| | EUGENE, Ore. -- It's a nice problem to have: Instead of
figuring out how to beat Stanford, the Oregon Ducks' biggest
challenge may be avoiding complacency as they enter a welcome part
of the schedule.
The Ducks are firmly in third place in the Pac-10 and are
probable for an NCAA Tournament berth. Oregon (17-5 overall, 8-3
Pac-10) will try to make the invitation a virtual certainty this
week with home games against Washington State and Washington, two
of the weaker teams in the conference.
|  | | Alex Scales knows the Ducks can't let up at home. |
In all likelihood, the Thursday and Saturday night games won't
be indicative of the rivalry between the Northwest teams.
Washington State (5-15, 0-11) has lost 12 straight games, and the
Huskies (8-15, 3-8) have been a huge disappointment.
"We still have to play like it's a Stanford or an Arizona
game," Oregon's Alex Scales said. "We still have to play hard. As
you know, when we went up there, we struggled a little bit. So
that shows we need to be ready and be prepared."
Oregon needed overtime to beat the Washington schools last
month, but this time they have the incentive of trying to gain as
high a seeding as possible when the NCAA Tournament selection
committee chooses the at-large teams on March 12.
"We're probably maybe three games away," Oregon coach Ernie
Kent said this week when asked how many more wins the Ducks would
need to make the field of 64 teams. "We still don't think by any
means that we're in the tournament yet."
Another big boost is Oregon's homecourt advantage. The team
played its last four games on the road, defeating Arizona State and
Cal, and losing to No. 4 Arizona and No. 2 Stanford. But now the
Ducks play five of their last seven at McArthur Court, and Arizona
is the only real formidable opponent.
"We've been on the road for two weeks, but seems like two
months," said senior A.D. Smith.
The Ducks have yet another motivating factor this week,
particularly for Thursday night's game against the hapless Cougars.
"The pressure's on them," Scales said. "They have got to come
out and get a victory sooner or later, and we sure don't want it to
be here in Mac." | |
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