SEATTLE — Without its spark, the Oregon men’sbasketball team had trouble lighting its fuseSaturday.
Oregon (18-7 overall, 8-6 Pacific-10 Conference) fell78-66 to arch nemesis Washington before a sold-outcrowd of 10,000 at Bank of America arena. The Duckstied a season low by shooting 33.3 percent. They wereoutscored 40-14 in the paint. And they were tired –in part because of the notable absence of reserveguard Andre Joseph.
Joseph, the Ducks’ most productive bench player,didn’t play in the second half after he had what headcoach Ernie Kent called an emotional “meltdown.”
Joseph and assistant coach John Cooper had a heateddiscussion — with Cooper doing most of the talking –during a timeout with 11:50 remaining in the game andthe Ducks trailing 44-43. Joseph, who averaged 14points in the previous eight games, had four pointsand three fouls in 12 minutes in the first half, butonly got off the bench in the second half during hisexchange with Cooper.
“I certainly thought that took away from the game,”Kent said. “(Joseph) needed a cooling-off period. Heneeded to calm down a little.”
Joseph met with the media briefly after the game butwas pulled away by a member of the Oregon mediaservices office before he could explain his side ofthe story.
As Joseph melted on the bench, Oregon was flattened onthe floor. Washington’s Jeffrey Day threw down arebound dunk with 6:30 left in the game and freshmanBrandon Roy did the same less than a minute later toenergize the crowd and spark a decisive 9-0 run forthe Huskies (9-15, 4-11).
Oregon had battled back from a 16-point first-halfdeficit to get back in the game. Ian Crosswhite hitconsecutive three-pointers to give Oregon a 43-42 leadwith 13 minutes to play. A minute later, Luke Jacksontipped in his own miss to put the Ducks ahead 45-44,but that would be their last lead.
“We were battling through a lot of adversity,” Kentsaid. “We were good at responding, and even takingcontrol of the game at one point in the second half.”
Luke Ridnour paced Oregon with 20 points and sixassists — but had eight of Oregon’s 15 turnovers.James Davis scored 15 points for the Ducks, andCrosswhite added 14. Jackson finished with just eightpoints on 3-of-13 shooting.
“There’s no excuse,” Davis said. “On the road, it’sjust tough to win sometimes.”
Or, in Oregon’s case, it’s always tough to win atWashington. The Ducks — who fell to 3-4 on the Pac-10road this season — have now lost two straight inSeattle, and four of their last six.
“We had some open looks. We just didn’t knock ’emdown,” Ridnour said.
Ridnour missed a free throw with 1:31 left in thegame, snapping a record-setting streak of 62consecutive free throws made.
“So what?” Ridnour said when asked about the Pac-10and school record streak. “We’re trying to win games.That don’t matter to me.”
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