| Game Summary: Oregon | Score: Oregon 90, Louisville 63 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Erik Brown (20) Oregon: Freddie Jones (20) |
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| If what goes around comes around, it came around for the U of L Cardinals against the Oregon Ducks. In their first game after trouncing South Alabama by 54 points in their season opener, U of L drops a bruising 27-point decision in Portland to the Oregon Ducks. It the Cards' second 20-plus point loss to Oregon in two years. The Cards shot only 38% from the field, which prevented U of L from getting into any defensive rhythmn and implementing its full-court press. In the first part of the game the press was effective: U of L forced seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game, and trailed only 20-18 with 9:12 left in the opening period. But after a TV timeout at the 7:45 mark, Oregon put the game away fast. Using a full-court press of its own, Oregon then held U of L to only field goal in the next five minutes, which opened up a 12-point lead that ballooned to a 48-30 Oregon advantage by halftime. |
Erik Brown was the bright spot for the Cards, leading U of L with 20 points on 8-16 shooting. Ellis Myles recorded his second straight double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. The only other Cardinal in double figures was Reece Gaines with 12 points, but Gaines shot only 3-12 from the field, including 0-3 from three-point range. Starting point guard Carlos Hurt injured an ankle four minutes into the game, and despite two attempts to come back, missed the entire second half and did not score. U of L was outscored 31-11 from the charity stripe, and was outrebounded 42-33. On the other side of the ball, Oregon placed five players in double-figures, led by 20 points from Freddie Jones, who was 10-11 from the free throw line. Center Chris Cristofferson had 13 points, including six to fuel an 8-2 Oregon run at the start of the second half that pushed Oregon's lead to 24. He had a three-pont play with 9:52 left in the game to give the Ducks a 68-43 lead.  |
| Game Summary: Oregon | Score: Oregon 88, Louisville 65 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (17) Oregon: Bryan Bracey (17) |
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| The facts and figures speak for themselves, and the University of Louisville basketball program continues on the path towards its worst sesaon since World War II. The team is setting records for futility, bickering with each other, bickering with the coaching staff, and the fans are staying away from Freedom Hall. There are no bright spots whatsoever for this basketball team, and everyone would just assume that this season end sooner rather than later. The facts from yesterday's game show what a shambles the Cardinals are. After a week to prepare for a solid Oregon team, the Cardinals suffer their second straight 23-point loss at Freedom Hall. |
| Combined with last week's 91-68 loss to Dayton, yesterday's defeat matches the worst consecutive home losses in Freedom Hall's 45-year history, and the worst back-to-back defeats in the Denny Crum era. The Cardinals are also off to their worst 12-game start under Coach Crum as well. The Cards totally broke down yesterday, on both offense and defense. U of L shot only 37% from the field, and dished out a total of eight assists, two in the second half. Reece Gaines led U of L with 17 points, as he and Luke Whitehead, who finished with 11, were the only two Cards to hit at least half their shots (Hajj Turner did go 1-1 from the field). Senior guard Marques Maybin had 15 points on 4-13 shooting from the field and 7-12 from the line. For Oregon, team leader Bryan Bracey led five Oregon Ducks into double figures, finishing with 17. Luke Ridnour had 15, and was one of three Ducks to hit three three-pointers. Had Oregon not shot a pitiful 16-30 from the line, the final margin could have been even worse. |
| U of L fell behind 16-7 on three straight Duck three-pointers, but pulled back into it after a three by Gaines and back-to-back layups by Whitehead. The Cards trailed by seven for the bulk of the first half, then pulled within 38-34 with 2:33 left in the period. U of L went 0-4 to finish the half as Oregon scored six straight to take a 44-34 halftime lead. Already, the game was lost and the Cards were history. The margin was in single-digits after Maybin opened the second half with a bucket, but that was the last time Oregon led by less than 10 points. Oregon scored on six of their first seven possessions of the second half; Bracey had four straight hoops for Oregon during that run, scoring nine points in a 15-6 run that gave Oregon a 57-40 lead with 16:08 to play. Following a Whitehead jumper and two free throws by Gaines, Oregon hit three straight three-pointers to open a 66-44 lead at the 11:48 mark. U of L never got closer than 15 the rest of the way. For the game, and despite their concentration on defense in practice this week, U of L gave up season-highs in three-pointers made with 12 and overall field goal percentage with 57% shooting by the Ducks. |
| Game Preview: Oregon | Date: Dec. 30, 2000 |
| Site: Freedom Hall | Records: U of L: 4-7, Oregon: 8-1 |
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| The Cards have one final tune-up before the big game against Kentucky and then the start of conference play. Judging by their performance against Dayton, the Cards are in more need of an overhaul than just a tune-up. The Pac-10's Oregon Ducks come into Freedom Hall to face the Cards for only the second time in history; the Ducks bring with them an impressive 8-1 record, with their only loss being to Auburn. The Cards can only hope that a week's worth of practice will have gotten Muhammed Lasege back into physical shape, and that the practice time together as a team could produce a more cohesive unit. U of L's guards are bursting at the seams. The pressure on Marques Maybin and Reece Gaines to produce is weighting them down, especially when opposing defenses focus primarily on Maybin. The Cards need other scoring threats, and if Gaines can dish out some assists to players like Luke Whitehead and Lasege, and if Erik Brown can be a more assertive scorer, the Cards might have a better shot to open things up a bit. |
| The Ducks are led by 6-7 senior forward Bryan Bracey, who leads the team in scoring with 19.8 ppg (tops in the Pac-10) and in rebounding with 7.9 rpg (tied for fifth in the Pac-10). Who knows how Louisville will stop him--several players have already torched the Cards for career games, and this could be another one. 6-4 junior guard Frederick Jones scores 15.2 ppg and pulls down 6.0 rpg, and 6-3 junior guard Anthony Norwood scores 14.3 ppg. Those are the only three Ducks scoring in double-figures.
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