Brooks turns 22, carries Ducks

No. 15 Oregon upends No. 10 Arizona; Duke on fire in first conference victory of season

? Aaron Brooks always will remember his 22nd birthday.

Oregon’s star point guard banked a shot over two defenders with two seconds left to give No. 15 Oregon a 79-77 victory over 10th-ranked Arizona on Sunday night.

Brooks finished with 21 points to lead the Ducks (16-1, 4-1 Pac-10) to their second victory over a Top 10 team in eight days. Oregon beat then-No. 1 UCLA on Jan. 6.

“Down the stretch, we put the ball in the hand of Mr. Big Shot,” said Oregon guard Malik Hairston, who scored 18 points. “We call him that because he makes the big shots just like Chauncey Billups (of the Detroit Pistons).”

Brooks hit a couple of biggies to help lead the Ducks to their first road sweep of the Pac-10’s Arizona schools.

He nailed a three-pointer to tie it at 77 with 1:50 to play. After Arizona senior point guard Mustafa Shakur turned the ball over, Oregon coach Ernie Kent called timeout and set up a play that calls for Brooks to penetrate. If he can’t get a shot, Brooks is supposed to dish to one of Oregon’s three-point snipers.

But Brooks said he never thought about passing after he made his initial move, driving the right side of the lane and banking a shot high off the glass.

“I had a ball screen, and I came off it, and it was one-on-one after that,” Brooks said. “I was in position to take the shot, and it went in. Coach put a lot of trust in me.”

Oregon's Aaron Brooks (0) drives to the basket around Arizona's Jawann McClellan (5) in the second half of Oregon's 79-77 victory. Brooks hit the game-winning shot Sunday in Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona coach Lute Olson said the Wildcats knew what was coming and still couldn’t stop it.

“We knew he was going to go right,” Olson said. “The thing he does so well, he shoots that runner way up on the top of the board. He made a great shot.”

The Wildcats will be happy to see the senior from Seattle graduate. This is the second time the Ducks have beaten Arizona on his birthday; Brooks scored 17 as Oregon knocked off the Wildcats 73-68 on Jan. 14, 2006, in Eugene.

“There was no doubt in my mind who we were giving the last shot to,” Kent said. “It was great execution by everyone. It was an incredible play.”

No. 11 Duke 85, Miami 63

Coral Gables, Fla. – Freshman Jon Scheyer scored a season-high 25 points, and Duke shot a season-best 68 percent in its first conference victory of the season.

Duke missed only 13 of 41 shots, and Scheyer was especially efficient. He went 5-for-8 from the field, including 4-for-6 on three-pointers.

No. 22 Notre Dame 88, Seton Hall 76

South Bend, Ind. – Russell Carter had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Rob Kurz added 15 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame.

Zach Hillesland had a career-high 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to help Notre Dame (15-2, 3-1 Big East) improve to 13-0 at home.