Oregon Improvement Is a Matter of Degrees

Frederick Jones had a fever.

Then the whole Oregon team got hot.

Fourteen minutes into the revival of the Pacific 10 tournament Thursday, top-seeded Oregon trailed Washington by 13 points.

Visions of an upset danced in the heads of other teams’ fans.

Then ninth-ranked Oregon kicked its running game into gear in the second half and scored on a shower of three-point baskets to pull away for an 86-64 victory, advancing to a semifinal game against USC tonight at Staples Center.

At halftime, Jones hadn’t managed anything but two free throws, Oregon didn’t have a single fastbreak bucket, and Washington led by seven.

It wasn’t until after the game that most people who hadn’t sat on the Oregon bench found out how ill Jones was.

“He had a 102 temperature before tipoff, then by the time the game started it had dropped to 99,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “He needed the first half to get it out of his system. We didn’t even know if he was going to play before the game.”

Forward Luke Jackson became Oregon’s big gun, scoring 27 points and going four for eight from three-point range, four for four in the second half.

Jones finished with 15, two on the steal and breakaway slam dunk that gave Oregon its first lead since the early going, 47-45, six minutes into the second half.

Midway through the half, Oregon led by 10 after Jones had completed a three-point play, throwing a head-and-shoulders fake and leaning in to make the shot.

“Just as long as I’m ready for game time,” Jones said. “I can be sick at any other time, but at game time I need to be ready to play.”

Oregon (23-7) was ready in the second half, especially after a 12-minute delay because of a shot-clock malfunction early in the second half.

After the problem was solved, Jackson and Jones knocked down three-pointers in quick succession and Oregon cut the lead to one.

Any chance Washington (11-18) had of upsetting Oregon for a second time this season seemed to slip away during the delay.

“I don’t know,” Coach Bob Bender said. “Both teams had to deal with it. Our energy was not the same coming out of it.”

Doug Wrenn carried Washington early, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first half.

But Oregon--still weary from its pressure-packed sweep of USC and UCLA to win the Pac-10 regular-season title last week--finally picked up its defense.

After the game, Washington Athletic Director Barbara Hedges reiterated her policy of reviewing coaches’ performance after the season and said she has been supportive of Bender. Since reaching the Sweet 16 in 1998 and returning to the NCAA tournament in 1999, he has had three losing seasons.

Oregon, after dodging a potential upset, will face the Trojans, a team it beat twice in the final minute this season, winning by four points in Eugene and by two at the Sports Arena last week on Jones’ shot with one second left.

“USC for us, we’ve liked the matchup,” Kent said. “The way they press, the way they play in the half-court and trap you, they force you to spread the floor and use your skill. We just feel like we’re a pretty skilled basketball team that can shoot it. We still feel like we haven’t given them a great shooting game yet. It’s going to be a tough battle.”