Oregon Puts It in Cruise Control

The capacity crowd at McArthur Court fell nearly silent as Oregon’s Luke Jackson doubled over, grasping his blood-soaked right hand.

Later they cheered as Luke Ridnour’s three-point basket gave the Ducks a 30-point lead and No. 23 Oregon went on to a 91-66 victory over Washington on Thursday night at Eugene, Ore.

Jackson was whisked into the locker room with just under six minutes left in the first half, bleeding profusely from his right hand after a collision with Washington’s Doug Wrenn.

It looked worse than it was. Oregon officials said the injury turned out to be a deep cut to Jackson’s right ring finger that required 10 to 12 stitches, but there didn’t appear to be further damage.

Jackson, a lefty averaging 17.1 points entering Thursday’s game, did not return. Oregon (13-4, 3-3 in the Pacific 10) didn’t need him and led by as many as 39 points in the second half.

“I was just scared for him that he might have broken something and been out for the season,” Ridnour said about his teammate.

Washington (7-9, 2-5), which is 1-5 on the road, was all but powerless against the faster and more savvy Ducks. Despite a victory over Stanford on Saturday, the Huskies have lost four of the last five overall.

Ridnour had 15 points and 11 assists and James Davis scored 18 points in Oregon’s third consecutive victory.

Washington was led by freshman guard Nate Robinson with 18 points. Fellow freshman Mike Jensen added 13.

“Not a lot of profile or analysis on this game,” said Washington first-year Coach Lorenzo Romar. “We got beat by a very good team.”

It was the 270th meeting between the teams in a series that dates to the 1903-04 season. The Huskies lead the series, 172-98.

Oregon State 63, Washington State 48 -- Philip Ricci scored 17 points and had a career-high 15 rebounds at Corvallis, Ore., as the Beavers got their first Pac-10 victory for rookie Coach Jay John.

Jimmie Haywood added 13 points for the Beavers (8-7, 1-5).

Chris Schlatter and Thomas Kelati led the Cougars (5-11, 0-6) with 12 points each.

The Cougars shot 30% in the first half and only 24% in the second. They were playing their first game without Marcus Moore, the Pac-10’s second-leading scorer who was lost for the season after opting to have surgery to fix bone spurs on his right ankle.

The Beavers pulled away in the second half, increasing the lead to 52-37 at 7:41. They led by as many as 18 points, but didn’t score in the last three minutes.

Evansville 74, No. 10 Creighton 66 -- Clint Cuffle scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half and shut down Kyle Korver as the Aces ended the Blue Jays’ six-game winning streak at Evansville, Ind.

Evansville (6-9, 2-4 Missouri Valley Conference) made eight of 11 free throws in the final 2:34 to pull away.

Korver entered averaging 20 points and leading the nation with 77 three-point baskets, but he was one of 12 from the field and finished with only five points for Creighton (16-2, 7-1).

Virginia 85, No. 17 Wake Forest 75 -- Todd Billet scored 23 points at Charlottesville, Va., as the Cavaliers ended a three-game skid by beating the Demon Deacons.

The Cavaliers (11-6, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 8-0 at home. Wake Forest (12-2, 2-2) got 20 points from Josh Howard.

Fresno State 56, Hawaii 55 -- Damon Jackson’s layup with 10.7 seconds remaining at Fresno lifted the Bulldogs (14-3, 7-1 Western Athletic Conference) past the Warriors (11-4, 4-3).