| | EUGENE, Ore.-- Oregon hasn't won at Arizona in 15 years,
but this might be as good a week as any to snap the losing streak.
"It's going to be a real big weekend for us," said reserve
forward Bryan Bracey. "We have to come out with two wins in order
to stay ranked and be where we want to be in the conference. We're
trying to win the conference and for us to be able to do that, we
need to treat every game like it's the most important."
The Ducks (15-3, 6-1 Pac-10; unranked ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) play Arizona (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) tonight
and travel to Arizona State on Saturday. Oregon and Arizona are
tied for first place in the conference, along with Southern
California and Stanford.
Oregon State (10-8, 2-5) plays Arizona State (11-8, 3-4) tonight
and the Wildcats on Saturday.
Arizona (17-4, 6-1) is coming off an embarrassing 26-point loss
to LSU last Saturday. The Wildcats are bound to be looking to prove
themselves against the Ducks, who have lost 14 straight years in
Tucson since winning 43-40 there on Feb. 21, 1985.
"We have become a better team, and they have lost a couple of
leaders, seniors and good players who went on to the NBA in A.J.
Bramlett and Jason Terry," Oregon's A.D. Smith said. "We feel if
we go in and play well, we'll have an opportunity to win. Any time
you get into the closing minutes of a game whether it's home or
away, both teams have a chance to win, and that's where we want to
be."
Oregon is ranked for the first time since 1997 in The Associated
Press poll, although the Ducks actually dropped in the ESPN/USA
Today rankings, despite knocking off USC and UCLA last week.
"Who's to say how they rate their poll?" Smith said. "We're
on the West Coast, and I know a lot of people forget about the West
Coast. They look at USC, UCLA, see that we beat them both, and
they're ranked ahead of us. It's tough to see.
"But whatever it is, we really don't have a lot of control over
it. I don't think you can get into a whole 'They don't respect us'
thing, because we're about to play Arizona, and I know they're
going to respect us when we get there." | |
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 NCAA West: Quacking up the Pac-10
Game Day Preview: Oregon at No. 5 Arizona
The Weekly Word on college basketball
Olson admits mistake in scheduling LSU game
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