Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)

Ridnour, Davis KO Cougars.

Article Excerpt
Byline: RON BELLAMY The Register-Guard

PULLMAN, Wash. - In the Eugene duplex they share with two teammates, Oregon guards Luke Ridnour and James Davis occasionally pass the time by pulling on boxing gloves and battering away at each other.

They are, after all, still sophomores.

Saturday afternoon, Ridnour and Davis delivered the knockout punches on the basketball floor, scoring career highs of 24 and 21 points respectively to lead the Ducks to a 94-86 men's basketball victory over Washington State before 3,092 in Friel Court.

With the victory, the No. 19 Ducks improved to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in the Pac-10 Conference, meaning that they've already eclipsed their total number of victories last season and, more importantly, that they turn into the second half of the league season sharing first place with Southern California, which visits Oregon next Saturday after UCLA challenges the Ducks in McArthur Court on Thursday night.

"I don't know if Oregon has ever been in this position before in the Pac-10 Conference, where at the turn right now we're in first place with USC," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "That is a compliment and a credit to those guys that wear that uniform down there, because they have battled since last spring, through the summer and into the fall to put themselves in this position. ...

"We're in first place going back home, and we can take a deep breath and get re-energized and Mac Court should be an unbelievable weekend coming up for us. I'm proud of my guys."

Certainly, the pressure was on the Ducks after they lost at...