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MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- For more than 39 minutes, Freddie Jones was
an afterthought in Oregon's offense.
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The Oregon Ducks jumped out early and were in total command of the Texas Longhorns. But all of the sudden, T.J. Ford and Co. came roaring back! The game was tied at 70 and the ball was in the hands of senior Frederick "The Great" Jones who, up to that point, had only one basket. Jones took the clock down to the last two seconds, made a spectacular drive of the lane, utilized his athletic ability and converted the winner, baby!
Yes, James Thomas was big on the inside for Texas with a strong game and a double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds), but it was Luke Ridnour, alongside his buddy Luke Jackson, who sparkled for Oregon. Together they were18-for-32 and scored 45 of the Ducks' 72 points. The Cool Hand Lukes played a brilliant role in sparking the Pac-10 regular-season champs to the Elite Eight.
Robert Johnson was an unsung hero for the Ducks, nailing 5-of-6 from the field, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Johnson played a solid role in assisting Ernie Kent’s club march on. |
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But with a spot in the final eight on the line Friday night, the senior guard wanted the ball in his hands.
Jones' layup with 2.8 seconds left lifted the second-seeded Ducks to a 72-70 victory over the Longhorns, who had trailed by as many as 13 points in the Midwest Regional semifinal.
Until the final sequence, Jones had just two points -- 16 below
his average. But dribbling the ball just inside halfcourt as time
wound down, he waited until there was space in the lane before
driving for the winning shot, his second bucket of the game.
Texas freshman guard T.J. Ford's running jumper bounced off the
rim at the buzzer as time expired.
"My overall game was terrible," Jones said. "Coming down the stretch I knew that we were going to need a play, and I was happy that I was in a position to try to redeem myself."
The Ducks (26-8), who hadn't won three games in the same NCAA
Tournament since capturing the 1939 title, will meet Kansas for a
Final Four berth.
Oregon had to weather a series of rallies by the sixth-seeded Longhorns. Still, the Lukes -- as in Luke Jackson and Luke Ridnour -- always seemed to have an answer.
Jackson led the Ducks with 25 points, and Ridnour added 20,
carrying the team for stretches. They scored nine of Oregon's final
11 points.
"They've been doing that all year long. They've made big play after big play in every single game," Jones said. "They have the confidence to take the big shot and they did a great job of keeping us close."
|  | | Luke Ridnour, left, and Robert Johnson celebrate after securing Oregon's trip to the Elite Eight. |
And then Jones, who missed the only shot he took in the first
half, made the Lukes' hard work pay off.
It wasn't the first time Jones pulled off late heroics for the Ducks this season. He made a shot with 13 seconds left to beat UCLA and another with a second left for a win over Southern Cal that clinched Oregon's first share of the Pac-10 conference title in 57 years.
"How many times has he done that?" Oregon center Chris Christoffersen said. "We're used to it."
Texas (22-12) looked like it might get blown out at times in the
first half and was down 41-28 at halftime.
But the Longhorns used a 13-0 run -- highlighted by Brian
Boddicker's three 3-pointers -- to pull even at 51 with about 12
minutes to play.
That sent the game into a back-and-forth struggle that lasted
until the final seconds.
James Thomas led Texas with 15 points, including an inside
basket that tied the game at 70 with 23.2 seconds left. He was
fouled on the shot but failed to convert the three-point play that
would have given Texas its first lead. Boddicker scored 13.
Ford, playing with series of injuries that include an ankle
sprain and a tender groin, had eight points, five assists and four
turnovers. He was averaging a nation-leading 8.4 assists.
"There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to come
back," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "The tough thing is how
sudden it ends for you at this time of the year."
Texas opened the game 0-for-6 from the field and committed 12
first-half turnovers.
Texas cut its deficit to 33-28 with about 2 minutes left before
the Ducks went on an 8-0 run to end the half. It began with
Ridnour's 3-pointer and ended with Jackson's 3-pointer just before
the buzzer for that 13-point advantage.
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Clutch shooting