Feb. 12, 2000

Box Score

By ROB GLOSTER
AP Sports Writer

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Oregon finally can go home, and with a big win.

A.D. Smith and Alex Scales had 21 points each as the No. 24 Ducks defeated California 64-60 Saturday night to wrap up a brutal two-week trip with a split.

Scales hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining and Darius Wright added three late free throws to seal the win as Oregon (17-5, 8-3 Pac-10) recovered from a 15-point loss at No. 2 Stanford on Thursday night.

The victory wrapped up a trip that began with a loss at No. 9 Arizona and a win at Arizona State. The Ducks, in third place in the Pac-10, play five of their seven remaining games at home.

Sean Lampley had 18 points and Shantay Legans added 13 for California (14-9, 5-6), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Cal had won three straight close games - all by four points or fewer - coming into the contest.

Leading 33-27 at halftime, Oregon extended its lead to 41-31 as Smith scored the Ducks' first eight points of the second half. A 3-pointer by Scales gave the Ducks a 46-34 lead before Cal scored nine straight points to pull within three.

Scales then scored all of Oregon's points on a 6-2 run that increased the lead to 52-45 with 5:33 remaining. But, a minute later, Lampley had a run of five straight points that pulled the Bears within a point at 54-53.

The Oregon lead still was one point when Scales hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 28 seconds left to give the Ducks some breathing room.

Oregon improved to 7-3 on the road this season. The Ducks have not won more than seven road games in a season since 1951-52.

Oregon missed its first eight shots of the game and made just one of its first 11, but finally warmed up and used an 11-0 run midway through the first half to take a 33-27 halftime lead. Smith had 11 in the first half to lead the Ducks.

California Head Coach Ben Braun ~

General Comments:

"I think our defense has been stepping up for us. We're going to have to make some strides offensively, and that's going to take some time. Give our guys credit because they did climb back tonight."

On Oregon's forward Alex Scales:

"I think Alex Scales hit some big shots for them. I think Scales has been hitting big shots for them all season, and that's experience. You've got to jump out there like that."

On freshman guard Shantay Legans:

"Shantay Legans did a great job breaking down the defense when they were stretching us out."

Oregon Head Coach Ernie Kent ~

General Comments:

"These guys are road warriors. For these guys to come through this weekend, splitting these past two games in such tough environments... It's just tremendous. We lost our composure a few times tonight, but I think our guys did an excellent job of letting us coach them in this tough environment."

"The next step for us is to start building our momentum now. We're just seven games away from the 'Big Dance' and we're going to need that red-hot momentum to take us where we want to be."

"We're still learning. We're still growing. But I think we did a tremendous job down the stretch."