Mar 3, 2007, 17:15 GMT
Eugene, OR - The 327th edition of the hardwood Civil War pits the Oregon State Beavers against the 17th-ranked Oregon Ducks in the regular season finale for both Pac-10 teams.
So far this season, Oregon State is 0-9 against ranked opponents, not exactly reason for optimism today. The Beavers have been idle since last Saturday when they dropped a 58-54 decision to nationally-ranked Washington State. Three of the last four outings have now resulted in defeat, and Oregon State is just 3-8 in true road games this season.
The Ducks are ranked for the 12th straight week, matching a program record. They can tie another record with a win today, as it would mark the 16th home win, the most in the 80-year history of McArthur Court. With wins in its last two games, Oregon has moved to 22-7 overall, and the 93-85 triumph over Washington last Saturday pushed the Ducks to 9-7 in league play.
Oregon recorded a 76-73 victory over Oregon State back in December, but the Beavers still hold a 180-146 advantage in the all-time series between the rivals.
Marcel Jones continues to pace Oregon State in scoring with 15.2 ppg, and Sasa Cuic checks in with 12.4 ppg as the roster's only other double-digit scorer. Unfortunately, the 64.3 ppg that the Beavers have mustered have not been enough to win games on most nights. They are shooting a lowly 29.9 percent from three- point range, an obvious area of weakness. In the narrow loss to Washington State last weekend, Jones scored 16 points and Cuic added 12 points. As is usually the case, however, none of their teammates stepped up with a big-time performance. The Beavers shot a lowly 37.5 percent from the floor and permitted the Cougars to connect on 50 percent of their field goal attempts.
There is no shortage of options at the offensive end for Oregon, which is averaging 76.6 ppg while surrendering 67.5 ppg to the opposition. Aaron Brooks continues to pace the Ducks with 18.0 ppg and 122 assists, and Bryce Taylor checks in with 14.4 ppg. Tajuan Porter is close behind with an even 14.0 ppg, and Malik Hairston is posting 11.4 ppg. Rounding out an impressive group of double-digit scorers is Maarty Leunen with 10.9 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Against Washington last weekend, Brooks poured in 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor, and he also dished out six assists. Porter scored 19 points, Taylor had 15 points and Leunen finished with 13 points. The Ducks connected on 54.3 percent of their field goal attempts and shot 34-of-40 from the foul line.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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