It’s a shame that Saturday’s game might be remembered more for the postgame frustration than for the 40 minutes of action.
It’s too bad that, when people look back on this contest, they will probably recall USC coach Henry Bibby’s words that McArthur Court fans are “a total disgrace” more than they’ll remember the frenzied atmosphere that those fans helped provide.
And, as a fan of spirited athletics, it’s upsetting that two skilled basketball teams can play as intense a game as there is, and still be overshadowed by actions and words between the crowd and the coaches.
Because for those 9,087 at sold out Mac Court, and those watching across the country on national television, Saturday’s Pacific-10 Conference showdown, won by the Ducks 73-69, didn’t leave much to be desired.
“I don’t know about everybody else, but I’m exhausted,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “It was just like a heavyweight bout with two of the best teams going at it.”

Both Oregon and USC entered the game with 8-2 league records, having shared a tie for first place since Jan. 17. While the calendar on Saturday said it was only Feb. 2, both teams knew that the winner of this game would have the edge in the race to stand alone atop the league standings in March.
So the pregame motivation was there, and the game didn’t disappoint. Unlike Oregon’s 29-point rout over UCLA on Thursday, this game wasn’t filled with highlight-worthy alley-oop dunks and breakaway one-hand jams. In fact, for the first time in recent memory, Freddie Jones scored all of his points without a dunk.
Instead, the fans were treated to a physical, bruising slugfest, where the lead changed 13 times, taking the momentum with it each time.
And it was the emotion-filled sequences during the game that should be remembered for some time, not the incident of one Oregon fan charging a USC assistant after the game or Bibby’s angry words toward the students for their personal attacks.
This game was filled with classic, much more worthwhile moments.
With 12:47 to play in the first half, there was Jones being pick-pocketed by USC’s Errick Craven, who was on his way to an apparent fast-break bucket. But out of nowhere, Jones hustled back, leapt up, extended his right arm toward Craven’s left and just took the ball right from him.
“I’ve never seen plays like that,” Kent said. “That was just awesome.”
With 10 seconds left in the first half, Luke Ridnour had the ball and was dribbling, dribbling and dribbling, all the while being potentially fouled by his defender. With the crowd yelling at the refs, Ridnour found an opening, turned around and flung it through the basket at the buzzer to give the Ducks the 43-40 halftime lead.
With 5:54 to play in the game, USC’s future NBA player, Sam Clancy, buried two free throws to give the Trojans the 63-57 lead and hushed the nervous crowd. But then Jones promptly banged home a three that prompted Kent to turn toward the fans, raise his arms, and yell, “Come on!”
On the next play down the court, Ridnour dashed through the lane and got clobbered by Brandon Granville, who got charged with an intentional foul that sent the Pit into a frenzy.
And then, with less than a minute remaining, Clancy knocked home the final two of his game-high 25 points to give the Trojans the 69-68 advantage. Luke Jackson, who had just missed a key free throw, drove through the lane and scored, while getting fouled.
Jackson pumped his fist, bumped chests with Ridnour, and, after two timeouts, knocked home the free throw for the three-point play to put Oregon on top for good.
“The fans are behind us the whole game,” said Jackson, who was the last Duck to escape the postgame barrage of students on the floor. “I just love it. I love being a part of it.”
There was one person who wasn’t a part of it Saturday. With the Ducks starting to make a splash on the national radar, Sports Illustrated sent a reporter to cover the game, but …
“Sports Illustrated missed their flight, had to get turned around in air and didn’t make it here,” Kent said. “They came to do a story and had to watch it on TV and missed an awesome environment.”
It was an awesome environment that helped cap a magical weekend where the Ducks took sole possession of first place and put themselves in a position to gain more national attention as the season winds down.
One can only hope now that as time goes on, the memories taken from Saturday will be those from the game itself and not the tension afterwards.