Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
NFL
Thursday, January 8, 2015
College Basketball
Andy Cripe | Corvallis Gazette-Times
Oregon State’s Langston Morris-Walker admits
‘nobody on this team is proven.’ Morris-Walker
feels he has something to prove himself.
Morris-Walker
AP Photo/Scott Eklund, File
Seattle Seahawks fans yell as Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) tries to run a play in the first
half of an NFL football game in Seattle earlier this season. Along with great quarterbacks, the four NFL teams
hosting playoff games this weekend have something else on their side. The Seahawks have the racket of Centu-
ry Link Field, the Packers that Lambeau mystique. Denver has the thin air a mile up and the Patriots the biting
winds and bitter cold of foreboding Foxborough. The foursome went a combined 30-2 at home this season and
heavily favored in the divisional round.
There’s no place like home
Playoff hosts
are combined
30-2 at home
By ARNIE STAPLETON
Associated Press
DENVER — Along with
great quarterbacks who all
own Super Bowl rings, the
four NFL teams hosting play-
off games this weekend have
a little something else on
their side: an extraordinary
Seattle has the racket of
Century Link, Green Bay the
Denver’s mile-high altitude
and NASCAR offense ben-
Patriots appreciate the biting
winds and bitter cold of fore-
boding Foxborough, where
that hoodie sure comes in
The four host teams are
a combined 30-2 at home
this season; each is at least a
touchdown favorite in the di-
In the last decade, only
Interestingly, in neither of
those postseasons did any of
-
ed Pittsburgh won in ‘05 and
the Giants won as a fourth
This year’s foursome
includes the Broncos and
Packers with perfect home
records, but not the top seed,
so the road to the Super Bowl
might not even go through
Seattle’s lone home loss
was a 30-23 hiccup against
Dallas during the champs’
other defeat was a giveaway:
New England’s 19-7 loss to
“Unnerving,” is how
Richard Sherman describes
the sound in Seattle, which
can get so loud that the Se-
creative ways to make checks
Panthers tight end Greg
Olsen played at Seattle with
the Bears a few years ago and
said he expects an even loud-
er stadium Saturday night:
“Playoff game, coming off a
Langston Morris-Walker observed his Oregon State
Denver quit being such
an intimidating place to play
after John Elway retired with
-
again since Manning’s arriv-
the inexperienced group how to handle the
“Our fans have been
With about eight minutes until inter-
mission and the Beavers down nine points,
Arizona St. Morris-Walker checked back into the
“Players just feed off that en-
ergy when you’re playing at
Throw in the no-huddle
and the lung-searing altitude
and you can see why the
Broncos are 24-3 at home
with Manning, including
17-1 over the last two sea-
“Playing up-tempo and
then the altitude out here can
denying the Seahawks have better of-
fensive numbers when Unger is on the
In the six games Unger played —
“That’s his guidance and his experi-
an expert at recognizing looks and calls
and directing what’s going on there,”
just stands to reason that we maximize
13 total sacks in those six games and
quarterback Russell Wilson had a
In the 10 games Unger missed, Se-
attle averaged nearly 30 yards less of
offense, but the big drop off was in the
little bit more accurate with stuff and the
kind of experience that just takes time to
-
-
ful dimension for us that helps us just be
right more and that’s a really important
knows it’s working when
defensive linemen inter-
lock their knuckles behind
their head, heaving between
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Today
Umatilla JV at Helix, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Irrigon at Culer, 6 p.m.
Ione at Arlington, 7:30 p.m.
Condon/Wheeler at South Wasco County,
7:30 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Powder Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Weston-McWwen at Stanfield, 7:30 p.m.
Heppner at Pilot Rock, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Lebanon at Pendleton, TBD
Hermiston at Summit, 1:30 p.m.
Mac-Hi at Weston-McEwen, 4:30 p.m.
Dufur at Ione, 5:30 p.m.
Arlington at Horizona Christian, 5:30 p.m.
Mithcell/Spray at Condon/Wheeler, 5:30
p.m.
Helix at Powder Valley, 5:30 p.m.
Echo at Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m.
Umatilla at Nyssa, 5:30 p.m.
Riverside at Vale, 6 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Today
Umatilla JV at Helix, 6 p.m.
Friday
Irrigon at Culer, 4:30 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 6 p.m.
Condon/Wheeler at South Wasco County,
6 p.m.
Ione at Arlington, 6 p.m.
Heppner at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Stanfield, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Lebanon at Pendleton, TBD
Helix at Powder Valley, 4 p.m.
Mithcell/Spray at Condon/Wheeler, 4 p.m.
Dufur at Ione, 4 p.m.
Arlington at Horizon Christian, 4 p.m.
Riverside at Vale, 4 p.m.
Umatilla at Nyssa, 4 p.m.
Mac-Hi at Weston-MceWen, 4 p.m.
Echo at Nixyaawii, 6 p.m.
PREP WRESTLING
Today
Hood River Valley at Pendleton, 7 p.m.
Hermiston at Yelm (WA), 7 p.m.
Saturday
Hermiston at Gut Check Challenge in
Olympia, Wash., 9 a.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Friday
Eastern Oregon at College of Idaho,
6:30 p.m.
Saturday
Blue Mountain at Walla Walla Community
College, 4 p.m.
Eastern Oregon at Walla Walla, 7 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Friday
Eastern Oregon at College of Idaho,
4:30 p.m.
Saturday
Blue Mountain at Walla Walla, 2 p.m.
Football
NFL
Divisional Playoffs
Saturday, Jan. 10
Baltimore at New England, 1:35 p.m.
(NBC)
Carolina at Seattle, 5:15 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Jan. 11
Dallas at Green Bay, 10:05 a.m. (FOX)
Indianapolis at Denver, 1:40 p.m. (CBS)
NCAA
Saturday, Jan. 10
Medal of Honor Bowl
American vs. National, 11:30 a.m.
Monday, Jan. 12
College Football Championship
Ohio State (13-1) vs. Oregon (13-1), 5:30
p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Jan. 17
East-West Shrine Classic
East vs. West, 1 p.m. (NFLN)
NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
National vs. American, 1 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, Jan. 24
Senior Bowl
North vs. South, 1 p.m. (NFLN)
Basketball
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
L Pct
Toronto
24 10 .706
Brooklyn
16 19 .457
Boston
12 21 .364
Philadelphia
5 29 .147
New York
5 33 .132
Southeast Division
W
L Pct
Atlanta
27
8 .771
Washington
24 11 .686
Miami
15 20 .429
Charlotte
13 24 .351
Orlando
13 25 .342
Central Division
W
L Pct
Chicago
25 11 .694
Cleveland
19 17 .528
Milwaukee
19 18 .514
Indiana
14 22 .389
Detroit
12 23 .343
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W
L Pct
Memphis
25 10 .714
Dallas
26 11 .703
Houston
24 11 .686
GB
—
8½
11½
19
21
GB
—
3
12
15
15½
GB
—
6
6½
11
12½
GB
—
—
1
A 71-59 Beavers loss ultimately over-
Oregon St.
-
Beavers
lighted Morris-Walker’s newfound com-
(9-4)
• Today, 6 p.m.
devoid of star power, the Bay-Area native
“I feel much better out there than I used
-
uations, two early exits for the pros and one transfer —
represented the Beavers at Pac-12 Media Day, and his im-
had been a “glue guy” the previous season; someone to
Transitioning from role player to featured starter brought
times, head coach Wayne Tinkle said last month, Mor-
Despite the lengthy layoff, Unger and
his coaches don’t believe there will be
Slowly, Morris-Walker absorbed the intricacies of Tin-
-
compensating for steals, he now lets big defensive plays
both days last week during Seattle’s bye
and was close to being able to return
Perhaps more importantly, he hasn’t tallied a turnover in
“The bye was huge as it always is
coming off a long schedule and being
able to take a week off and come back,”
having played for the last six weeks, that
was big not to be thrown in there and be
able to have a couple of days of prac-
SCOREBOARD
Local Slate
Sun Devils
(8-6)
openings in the Ducks’ defense and rattled
As OSU’s top returning scorer, Morris-Walker was the
UNGER: Offense took big hit in his absence
Continued from 1B
By CONNOR LETOURNEAU
The Oregonian
Super Bowl, I can only imag-
problems for other teams,”
Manning said, echoing sen-
timents in Massachusetts,
two other seasons, 2005 and
2011, featured collective re-
cords that good among the
four hosts who sat out wild-
card weekend, according to
Guard settling into expanded
role in Oregon State backcourt
San Antonio
21 15 .583 4½
New Orleans
17 18 .486
8
Northwest Division
W
L Pct GB
Portland
27
8 .771 —
Oklahoma City
17 18 .486 10
Denver
16 20 .444 11½
Utah
13 23 .361 14½
Minnesota
5 29 .147 21½
Pacific Division
W
L Pct GB
Golden State
27
5 .844 —
L.A. Clippers
23 12 .657 5½
Phoenix
22 16 .579
8
Sacramento
14 20 .412 14
L.A. Lakers
11 24 .314 17½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Milwaukee 97, Philadelphia 77
Washington 101, New York 91
Charlotte 98, New Orleans 94
Houston 105, Cleveland 93
Atlanta 96, Memphis 86
Boston 89, Brooklyn 81
Utah 97, Chicago 77
Detroit 108, Dallas 95
Denver 93, Orlando 90
Phoenix 113, Minnesota 111
Oklahoma City at Sacramento, (n)
Indiana at Golden State, (n)
L.A. Lakers at L.A. Clippers (n)
Thursday’s Games
Charlotte at Toronto, 4:30 p.m.
Houston at New York, 5 p.m.
Miami at Portland, 7:30 p.m.
NCAA
Top 25 Fared
Wednesday
(2) Duke 73, Wake Forest 65
(3) Virginia 61, NC State 51
(4) Wisconsin 62, Purdue 55
(5) Louisville 58, Clemson 52
(9) Utah 74, Colorado 49
Illinois 64, (11) Maryland 56
(12) Kansas 56, (21) Baylor 55
(15) Wichita State 63, Bradley 43
Xavier 69, (19) Seton Hall 58
(20) VCU 71, Davidson 65
Pac-12
California at USC, (n)
Today
San Francisco at (6) Gonzaga, 6 p.m.
(7) Arizona at Oregon, 7:30 p.m.
(25) Old Dominion at Marshall, 4 p.m.
Pac-12
Arizona State at Oregon State, 6 p.m.
Stanford at UCLA, 6 p.m.
Hockey
NHL
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Tampa Bay 42 26 12
4 56 138 110
Montreal
40 26 12
2 54 110 93
Detroit
40 21 10
9 51 113 101
Boston
41 20 15
6 46 107 110
Toronto
41 21 17
3 45 132 128
Florida
37 17 11
9 43 87 97
Ottawa
39 16 15
8 40 103 107
Buffalo
41 14 24
3 31 78 140
Metropolitan Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Pittsburgh 40 24 10
6 54 120 97
N.Y. Islanders 40 26 13
1 53 123 112
Washington 39 21 11
7 49 118 101
N.Y. Rangers 36 21 11
4 46 113 90
Columbus 38 18 17
3 39 100 121
Philadelphia 40 15 18
7 37 108 121
New Jersey 42 15 20
7 37 94 118
Carolina
40 12 24
4 28 79 105
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Nashville
39 26
9
4 56 119 90
Chicago
40 26 12
2 54 124 87
St. Louis
40 24 13
3 51 124 99
Winnipeg 40 20 13
7 47 103 96
Dallas
39 18 15
6 42 121 128
Minnesota 38 18 15
5 41 107 110
Colorado
40 16 16
8 40 103 117
Pacific Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Anaheim
41 26
9
6 58 115 110
Vancouver 38 23 12
3 49 112 100
San Jose
41 22 14
5 49 113 108
Los Angeles 40 19 12
9 47 112 103
Calgary
40 21 16
3 45 115 105
Arizona
39 15 20
4 34 92 130
Edmonton 41 9 23
9 27 90 139
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for
overtime loss.
Wednesday’s Games
Washington 6, Toronto 2
Boston 3, Pittsburgh 2, OT
Detroit 3, Calgary 2
N.Y. Rangers at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m.
Today’s Games
New Jersey at Boston, 4 p.m.
Washington at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.
Buffalo at Carolina, 4 p.m.
San Jose at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Dallas at Nashville, 5 p.m.
Chicago at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
Ottawa at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Winnipeg at Arizona, 6 p.m.
Florida at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
WHL
Wednesday’s Games
Regina 3 Everett 1
Swift Current 5 Calgary 4 (SO)
Prince Albert 5 Moose Jaw 1
Tri-City 5, Prince George 3
Kelowna 4, Vancouver 2
Spokane 4, Portland 1
Thursday’s games
Medicine Hat at Victoria, 5:05 p.m.
Utes blast by Buffs
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY —
Brandon Taylor scored 14
points and Delon Wright
added 13 points, six assists
Utah ran away from
Colorado for good after
9 Utah run away from Col-
orado for a 74-49 victory
The Buffaloes cut the
lead to eight at 33-25 on a
Dakarai Tucker add-
ed 11 off the bench as the
Utes (13-2, 3-0 Pac-12)
threw the hammer down
Utah blew the game open
early after clamping down
defensively on the Buffa-
Asika Booker and Ja-
12 points for Colorado (9-
6, 2-1 Pac-12), which was
held to its second lowest
3-pointer from Taylor, the
Utes made eight consecu-
tive baskets over four min-
utes and took a 54-31 lead
Utah led by as many
as 35 points in the second
half, going ahead 73-38
after Taylor made a pair of
ISRAELI: Starred
in international play
Continued from 1B
row playing in that tour-
but he’s been out a long
-
ered him since February
and he still has not gone
is hard to get into shape
until you are able to push
Sorkin is from Minsk,
Belarus, and averaged
the U18 European Cham-
scored 25 points in a win
During his third year in a
points per game in the
2013 European Champi-
“Roman already has
a solid skill set from his
international experience
and still has a tremendous
amount of potential for
growth,” Altman said in a
Oregon (11-3, 1-0)
hosts seventh-ranked Ar-
izona (13-1, 1-0) at 7:30