Cougars' pack mentality isn't always in fashion, but it works.

Byline: George Schroeder The Register-Guard

Oregon broke out new uniforms Saturday night. Real snazzy outfits in lightning yellow. The shorts - if they could be called that, given the length - were extra roomy. The jerseys were as form-fitting as the pants were baggy.

We mention this not because anyone is ever surprised when the Ducks unveil something new; by Oregon's standard, these were restrained. Except maybe for the mottled, green swath of camouflage down the left side.

But we figure you might have been surprised by what happened to the guys wearing those new duds.

Remember all those three-pointers that rained down during two straight wins? Not Saturday. The Cougars won 62-53 at Mac Court, and it came down to this: The only thing tighter than the Ducks' jerseys was Washington State's perimeter defense - unless it was the Ducks themselves, when it really counted.

And there was no camouflaging the Ducks' exasperation at being denied their favorite weapon.

"We were in their way," said Washington State coach Tony Bennett, shortly after his team had held Oregon to a season-low 39 field-goal attempts, after the Ducks misfired on 13-of-17 three-point tries.

There were other factors, as always. The Cougars slowed things down to a slog, milking the maximum out of each possession. They had a big rebounding edge, and allowed the Ducks just two offensive rebounds. They made all the important plays, the ones a veteran basketball team makes - "The way we're supposed to be," Oregon's Malik Hairston said.

Instead, Hairston was fending off discussion of fading NCAA Tournament hopes, and talking defiantly of sweeping two games in Los Angeles. And the Ducks were trying to figure out how Washington State - which not so long ago had lost 13 straight to the Ducks - has a two-game winning streak in the series.

But Saturday's loss was easy to figure.

Maarty Leunen was 4-for-7 from three-point range, which points to the difficulty the Cougars' big men had in getting out to cover him. Every other Duck was 0-for-10. And it wasn't so much that the Ducks didn't make threes, but that they couldn't take them.

Since Tony's dad, Dick, arrived a few years back, Washington State has perfected the "pack" defense, man-to-man sagging into the middle to prevent penetration. It's designed to help offset a talent deficit, and it's been really effective.

Something has changed, though. Because Washington State had always struggled to guard Oregon's better athletes, and to slow the Ducks' freewheeling ways. And recently, they'd really been whipping the ball around the perimeter, eschewing open shots for even better looks. Going in, it didn't seem like a good matchup.

For Oregon, it wasn't. On Saturday, the Cougars unpacked the pack, just a little. They concentrated on the perimeter, hoping to "work like crazy," Bennett said, "to make them shoot as many contested threes as possible."

They prevented at least as many as they contested. Here's the most revealing statistic: Oregon was 1-for-5 in the first half.

Sometimes, the Ducks seemed rattled by the lack of open space. They'd move the ball around the perimeter, from one covered guy to another, as if uncertain what else to do. Other times, they rushed to shoot when they shouldn't have. It all played into the Cougars' plans.

"They make you make plays, and there's not going to be a lot of them," Ernie Kent said. "So if there's one there, you can't afford to miss it."

There was no camouflaging his frustration.