Ridnour, Oregon Record Tournament-Tough Win

For Luke Ridnour, it was like March in December. Only better.

Ridnour had 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as No. 7 Oregon avenged last season’s NCAA tournament loss with an 84-78 victory over No. 14 Kansas on Saturday at Portland, Ore.

“This was like a March game,� Ridnour marveled. “It will be good for us down the road.�

Luke Jackson had 26 points and nine rebounds for the Ducks (5-0), who fought off a second-half Kansas rally.

Kirk Hinrich led the Jayhawks (3-3) with 24 points and Keith Langford added 21 in the rematch, played before 20,762 at Portland’s Rose Garden Arena.

Last season, the teams met in the Midwest Regional final in Madison, Wis., and Kansas emerged with a 104-86 victory and its first trip to the Final Four since 1993.

The Ducks, who led by only four at the half, stretched their lead to as many as 11, but the Jayhawks came back to tie it at 74 on Langford’s layup with 3:39 left. But Oregon pulled away, going on a 10-2 run that was punctuated by Ridnour’s three-point basket and a foul shot that made it 84-76 with 49.6 seconds left.

Kansas’ Nick Collison, who had 25 points and 15 rebounds in last year’s game between the teams, got into early foul trouble early and finished with seven points and four rebounds in 24 minutes.

No. 1 Arizona 89, San Diego State 81 -- Will Bynum scored 19 points as the Wildcats (4-0) won at San Diego State (2-3). It was the narrowest margin of victory this season for Arizona.

No. 2 Texas 100, George Washington 92 -- James Thomas scored a career-high 26 points and led two second-half runs as the Longhorns (5-0) won at Washington and advanced to play in the final against Notre Dame in the BB&T; Classic.

Notre Dame 79, No. 9 Maryland 67 -- Freshman Torin Francis scored 20 points on eight-for-eight shooting to lead the Fighting Irish (7-1) at Washington. Steve Blake scored 15 points for the Terrapins (3-2).

No. 3 Alabama 77, St. Bonaventure 68 -- Erwin Dudley tied a career high with 28 points to lead Alabama (6-0) to a school-record 23rd straight home victory. St. Bonaventure is 2-4.

No. 4 Duke 81, Michigan 59 -- Daniel Ewing and Dahntay Jones had 17 points each as the Blue Devils (5-0) won at Durham, N.C. It was the second matchup between Michigan Coach Tommy Amaker, a former Duke player and assistant coach, and Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

No. 5 Pittsburgh 82, Penn State 60 -- Donatas Zavackas had 20 points to help Pittsburgh (5-0) win at State College, Pa. Penn State is off to an 0-5 start, the first time that has happened since 1931.

No. 6 Oklahoma 92, Hartford 52 -- Ebi Ere scored a career-high 33 points for the host Sooners (4-1).

No. 10 Indiana 91, Illinois Chicago 62 -- Jeff Newton had a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead the host Hoosiers (6-0).

In other games:

Emeka Okafor had 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds to lead host No. 11 Connecticut (5-0) past Wagner, 97-85.... No. 18 Kentucky beat No. 12 North Carolina, 98-81, at Chapel Hill, N.C. Gerald Fitch and Marquis Estill scored all of Kentucky’s points during an 18-2 run to start the second half for the Wildcats (4-1). North Carolina is 5-2.... Dwayne Wade scored 31 points to help No. 13 Marquette defeat Appalachian State, 101-78 at Milwaukee.... David West scored 23 points to lead No. 16 Xavier (4-1) past host Cincinnati (3-2), 50-44.... Freshman Alando Tucker had 24 points and 18 rebounds to lead host No. 23 Wisconsin (5-1) past Nevada Las Vegas (4-1), 91-74.... Michael Ignerski had 17 points and 10 rebounds to help host No. 24 Mississippi State defeat Louisiana Tech, 78-38.... Brian Cook’s free throw gave No. 25 Illinois (5-0) a two-point lead with 8.4 seconds remaining and it held on to defeat Arkansas, 62-58, at North Little Rock, Ark.... Blake Stepp scored 34 points as Gonzaga (5-2) beat Washington State in overtime, 110-104, at Pullman, Wash. Marcus Moore scored a career-high 42 points for the Cougars (2-3), including nine three-point baskets.... Nate Robinson scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to help Washington (2-3) defeat host Santa Clara (3-3), 72-55.... Tim Frost scored 18 points in 23 minutes to help Utah (4-2) top Arizona State (4-3), 78-55, at Salt Lake City.... Brian Jackson scored 14 points to help Oregon State (3-1) beat host Portland (3-2), 71-64.