Oregon at Kansas State

They must have put something in the water they hand out at the inaugural Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood series, because both games so far ended in overtime and in dramatic fashion. The prodigal freshman was going against the Quack Attack. Who prevailed???

The game started fun, fast and furious, until both coaches "zoned out", and used zone defenses to slow the opponent down. This worked in slowing down the game to almost a crawl and having a low first half score.

The second half was exciting however, with the teams going back and forth. Michael Beasley once again showed his "mad skillz", although some could point out that he was jumping over shorties, not players his own size, length and athleticism. But Fran Frachilla (who blogs and surfs in a swimsuit? (just testing to see if you are reading this Fran :)) has appointed Beasley the #1 pick of the 2008 NBA draft, and why not? He might be the next Kevin Garnett or Melo. Can you afford to not pick him over yet another guard or wing? Thankfully I don't have to make that decision, but NBA GMs will have to :)

I had my reservations with this season's Quack Attack, because Aaron Brooks was the glue that held last season's team together as a seasoned four year veteran college point guard. That's why I haven't given the Ducks much vote love in the BlogPoll Top 25 bloggers poll.

But after watching them for the first time this season, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, they do have their issues, in that they lack size, but they are a versatile team with a capital T. Space-eater Jo Catron is no longer just five fouls off the bench, he has improved his game in many aspects, and showed he can have impact in the paint on the offensive end. Marty Leunen continues to be the all-around player that was advertised, but he seems to have added more toughness as showcased by his four-rebound effort at a critical time of the game while going against three Kansas State players. The Mighty Mouse may be a liability because of his size, but he is a game changer because of his size, speed and shooting. Bryce Taylor is another player that has improved his game from last year. And while Mailk Hairston, just like his other overrated teammate Joe Crawford at Kentucky, failed to meet their lofty expectations coming out of high school, he is also another solid experienced player in the rotation.

Kansas State could have easily won the game, if they could hit their free throws (they went 0 for 3 in three one-and-one attempts, essentially 0 of 6). They also made some freshman mistakes as expected, but they also showed some poise. While this team is not yet a top 25 team, there is a lot of potential as Billy Walker continues to get up to speed, and the newcomers get more acclimated to D1, and Frank Martin finds more ways to take advantage of having Michael Beasley in his line-up.

Despite the loss, this was a good game for Kansas State, although obviously a W would have been even better. Needless to say this was a good road win for the Mighty Tiny Ducks, in front of an ESPN audience.

The (Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood) series is now tied 1-1, with Oklahoma playing USC as we speak, and ten more games are coming up in the next few games. What's different in this series is that some tams are playing more than one game, namely Arizona, Stanford and USC (assuming the Kansas at USC game is part of the series). This presumable was set up as such so that all 12 Big 12 teams would play in the hardwood challenge.