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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mac Court experience awaits Cougs

EUGENE, Ore. – Don’t count Robbie Cowgill among those who will be sad to see Macarthur Court torn down. Or Kyle Weaver. Or any of the Washington State Cougar seniors.

Three times in their college basketball careers the group has traveled here. Three times they’ve left venerable Mac Court with a loss.

“This place is kind of bittersweet,” Cowgill said, “because it’s such a neat place with tons of history. It really is a lot of fun to play here, just because of the atmosphere, but that makes it equally hard. And we’ve never won here.”

“Yes and no, I guess,” said Weaver when asked if he liked the 81-year-old basketball facility. “We’ve struggled here in the past, though I do think it was good to get them at home (a 69-60 WSU victory over the Ducks in late January, snapping a 13-game losing streak to UO).”

But 21st-ranked WSU (19-5 overall, 7-5 in the Pac-10) has lost 12 consecutive times in Eugene, meaning a Bennett-coached team (under either Dick or Tony) has yet to sweep an Oregon road trip.

“It’s unique, kind of like the old fieldhouse at Wisconsin where my dad used to coach,” Tony Bennett said after practice at Mac Court on Friday. “It gets loud, it’s an intense place.

“We’ve played some good ball here and we’ve laid some eggs, too.”

“When they start getting on a run, they start hitting 3 after 3 after 3,” Cowgill said. “Shoot, they can put up 20 points in 3 1/2 minutes the way they shoot the ball and the way they run. If that happens, it can be over pretty quick here.”

But how much of that is the atmosphere in the four-level wooden building and how much of that is the Ducks themselves?

“Probably more so the team, but that doesn’t take away from how hard it is to play here,” Cowgill said. “Maybe 60-40, the team versus place. They are a tough matchup for anybody, and especially for us, just because they spread you out so much.”

The Ducks have been spreading people out recently, regaining their touch from beyond the 3-point arc.

“These last two games, they are playing very, very well,” said Bennett, alluding to Oregon’s wins over Cal (92-70) and Washington (71-58 Thursday night). “They’re playing at a level that’s impressive. Probably the most potent offensive team, in my opinion, when they are on, in the league and one of the better ones in the country.”

The Ducks (15-9, 6-6) hit a school-record 18 3-pointers at Cal, then followed that up with 14 on Thursday night in their win against the Huskies.

Plus, Oregon has welcomed back 6-foot-6, 235-pound Joevan Catron from injury, adding a presence inside. But Catron, who had 10 points and five rebounds against Washington, also seems to be a good matchup for WSU’s 6-10, 270-pound Aron Baynes.

“I thought it might help that way, too, until I saw their tape,” said Bennett of Catron’s return. “They’re just playing so well and he adds a dimension they didn’t have the last time.”

What Oregon won’t have in the not-to-distant future is Mac Court. The school is in the middle of a somewhat controversial process to replace it with a proposed $400 million facility.

“Mixed emotions with this one,” Cowgill said of the old gym’s planned demise. “I have some bad memories, but it’s always fun to play here.”

Fun, but tough – especially this time of year.

“It’s getting toward the end of the conference now,” Weaver said, “and everybody is trying to get wins, so we have to come out every night and be ready.”

Notes

Weaver will be ready, but he won’t be 100 percent. The senior is suffering from a calcium deposit in his right shin and it’s limited his mobility, especially Thursday night at Corvallis. “We need him to be as healthy as he can be and as locked in as he can, because he’s important to us in games like this. If you’re hurting so much you can’t go hard, you have to be off the floor,” Bennett said, admitting when the game is going on it’s hard to factor in players playing hurt. “If you’re able to be on the floor, you have to help the team. That’s just something you have to battle.” … Baynes was also knocked out of the OSU game for a while, but Bennett said he’s recovered nicely. … In the first meeting , Oregon won the rebound battle 33-23 but had 15 turnovers to WSU’s seven.