Luke Ridnour says he has nothing personal against Washington. This is just basketball. Just another game.
But, on so many levels, this was far from just another game.
For one, Ridnour, typically a level-headed guy who keeps his emotions bottled up, let loose Thursday on the Huskies.
A Blaine, Wash., native, Ridnour sank a 3-pointer early in the second half, then forced a Washington turnover at the other end of the floor. Battling a near-flawless opponent and an unforgiving McArthur Court crowd, the Huskies, trailing 63-33, called a timeout, and Ridnour yelled in celebration, pumped his fist, flexed his muscles, yelled some more, then smiled as he walked back to the bench.
Just another game? Hardly. This game featured a nasty, blood-squirting Luke Jackson finger, 14 Oregon 3-pointers, 28 Oregon assists on 34 field goals, and a UConn reject. It all added up to a 91-66 win for the 23rd-ranked Ducks (13-4 overall, 3-3 Pacific-10 Conference), who have won three straight after a slow start to the conference season.
“I thought (the Ducks) could’ve played with anybody in the country tonight,” Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said. “I don’t know if there’s another team in the country that’s had a game like that, with 28 assists on 34 baskets.”
Still limping from consecutive blowout losses two weeks ago in the Bay Area, Ridnour said the Ducks were just hoping to match the Huskies’ anticipated energy. They didn’t expect a second-half walk-through, which is what it eventually became at a sold-out Mac Court.
And the Huskies (7-9, 2-5), after defeating Stanford in their last game, were expecting an intense showdown, which is what has become of this rivalry. Instead, Washington gave up a school-record 14 3-pointers to the Ducks and got a lackluster performance from their star, Doug Wrenn.
“I was really impressed by the way they shared the ball,” Washington first-year coach Lorenzo Romar said of the Ducks. “They always have four guys on the floor that can make plays. They just took it to us.”
The news wasn’t all good for Oregon, though it could’ve been much worse. Jackson went for a steal late in the first half but came up with a deep cut on the index finger of his right hand and needed stitches to sew it up. Oregon’s second-leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, Jackson will miss Saturday’s game against Washington State.
Jackson’s absence, however, was hardly felt. Andre Joseph ate up much of Jackson’s minutes and scored a career-high 17 points while matching up with Wrenn. Ridnour added 15 points and 11 assists. James Davis had 18 points, connecting on 6-of-7 3-point attempts.
“This is a big rivalry game,” Ridnour said. “We knew they were going to come at us — they always play well down here. We were really excited for this game.”
Wrenn, who was released from Connecticut after one year, was double-teamed by the Ducks throughout the game and had another opponent hounding him all night. The Pit Crew chanted “UConn reject” at every opportunity, and even teased Nate Robinson, Washington’s 5-foot-8 freshman guard who doubles as a starting cornerback for the UW football team. Robinson had a team-high 18 points.
The Huskies didn’t score their first basket until the 12:57 mark of the first half, and by then, the game was already out of reach. After 20 minutes, Washington managed just eight field goals in 24 attempts (.333) as the Ducks took a 48-25 lead into the locker room, their largest halftime lead of the season.
After a 9-0 run midway through the second half, the Ducks led 84-45, their largest lead of the game. Every Oregon player except freshman Tyler York, who played only one minute, scored as the Ducks shot 53.1 percent from the field.
Kent compared Thursday’s game to Oregon’s Dec. 7 win over Kansas.
“The focus was there, the intensity was there, and the shot were falling (against Washington),” he said. “It was something to see.”