Oregon Schools Cougars, 70-63 Ducks Take Advantage Of WSU Team Missing Stars Ellison, Hendrickson

Oregon, taking advantage of an under-manned Washington State team and a McArthur Court crowd that refused to let it surrender, rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit Thursday night to beat the Cougars 70-63.

Junior point guard Kenya Wilkins, taking advantage of the absence of WSU’s Donminic Ellison, scored 20 points and hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to help the Ducks, 9-4 overall, to their second Pacific-10 Conference win in as many games.

The Cougars, who put on an inspired comeback of their own early in the second half, got 20 points from Shamon Antrum and 17 from Isaac Fontaine, but couldn’t overcome the losses of Ellison, who was suspended by coach Kevin Eastman for academic reasons, and senior forward Mark Hendrickson, who is still nursing a broken left hand.

The loss dropped WSU to 0-3 in the Pac-10 and 7-4 overall and put the Cougars in line for their first 0-4 league start since the Pac-10 last expanded in 1978.

They will try to stop the bleeding Saturday afternoon when they travel to Corvallis, Ore., to face Oregon State. Neither Hendrickson nor Ellison, who did not make the trip and is out indefinitely, will be available for the OSU game.

Oregon was able to exploit WSU’s manpower shortage in many ways, breaking down the Cougars’ perimeter defense for a bunch of easy inside shots and forcing 19 turnovers.

WSU, which alternated Fontaine, Antrum and junior transfer Kareem Jackson in place of Ellison at the point, looked disjointed on offense most of the night.

Antrum turned the ball over six times, and Jackson, who has practiced only twice since returning from his grandmother’s funeral, turned it over five.

But Oregon coach Jerry Green said none of that mattered as much as the crowd of 8,531 - which sounded more like 85,000 - when the Ducks started their decisive run with 10 minutes remaining.

“I thought the crowd got us back into it,” Green said. “It’s the first time this year I’ve really felt that McArthur Court was the feared place that it’s touted to be.”

WSU hurt its own cause with early fouls. Sophomore Carlos Daniel, starting in place of Hendrickson, finished with 12 points and six rebounds but played only 19 minutes and fouled out with 1:47 left.

Junior Tavares Mack sat out much of the first half with two fouls. He finished with eight points but was a non-factor on the boards.

“We did what we wanted,” Green said. “We got their post players in foul trouble … and I think that’s a compliment to Kyle (Milling), Rob (Ramaker) and Mike (Carson) for getting in there and working real hard.”

Milling finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Ramaker added nine points and 11 boards.

The second half was strictly a tale of two extended runs, one by each team.

WSU made the first one, running off 10 consecutive points to fuel a 21-4 spurt just after intermission. That brought the Cougars back from a 42-34 halftime deficit and pushed them into a 55-46 lead with just more than 11 minutes left.

But then the crowd, sensing the demise of their Ducks, rose to its feet and brought on the thunder.

“That’s what an educated crowd does,” Eastman said. “And I thought their crowd was a very important factor - just like (our) UCLA crowd, which, quite frankly, helped us stay in that game.”

Oregon rewarded its loud and loyal backers by showing greater patience on offense and stepping it up a notch on the defensive end. The Ducks abused WSU inside during the next 7 minutes and scored 10 unanswered points to grab a 59-55 lead they never relinquished.

Terik Brown, a freshman from Mercer Island, ignited UO’s run with a mid-range jumper and then capped it with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Bronw finished with 11 points.

“Both teams are teams of spurts,” Eastman said. “It’s just a little harder for us to get ours right now.”

Oregon 70, Washington St. 63

WASHINGTON ST. (7-4) - Daniel 5-6 1-1 11, Fontaine 6-20 3-6 17, Mack 4-7 0-2 8, Antrum 7-15 4-4 20, Jackson 1-2 0-1 2, Scott 1-4 1-1 3, Johnson 1-5 0-1 2, Coby 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 9-16 63.

OREGON (9-4) - Milling 3-7 6-8 12, Curry 4-8 1-2 10, Ramaker 4-6 1-2 9, Wilkins 5-12 9-11 20, Lawrence 1-8 0-0 2, A. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Quinine 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 4-9 1-3 11, Carson 3-3 0-2 6. Totals 24-54 18-28 70.

Halftime-Oregon 42, Washington St. 34. 3-Point goals- Washington St. 4-12 (Antrum 2-5, Fontaine 2-6, Scott 0-1), Oregon 4-18 (Curry 1-1, Wilkins 1-4, Brown 2-6, Quinine 0-1, Ramaker 0-1, Lawrence 0-5). Fouled out-Daniel, Jackson. Rebounds-Washington St. 42 (Fontaine 12), Oregon 33 (Ramaker 11). Assists-Washington St. 15 (Fontaine 4), Oregon 13 (Wilkins 5 leader). Total fouls-Washington St. 22, Oregon 18. A-8,531.

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