Oregon Men's Basketball Year in Review: Another Elite 8

Oregon was the only school in the country to have defeated three different top 10 teams this year.

Ernie Kent and Aaron Brooks led Oregon to one of the best seasons in school history in 2006-07. Photo: goducks.com

EUGENE - One of the best seasons in Oregon basketball history came to an end with an 85-77 loss to eventual NCAA Champion Florida in the Midwest Regional final, but not before the Ducks set a number of impressive team and individual benchmarks.

Here’s a look at those accomplishments and some of the telling numbers from Oregon’s 2006-07 season.

Oregon’s 29 wins were tied (with the 1938-39 NCAA Champions) for the second-most in school history.

It was also Oregon’s highest win total in 62 years -- since the 1944-45 team set the school record with 30, when the Ducks played an NCAA record 45 games.

Aaron Brooks won the 2006-07 Pac-10 scoring title to become Oregon’s first league scoring champion since Terrell Brandon averaged a school-record 26.6 points per game in 1990-91.

Brooks’ 27 points in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final versus Florida upped his season average to 17.7 points per game, allowing the Seattle, Wash., native to edge USC’s Nick Young, who averaged 17.5 points per game.

Tajuan Porter set the UO freshman scoring record during the NCAA Regional Semifinal versus Nevada-Las Vegas, becoming the first Duck frosh to surpass 500 points. He finished the season with 512 points.

Aaron Brooks, Bryce Taylor and Tajuan Porter became the 16th, 17th and 18th different Ducks, respectively, to score 500 points in a season.

Brooks finished the year seventh all-time with 621 points, while Taylor was 20th with 523 and Porter 24th at 512. It marked just the second time in school history (2002) that three different Ducks scored 500 points.

Aaron Brooks finished his career as one of five players ranked in the UO career top 10 in scoring, assists and steals. He was also among the Ducks’ best in three pointers, free throw percentage and field goals made.

Bryce Taylor set Pac-10 Tournament records by making 11-of-11 field goal and 7-of-7 3-point field goal attempts in scoring a career-best 32 points in the Pac-10 tournament championship win against USC.

Aaron Brooks, Tajuan Porter and Bryce Taylor each scored 30 points in a game during 2006-07. That was the first time three different Ducks had a 30-point game in the same year since 1975-76.

Brooks Wins Three-Point Contest, Wooden Award

Senior guard Aaron Brooks won ESPN’s men’s three-point shooting contest held in Atlanta in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four.

He also garnered All-America honors from the Associated Press, The Sporting News and the Wooden Award, becoming Oregon’s first Wooden Award team honoree since Greg Ballard in 1977.

Three 1,000 Club:

When Bryce Taylor reached 1,000 career points during the Pac-10 tournament championship game versus USC, it marked the first time in school history that Oregon had three 1,000-point scorers -- joining Aaron Brooks and Malik Hairston -- on the floor at the same time.

Porter Shoots Down 3's Records:

Tajuan Porter set the UO overall single-season and Pac-10 freshman single-season records for three-pointers.

The Detroit, Mich., native hit 110 threes in 2006-07. The old Oregon record was 94 by Orlando Williams in 1995, and the old Pac-10 mark was 82 by UCLA’s Jason Kapono -- the 2007 NBA three-point champion -- in 2000.

Further, his 110 threes were the second most ever by a freshman in NCAA history (Davidson’s Stephen Curry made 120 in 2006-07).

Ducks Set Pac-10 3's Mark, Too:

Oregon made 350 three-pointers in 2006-07, breaking the previous school and Pac-10 record of 304 made in 2002-03. The Ducks’ 897 three-point attempts were also school and Pac-10 records.

Top 10 Wins

Oregon was the only school in the country to have defeated three different top 10 teams this year -- No. 1 UCLA, No. 10 Arizona and No. 9 Washington State. It was the first time in school history that Oregon knocked off three top 10 teams in the same season.

Lucky 7

The Ducks won a school-record seven games versus ranked teams in 2006-07. Overall, Oregon was 7-3 versus the top-25.

The Ducks defeated No. 18 Georgetown (Nov. 29th), No. 1 UCLA (Jan. 6th), No. 10 Arizona (Jan. 14th), No. 20 Washington State (Jan. 27th), No. 9 Washington State (Feb. 22nd), No. 22 Winthrop (March 18th) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and No. 19 UNLV (March 23rd) in the NCAA regional semifinals.

Winning the Close Ones

Oregon was 14-5 in games decided by eight points or less (10-4 in Pac-10 games). Ten of the Ducks’ 11 Pac-10 wins came by eight points or less. Compare that to last season when Oregon was 2-14 in such contests.

Road Warriors

Oregon was 13-6 away from Eugene (6-5 road, 7-1 neutral). Three of Oregon’s seven wins over ranked opponents came on the road. It was the first time in school history that Oregon defeated three ranked opponents on the road in the same season.

Sharp Shooters

Oregon led the Pac-10 and ranked ninth nationally in three-point field goals per game (9.5). The Ducks were also second in the conference and fifth nationally in free throw percentage (.761).

One More Tajuan Record

Porter broke the Oregon record for points in an NCAA Tournament game with 33 versus UNLV. The old mark was 32 by Fred Jones versus Kansas in 2002.

Playing Percentages

Oregon was 25-3 when the opponent shot below 50 percent from the field and 4-5 when foes reached 50 percent.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports