Ducks hope to stand beside ‘Tall Firs’

PORTLAND – Portland’s Morrison Bridge was lit this week with green and yellow. The University of Oregon’s student newspaper, The Daily Emerald, splashed the headline “Sweet (16)!”

Ducks Fever is heating up.

The Oregon Ducks beat Miami University and Winthrop in the NCAA tournament’s Spokane Regional last week, advancing to play UNLV (30-6) in St. Louis on Friday in the round of 16.

Third-seeded Oregon, the Pacific-10 tournament champion, has won eight straight games. If the Ducks beat the Runnin’ Rebels, they’ll face the winner of the game between Butler and Florida.

And, if they win, they’ll have 29 victories – the same as the 1939 “Tall Firs” that won the first NCAA championship and became a source of statewide pride.

The high scorer on that team was retired Navy rear admiral John Dick, 88, an Oregon season-ticket holder who will accompany the team to St. Louis.

“Every time I look at him I realize what a special place this is, the University of Oregon,” said Ducks coach Ernie Kent. “I went to school at Oregon, and every time I look back on this, I’m a Duck.”

The Tall Firs own Oregon’s only NCAA basketball title. Oregon has been to the tournament nine times and has advanced to the regional semifinals five times.