Tonight was a busy one for basketball teams as Oregon State, Oregon, Portland State and the Blazers all had games.
First up was Oregon State as it played ninth-seeded Stanford in the 8-9 game in the Pac-10 Tournament at the Staples Center. The Beavers led at halftime by seven, kept it close for most of the game, but they ended up losing 62-54. Beavers coach Craig Robinson elected not to have his players foul with little time remaining and his team down by single digits. Also, Calvin Haynes, OSU’s most potent offensive weapon, was on the bench late in the game until he finally got in with 1:30 left. The television announcers kept wondering when he’d get in. The fact that he was ice-cold, shooting 2-11 for seven points, could have something to do with it.
The Blazers, who were playing the Mavericks in a Western Conference showdown, were next to finish up. Portland had lost the previous two meetings, and tonight made it 0-for-3. The Mavericks won 93-89 after leading throughout the second half. The Blazers had three chances to tie the game, but couldn’t do it. The outcome of the game was determined after Travis Outlaw stole the ball and then Steve Blake turned it over trying to get it to Brandon Roy for a lay-up. The Blazers are still in a good position for the playoffs, and they are 1/2 game behind Utah for first place in the Northwest Division.
Finishing just moments after the Blazers was Portland State, which was playing in the Big Sky championship game against Montana State. Last year the Vikings won the league title and the conference tournament to earn their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and this year they’re going back. They beat Montana State 79-77 in a game that seemed like the Vikings had under control, only to eek out a victory with Julius Thomas’ g0-ahead dunk with 3.5 seconds remaining. Jeremiah Dominguez led the team with 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting, and he had some highlight-reel moments. In one play he zinged a no-look pass to Thomas who had an easy lay-up since nobody saw the pass coming. In another he finished a fast break with a left-handed reverse lay-up right underneath the outstretched arm of a Montana State defender, using the rim as a shield. When I spoke to Dominguez in the middle of the season he said his goal was to get back to the NCAA Tournament. Congratulations Jeremiah, and to the rest of the team.
The last game of the night was Ducks vs. Cougars in the 7-10 match-up. For Oregon, it was ugly from the start and WSU won handily 62-40. It didn’t help the Ducks that the Cougars are playing extremely well right now, but there shouldn’t be any excuses for playing so poorly. I’ll give credit that the Ducks hustled on defense, but too often the help came late and WSU had many easy, open looks. Oregon’s offense was pathetic. It seemed like the players were lost and didn’t know how to execute the plays. Many times Tajuan Porter would jack up threes, and since he’s a good shooter, even the bad shots would sometimes drop. But the players were careless with passes, there were way too many turnovers, and it seemed like there was an overall lack of desire. I’ve said before that I think the Ducks will be much better in years to come since they are so young, and I still think that, but I had hoped to see some improvement by the end of the season. Unfortunately, the Ducks couldn’t even make it a competitive game. Next season the new Matt Court Arena is scheduled to open in early 2010, and let’s hope the Ducks look better then than they did tonight.
