Three More Than Enough for Oregon

Had you told Ernie Kent that his reserves would supply only two points and that Wake Forest would have five players score in double figures in their Midwest Regional second-round game, the Oregon coach wouldn’t have blinked.

“You have to remember,” Kent said, “this is a team with a lot of weapons.”

Actually, they relied on three. Luke Jackson, Frederick Jones and Luke Ridnour were enough Saturday as they combined to score 81 points in a 92-87 victory over the Demon Deacons at Arco Arena.

No. 2-seeded Oregon (25-8) advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1960 and will play today’s winner between Texas and Mississippi State in Madison, Wis., on Friday.

“We expect this out of each other,” said Jones, a senior shooting guard who scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half, including two dunks that ignited key rallies.

Jackson, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound small forward, had a game-high 29 points, equaling the career-high he scored at California on Feb. 9.

Ridnour, the Ducks’ sophomore point guard, had a career-high 28 points while making a career-best seven three-point baskets. He also had two assists, a steal and three turnovers in 40 minutes.

The seventh-seeded Demon Deacons (21-13) were led by Craig Dawson’s 20 points.

But with 7:45 remaining, and Wake Forest leading, 78-76, Dawson had to be helped from the court after dislocating his left shoulder battling for a rebound with Jones. Dawson, who had knocked down five of eight three-point shots, did not return.

“My feelings go out to him because he’s one of my friends,” Jones said. “But I couldn’t stop and ask him if he was all right because we needed a bucket.”

In a game of scoring runs between Oregon, the regular-season Pacific 10 Conference champion, and Wake Forest, which had lost six of nine games before the NCAA tournament, the Demon Deacons embarked on the first.

After a Ridnour free throw completed a three-point play and gave the Ducks a 25-22 lead with 11:39 remaining in the first half, Wake Forest took off on a 14-0 spree over the next 4:01 to go up by a game-high 11 points, 36-25.

Oregon, though, was able to close the gap, getting within 48-46 at halftime.

Kent made an adjustment in the locker room, going to a match-up zone defense to try and negate the Demon Deacons’ post presence.

It worked.

Oregon tied the score at 78-78 when Jones threw down a spectacular dunk off a missed Jackson three-pointer with 6:26 remaining.

A Ridnour three-pointer with 3:32 remaining gave the Ducks an 85-83 advantage, and they never relinquished the lead.

“In the first half they were shooting the lights out and it was tough to get a stop,” Jackson said. Wake Forest made 55.9% of its shots from the field, 66.7% (six of nine) on three-pointers, in the first 20 minutes.

“We’re just so competitive that coming down the stretch, Luke Ridnour started taking over a little bit,” Jackson said. “Then there were stretches down the game where Freddie Jones stepped up, and then when I needed to knock down a shot, I stepped up and did that. We are all just so competitive.”

Jackson also said the Ducks took satisfaction in beating a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“We just feel like since the ACC is on the East Coast, they get a lot of publicity,” he said. “We had a lot to prove that the Pac-10 is a great conference.”