Although coach Ernie Kent wishes it were otherwise, the chief topic of discussion after the Oregon Duck's basketball practice Thursday was his team's lingering distraction from the Arizona State game.

In that 76-58 loss Saturday, Kent pulled junior guard Tajuan Porter from the game in the final minute of the first half, citing lack of hustle. When Kent approached Porter, the player seemed to wave his coach off. And while Kent has since said the gesture was misinterpreted, Porter didn’t play in the second half.

Coach and player say the situation is behind them, and Porter is expected to start against the Huskies on Thursday. (Here's my game preview.)

However, it's just another distraction for the Ducks, who don't need any extra distractions as the only Pac-10 team without a league win. And in addition to Kent and Porter having to talk about it, so did the other Ducks made available to the media today:

Freshman guard Garrett Sim: "They did a good job handling it. They did a good job of getting back on the same page and I think things are definitely better now."

Junior forward Joevan Catron: "With me knowing Tajuan, I know he’s going to bounce back. When he gets benched like that he usually bounces back. He’s lible to go for 40 the next time he plays, so I’m not worried about T.P. … I’ve seen him do amazing things. I’m pretty sure he’s going to bounce back and have a good game."

An early look at the game:

WASHINGTON (11-4 OVERALL, 2-1 PAC-10)
AT OREGON (6-10, 0-4)
7 p.m., McArthur Court, Eugene, Ore.
TV: None.
Radio: 950-AM

Series: Washington leads 180-102 overall and 70-67 at Oregon. The teams have split the past two seasons, each winning at home.

Statistical leaders: For Oregon, G Tajuan Porter, 13.4 ppg; Joevan Catron, 6.7 rpg and 2.7 apg. For UW, F Jon Brockman 16.2 ppg and 10.9 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.2 agp.

Scouting report: The Ducks are the only winless team in Pac-10 play. They are trying to avoid their first 0-5 league start since opening 0-11 in 1992-93. … The Ducks are drawing 7,896 fans per home game – 87 percent of capacity. … The will not be UW’s final game at Mac Court. Oregon’s new basketball arena is scheduled to open in time for conference play during the 2010-11 season. … Coach Ernie Kent is running a deep rotation: 11 Ducks average more than eight minutes per game, and only Porter is averaging more than 30. … Washington leads the Pac-10 in rebounding margin, while Oregon is last. UW also has become the highest-scoring team in the league, averaging 77.8 points per game. Oregon doesn’t lead the league in any statistical category and is last in scoring margin, scoring defense, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, and 3-point field goal percentage defense… Brockman is seven rebounds short of matching Doug Smart’s school-record 1,051 career rebounds. Passing Smart will move Brockman to eighth on the Pac-10 career list.

Next: 7 p.m. Saturday, at Oregon State, Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Ore.

And yes, unfortunately that "No TV" is correct.

Fresno State offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier will become the quarterbacks coach at the University of Washington the Fresno Bee reports.

Nussmeier had been at FSU only one season. Under his brief watch, the Bulldogs were ranked 43rd of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in total offense this season, averaging 387.23 yards per game. Their passing offense was ranked 66th and the rushing offense 32nd.

Here's his bio from the FSU web site:

Fresno State head coach Pat Hill announced the hiring of Doug Nussmeier as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Feb. 27, 2008. Nussmeier came to Fresno State from the St. Louis Rams of the NFL.

In two seasons coaching the Rams, Nussmeier helped Marc Bulger have one of his best seasons in 2006. Bulger, named to his second Pro Bowl, finished the season with 370 completions in 588 attempts (62.9 percentage) for 4,301 yards with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions for a 92.9 passer rating. His 4,301 yards is the fourth-best passing yards season in Rams' history (29th in NFL history) and gave Bulger his first 4,000-yard passing season.

Nussmeier was quarterbacks coach at Michigan State three seasons prior to joining the Rams' staff. After a five-year NFL playing career, Nussmeier entered his first season as a coach in the NFL in 2006. In 2005, Nussmeier tutored Drew Stanton, who accounted for a Spartans single-season record 3,415 total yards.

In 2003, quarterback Jeff Smoker earned second-team all-Big 10 honors and led the league in passing (261.2 yards per game). Smoker's 2003 season is the best in Spartans history, as he completed 302 of his 488 attempts for 3,395 yards and 21 touchdowns, all single-season school records.

In 2002, Nussmeier served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League.

Nussmeier made his coaching debut in 2001 as quarterbacks coach for the CFL's British Columbia Lions.

Nussmeier finished his professional playing career with the Lions in the CFL in 2000, helping the club to the Grey Cup Championship. Originally a fourth-round selection (116th overall) of the New Orleans Saints in the 1994 NFL Draft, Nussmeier played five years in the NFL, with the Saints (1994-97) and with the Indianapolis Colts (1998).

Nussmeier, who was coached at Idaho by Rams head coach Scott Linehan when Linehan was the Vandals' quarterbacks coach, still ranks among the NCAA Division I-AA all-time leaders in passing (ninth with 10,824 career yards) and total offense (10th at 309.1 yards per game).

He is one of only three quarterbacks in NCAA history to throw for at least 10,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards (1,230), joining Alcorn State's Steve McNair (1991-94) and Central Florida's Daunte Culpepper (1996-98). Nussmeier set several Vandals career records for passing yards, including touchdown passes (91), passing efficiency (175.2), completion percentage (.609), and total offense (12,054 yards; 308.4 yards per game).

In 1993, Nussmeier won the Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the Division I-AA player of the year, leading the Vandals to an 11-3 record. He set a school-record with 33 touchdown passes, and his 172.2 passer rating ranks as the seventh-best single-season mark in Division I-AA history.

A native of Lake Oswego, Ore., Nussmeier and wife, Christi, have a son, Garrett, and a daughter, Ashlynn.

Here's my UW hoops story from today's paper, looking at UW senior Jon Brockman who is on the verge of becoming the school's all-time leading rebounder.

And if you follow the link, you will notice a new look for the TNT website. Here's some background on that.