Beating Stanford next on checklist.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

It's been a season-long list of things to do for Oregon.

None of the current Ducks had won at Gill Coliseum, until the Pac-10 opener. Oregon hadn't beaten a No. 1 team in 33 years, until UCLA fell at McArthur Court. Since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1978, there had been no Oregon road wins over a conference team in the nation's top 10, until the comeback at Arizona on Sunday.

What's left? Oh, plenty, and up next is that no player on the current Oregon roster has ever participated in a victory over Stanford. The opportunity to end that seven-game losing streak to the Cardinal will come Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in McArthur Court.

`We've gotten some other things off the checklist, hopefully we can add to it,' UO senior Adam Zahn said.

Maarty Leunen said the Ducks have been using `revenge' as `our motivation' for several games this season, and certainly there are opponents Oregon should feel it owes.

`You can see they're on a mission,' UCLA coach Ben Howland offered during the Pac-10 conference call Tuesday.

That has so far gotten the Ducks to a ranking of ninth in the nation, and a 16-1 overall record. And they are tied for first place in the Pac-10, at 4-1 with UCLA.

`I'm not sure there's a more explosive team in the country,' Stanford coach Trent Johnson said of the Ducks. `They cause a lot of problems because they're so explosive and so skilled.'

Arizona coach Lute Olson praised the Ducks for what he said was their `chemistry' on the court.

`They're really sharing the ball ... the open man is getting the ball,' Olson said. `It doesn't look like anyone is concerned with their points, and they have a guy who is next to impossible to handle,' meaning senior Aaron Brooks.

`They're a veteran ball club,' Olson continued. `They came in here Sunday and were not bothered by the crowd at all and I don't think they will be' at other Pac-10 venues.

One cautious reminder: Oregon was 11-1 two years ago, and finished 14-13. At about this time a year ago, the Ducks were 4-2 in the Pac-10, and then lost six consecutive games.

Yes, this is a different Oregon team, but those past experiences make the Ducks cautious about getting too excited.

`Things can go bad at any time so you have to keep things in perspective and keep playing and stay hungry,' Brooks said.

Playing Stanford should help in that regard.

`People are looking for a letup,' Brooks said, predicting it won't happen because `we understand the importance of home games.'

Scouting report

Chris Hernandez and Matt Haryasz are no longer around to torment Oregon, so it's a new team Stanford will bring into Mac Court.

Anthony Goods is firing away from the outside. The 7-foot Lopez twins, freshmen Robin and Brook, are becoming a force on the inside. Beyond all that is Lawrence Hill, Stanford's leading scorer at 15.1 points and a 54.0 percent shooter from the field.

`They continue to get better and better and better,' UO coach Ernie Kent said. `They're a tough-minded basketball team and they've caused us a lot of problems in the past.'

Oh, yeah, that again.

A few more years

Brooks was busy anyway Sunday - hitting a game-winning shot at Arizona - so he didn't really seem to mind that not much was made of his 22nd birthday.

`My big birthday was last year, turning 21,' Brooks said. `After 21, (a birthday) doesn't really matter until you can eat free at Denny's, or get half off.'

Brooks has a few birthdays to go before his senior discount, but there is a senior maturity about him that Kent noted when asked about the impact of Brooks' being a father.

`As he told me, at 3 in the morning, he's changing diapers instead of playing Nintendo,' Kent said. `He's done a good job of taking that responsibility on.'

Still waiting

A week into winter term, Oregon is still waiting to find out when - or is it if? - recruit Frantz Dorsainvil will be able to join the Ducks.

The junior college transfer, a native of Haiti who resides in Canada, is stuck in the process of receiving a student visa so he can return to the United States, where he attended high school before being at Vincennes University for two years.

`We're just in holding,' Kent said. `He's done everything he can do, he's just got to wait for the system.'

Kent said if Dorsainvil doesn't arrive in time to attend classes winter term - and the Ducks already went through this with fall term - then the scholarship will remain available, beginning either for spring term or in the summer. The 6-foot-8 Dorsainvil will have two seasons of eligibility, with this becoming his redshirt season.

`There's nothing he can do for us this year, but I would like to say that eventually he will get here,' Kent said. `He doesn't have a criminal record, he hasn't done anything wrong, he's just caught in the system with paperwork of filing waivers and another waiver ... '

Tickets remain

The rematch with Arizona on Feb. 10 at McArthur Court is now listed as a sellout, though tickets still remain for Oregon's other six remaining home games. That includes the Stanford game Thursday, with reserved seats available at $24.

As of Tuesday, there were only about two-dozen tickets left on sale for the Washington game on Feb. 24. There are only obstructed view seats still on sale for California on Saturday, along with the Oregon State visit on March 3.

OREGON VS. STANFORD

5:30 p.m. Thursday, at McArthur Court. TV: FSN. Radio: KUGN-AM (590).