But here the Ducks were, back in Los Angeles and realizing that they had to prove once again that they were the league’s best team.
Welcome to the revamped world of the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament.
In the opening of the game, the Oregon men’s basketball team didn’t appear ready at all for the league tourney, which made its return after a 12-year absence.
There were missed shots, some only hitting air. There were defensive lapses. There was even a 35-second shot clock violation.
But then the second half began.
And that’s when league champion and No. 1 seed Oregon found its rhythm and ran all over eighth-seeded Washington, 86-64, Thursday afternoon at the Staples Center. The ninth-ranked Ducks (23-7, 14-4) advance on to tonight’s 6 p.m. semifinal game against revenge-minded USC, which dominated Stanford, 103-78, in the second game Thursday.
“We talked about this being a conditioning game for us,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “This was (the Huskies’) NCAA championship game. They had more energy than us in the first half.”
When Washington’s Errol Knight drilled a three-pointer to put his steam on top, 31-18, with 5:53 to play in the first half, it tied the biggest deficit Oregon has had all season.
“We were kind of tired in the first half,” point guard Luke Ridnour said. “But in the second half we got our legs back under us. All it takes is a couple defensive stops on defense for this team. We feel we can come back on anybody.”
Ridnour scored 11 points, but it was his first name counterpart, Luke Jackson, who kept the Ducks afloat throughout the game. Jackson scored a game-high 27 points and played tough defense on Washington sophomore Doug Wrenn, who made just 6-of-14 shot attempts for 14 points.
The most admirable Duck performance of the afternoon came from senior Freddie Jones, who scored 15 points in 34 minutes of play despite dealing with a nasty flu. Jones had a 102-degree temperature before game time and didn’t find his offensive flow until the second half.
“In the first half, I told my teammates that they had to be more aggressive because I didn’t feel that I was capable early on,” Jones said. “But then I started feeling better.”
Subsequently, Oregon started playing better.
After a 12-minute delay because of shot clock difficulties, the Ducks scored the first six points of the second half on consecutive threes by Jackson and Jones.
Those treys began a 44-15 Oregon run that left little doubt in people’s minds that the Ducks are a worthy Pac-10 champion.
Oregon was back to running its style of play, once scoring nine straight points off four straight steals and fast break baskets. The Ducks were also playing a much more aggressive defense than they had been in the first half.
“We just played the way we did all year in the second half,” Kent said.
For the Huskies (11-18, 5-13), it was a second half funk that ended their downtrodden season, but they did feel encouraged with the way they played against Oregon in the first half.
“This team didn’t quit on anything, we kept fighting and gave ourselves another chance to play, which unfortunately does now end,” Washington head coach Bob Bender said.
The Huskies entered the game with a lot of confidence after splitting the regular season with Oregon. They had been telling the media all week how excited they were to play the Ducks, which, in turn, gave Oregon extra motivation.
“We knew they wanted to play us,” Jones said. “We wanted to play them too. We haven’t shown them our best game and wanted to show them what kind of team we are.”
“We all read what they said in the paper,” Jackson said. “I feel that they’re not going to talk as much now.”
But there will still be comments in today’s newspapers to take notice of and, this time, it’s coming from USC’s direction. After the Trojans dismantled the Cardinal Thursday, Pac-10 Player of the Year Sam Clancy made a strong statement about his team’s desire to beat Oregon tonight.
“They stole two from us,” Clancy said of Oregon’s two victories over USC this season. “They stole two. And we’re coming to get one back.”
Consider the Ducks up for the challenge, with the winner advancing on to Saturday afternoon’s Pac-10 Tournament title game at 3 p.m. on CBS.
“We like the match-up with SC,” Kent said. “We understand the way they play.”