SPORTS
Saturday, November 12, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3B
College Football
College Basketball
Pride on the line between
Stanford and Oregon
Ducks start strong with victory
Associated Press
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
EUGENE — It’s safe
to say neither Stanford nor
Oregon thought either team
would be where it is now
when the season started.
Stanford, with Heisman-
hopeful Christian McCaffrey,
was ranked No. 8 in the
preseason and expected to
claim the Pac-12 title. But
now the Cardinal are 6-3
overall and 4-3 in the league.
The Ducks, who played for
the national title two seasons
ago, are 3-6 overall (1-5
Pac-12) and facing the pros-
pect they might not become
bowl eligible.
Either Stanford or Oregon
had won every Pac-12 cham-
pionship since the league
expanded and a title game was
established in 2011. Each time
the teams had met since 2008,
one or both were ranked.
Certainly many had Satur-
day’s game at Autzen Stadium
circled on the calendar at the
start of the season as a game
that could have postseason
implications. But now it looks
like the north’s biggest game
will be the Apple Cup between
Washington and Washington
State.
Stanford coach Davis
Shaw said the records don’t
diminish the importance of
this game to both programs.
“Records don’t matter.
These are two proud football
programs who’ve had very
good football games the last
four years,” Shaw said. “It’s a
tough play to play and a tough
place to win.”
Stanford looks to have
recovered with two straight
victories after losses to the
Huskies, Cougars and upstart
Colorado. The Cardinal
defeated Oregon State 26-15
last weekend.
Oregon defeated Arizona
State at Autzen two weeks
ago, but fell to USC 45-20 in
Los Angeles last Saturday.
RUNNING
BACKS:
McCaffrey
struggled
at
times this season and missed
Stanford’s victory over Notre
Dame because of injury. But
he looked to regain his form
last weekend against Oregon
State, when he ran for 199
yards and a touchdown.
McCaffrey still ranks atop
the league with an average of
122.5 yards a game, and he’s
20 yards away from 1,000 for
the season.
“Last year he set such a
high bar that 1,000 yards is a
shrug of the shoulders. But it
is a big deal. It’s a landmark
for a reason,” Shaw said.
“He’s a phenomenal football
player that stats don’t readily
tell you.”
Oregon running back
Royce Freeman was touted as
Stanford
Oregon
Cardinal
Ducks
(6-3)
(3-6)
• Today, 1 p.m.
• at Autzen Stadium
• TV: PAC12 Network
a possible Heisman candidate
at the start of the season, but
he too has fought injuries.
He’s only topped 100 yards
twice this season.
Two weeks ago after
Oregon’s victory over the
Sun Devils, Freeman insisted
nothing was wrong. “I feel
like I’m trying my hardest out
there. I’m going out there and
putting it all on the line,” he
said.
Q U A RT E R B A C K S :
Both teams have freshman
quarterbacks who replaced
starters. Oregon’s Justin
Herbert took over for graduate
transfer Dakota Prukop and
has shown promise, throwing
for 1,158 yards with 13 touch-
downs and two interceptions
in four starts.
Stanford freshman Keller
Chryst took over for Ryan
Burns two games ago and
helped guide Stanford to wins.
But the Cardinal still ranks at
the bottom of the Pac-12 for
passing yards.
INJUIRIES:
Oregon
doesn’t discuss them, but
Shaw provided a rundown
for Stanford: Wide receiver
Francis Owusu is questionable
with an undisclosed injury.
Offensive linemen Casey
Tucker and Brandon Fanaika
are doubtful. But sophomore
fullback Daniel Marx will
likely see playing time.
One sad note for the Ducks:
Sophomore defensive Canton
Kaumatule’s career at Oregon
ended this week because of
injuries. The 6-foot-7 Hono-
lulu native accepted a medical
hardship, which will allow
him to keep his scholarship.
RUMORS
EVERY-
WHERE: Oregon coach
Mark Helfrich tried to make
light of a post to Twitter that
suggested Nike co-founder
Phil Knight was willing to
spend $10 million a year on a
new coach to lead the team to
a national championship.
“I take it that it wasn’t
me that was getting the 10
million?” Helfrich asked.
However, he also said:
“That’s the nature of the
profession. And it would be
cool if it’s that easy.”
SERIES: Stanford leads
the all-time series, 46-32-1,
but the Ducks have won 11
of the last 14 meetings. Last
season Oregon linebacker Joe
Walker tipped a game-tying
two-point conversion attempt
and the Ducks held on to beat
then-No. 7 Stanford 38-36.
BEAVERS:
Continued from 1B
State cruised past Prairie View A&M, 78-58.
JaQuori McLaughlin, playing his first
college game, scored 12 points off the bench
for the Beavers.
“It’s great to get that first win,” said Oregon
State coach Wayne Tinkle, Tres Tinkle’s father.
Daquan Cook had 14 points and four steals
and L.J. Westbrook scored 13 points for the
Panthers.
Both teams shot poorly, but Oregon State
made 37 of 49 free throws, while the Panthers
only went to the line 17 times in the game.
The Beavers also outrebounded the Panthers
48-33.
The Beavers went on a 17-2 run, capped by
a pair of Cheikh N’diaye free throws, to take a
25-11 lead with 6:10 left in the first half.
Oregon State led 36-22 at the break and
was ahead by double digits the entire second
half.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State: The Beavers must replace
the production of Gary Payton II, now in the
NBA D-League, to make the NCAA Tour-
nament for the second straight season. Last
season, Payton led Oregon State in points,
rebounds, assists and steals. . Payton also
holds the school record with seven blocks.
BANNER YEAR: A banner with Oregon
State’s NCAA appearances had a new entry
and was raised to the rafters before the game,
which Wayne Tinkle said was “pretty cool,”
especially since there was a gap between
1990 and 2016. “There was a lot of coaches
and players during that time that were giving
it their all and just for whatever reason didn’t
get that opportunity,” he said.
DRIBBLE PENETRATION: Smith said
the Beavers’ dribble penetration helped lead to
the disparity in free throws. “I think we were
probably using our hands way too much. They
were really able to penetrate and get into the
teeth of our defense,” he added.
UP NEXT
Oregon State looks for a second win to
start the season versus Texas-San Antonio on
Sunday in Corvallis. The Roadrunners lost
69-66 to Fresno State on Friday night.
EUGENE. — Oregon coach Dana
Altman had a great start to the season
Friday in more ways than one.
After signing a new seven-year
contract and three highly ranked
high school recruits, Altman found
a sold-out crowd of 12,364 eager to
witness the beginning of his seventh
season with the Ducks.
Tyler Dorsey scored 21 points and
freshman Payton Pritchard added 15
in his debut as No. 5 Oregon opened
with a 91-77 victory over Army.
“We’ve done
some good things
and been very
fortunate
with
Army
a good group
of guys,” said
Altman,
whose
$18.45 million deal
runs through the
2022-23 season.
#5 Oregon
“The crowd was
fantastic and so
were the students.”
Oregon’s
previous high during its first five
openers at Matthew Knight Arena
was 6,262 fans three years ago.
After leading by 20 points in the
first half, the Ducks allowed the
Cadets to close within nine three
times before pulling away late on
free throws. Oregon finished 28 of
34 at the line.
Jordan Bell and Chris Boucher
each had 14 points and eight rebounds
for the Ducks, who struggled
offensively at times with preseason
All-America forward Dillon Brooks
still sidelined following offseason
foot surgery.
“We did a lot of good things
early,” Altman said. “I was disap-
pointed with our defense, especially
in transition, in the second half.
“We’ve got a tremendous amount
of work to do, but I told our guys that
Army was going to play really hard,
and they did.”
The Ducks matched their arena
record with 13 blocked shots,
including six by Bell. Oregon reserve
Roman Sorkin added four to go with
his 12 points, both career highs.
Oregon shot 45 percent, including
12 of 23 in the second half, though
sixth-year senior Dylan Ennis,
coming off a medical redshirt season,
went scoreless while missing all
eight shots from the field in his first
start for the Ducks.
“Dylan’s not playing to his
Ore-
gon’s
Kavell
Big-
by-Wil-
liams,
center,
dunks
over
Army’s
Mat-
thew
Wilson,
left, and
Luke
Mor-
rison
during
the first
half
of an
NCAA
college
bas-
ketball
game
Friday,
Nov. 11,
2016, in
Eugene.
77
91
AP Photo/
Chris Pietsch
strengths and he’s got a lot of work
to do,” Altman said. “He’s too casual
with the ball. He sat out 30 games
and he’s trying to make that up in one
or two nights.”
Kennedy Edwards led Army with
17 points and Matthew Wilson added
10. The Cadets shot 39.4 percent and
were 9 of 24 on 3-pointers.
Oregon finished with a 42-30 edge
in rebounds.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon: The Ducks won their
19th consecutive home opener to run
their school-record home winning
streak to 26 games, fifth-longest in
the nation. The crowd was the largest
for an Oregon home opener.
Army: The Cadets, with five new
starters, were picked 10th in the
Patriot League after finishing tied for
fourth at 9-9 last season and going
18-12 overall.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Oregon’s No. 5 preseason ranking,
its highest ever, could rise in the next
poll after No. 3 Kansas lost in over-
time to No. 11 Indiana. The other
three teams ranked above the Ducks
easily won their openers on Friday.
TURNING POINT
After Army pulled within nine
for the last time, Oregon closed out
the game by scoring 11 of its last 14
points at the foul line. The Ducks
made their first 10 free throws,
starting with two four-point plays.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
Bell, a 6-foot-9 junior who is
already Oregon’s career leader in
blocks, had six more, including part
of a three-play sequence that had
fans out of their seats in the second
half. After taking a lob pass for a
dunk, Bell swatted a shot at the other
end, then a teammate found him wide
open beyond the arc and he let fly,
missing his third career 3-point try.
He thought it was going in. “I did,
man,” Bell said. “I was feeling it. I
was really feeling it.”
UP NEXT
Army returns to West Point to
play Mount Saint Mary on Tuesday
and Arkansas State next Saturday as
Jimmy Allen looks for his first win as
head coach.
Oregon opens its road schedule
Tuesday at Baylor, which lost to
the Ducks 74-67 in Eugene last
season, for a 12:30 p.m. start.
Oregon then returns to Eugene to
host a tough mid-major opponent
in Valparaiso for another non-con-
ference rematch on Thursday. That
game is scheduled to tip-off at 6
p.m. at Matthew Knight Arena.
Oregon State women stretch home-win streak
Associated Press
CORVALIS — Katie McWilliams
scored 29 points and Sydney Wiese
added 17 as No. 25 Oregon State
rolled to an 88-56 victory over Lamar
on Friday at Gill Coliseum.
The Beavers, coming off their first
NCAA Final Four appearance, have
won 13 straight home games.
McWilliams was 11 of 14 from
the field and 7 of 7 from 3-point
range. Wiese made 6 of 7 field-goal
Women’s Basketball
Lamar
Oregon State
56
88
attempts, including five 3-pointers.
Marie Gulich added 12 points and
Gabriella Hanson had seven assists,
three steals and chipped in four
points for Oregon State.
Wiese made a 3-pointer with
about a minute left in the first quarter
to give the Beavers a double-digit
lead. Oregon State used an 11-1
run to stretch its lead 30-16 midway
through the second quarter.
Moe Kinard scored 12 points and
Kiandra Bowers had nine points,
10 rebounds, and five steals to lead
Lamar.
Oregon State hits the court again
when it hosts Idaho State on Monday
with a 6 p.m. tipoff.
College Basketball
Portland State comes up short at Arizona State in opener
Tucker scores team-
high 19, Canda nets
12 to lead the Viks
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. — Torian
Graham entered the game and
started hitting shots right away,
pouring in 3-pointers, flying in
for a dunk in transition.
Two years removed from
his last game, it was like he
never left.
Graham scored 18 of his
23 points in the first half and
Tra Holder added 23 points,
helping Arizona State open its
second season under Bobby
Hurley with an 88-70 win over
Portland State Friday night.
“I prepared very well this
week, all the weeks and years
before this,” Graham said. “I
was ready for it.”
Shannon Evans added 19
points, Holder had four assists
and Arizona State shot 50
percent to run past the Vikings
after a slow start.
The Sun Devils also had a
47-33 advantage in rebounds,
led by Obinna Oleka’s 13.
Braxton Tucker had 19
points and Bryce Canda 12 for
Portland State, which went 6
for 27 from 3-point range.
“They can score in bunches
and watching those two guards,
they’re good,” Portland State
coach Tyler Geving said. “And
then Torian Graham is prob-
ably playing the best of their
team right now.”
Portland
State’s
Calaen
Robinson,
right, dives
unsuc-
cessfully
for a steal
during Fri-
day’s game
in Tempe,
Ariz.
Portland State Arizona State
70
Patrick Breen/The
Arizona Republic
via AP
The Sun Devils were shaky
early, missing their first five
shots — all at the rim — and
turning it over twice before
scoring their first baskets 3
minutes in.
Arizona State shook off
those early jitters behind
Graham.
The 6-foot-4 senior played
at Chipola Junior College in
Florida, transferred to Houston,
then Buffalo. He did not play at
either school.
Graham came off the bench
in his first Division I game and
immediately started making
shots. He hit consecutive
3-pointers and had a dunk in
transition , scoring 13 points in
his first eight minutes to help
the Sun Devils build a 10-point
lead.
Graham hit 7 of 8 shots
and Holder had 12 points to
put the Sun Devils up 44-30 at
halftime.
“He does that every day in
practice,” Evans said. “You
guys are like, wow, but we see
that every day.”
Arizona State scored the
first seven points of the second
half and was never challenged,
though the Vikings managed
to keep the Sun Devils from
running away with it.
“I told the kids after, they
competed,” Geving said. “They
had a chance to maybe blow it
open, but we fought back.
BIG PICTURE
The Vikings showed grit
at times, starting strong and
rallying after a couple of
Arizona State runs in the
second half. A lopsided loss,
but the kind of game that
should help them once the Big
Sky season rolls around.
The Sun Devils picked up
a nice, easy win to open the
season and got a good look at
Graham, who didn’t get quite
the same preseason hype as
fellow Buffalo transfer Evans.
CUNLIFFE’S DEBUT
Guard Sam Cunliffe is
Arizona State’s highest-rated
freshman since James Harden
in 2007, but was unable to
88
make a big splash in his
debut due to foul trouble. The
6-foot-7 guard was limited to
14 minutes, scoring 3 points on
1-of-3 shooting.
BIG BLOCK
Arizona State freshman
Jethro Tshisumpa is still a
bit raw, but at 6-10 with long
arms, he can sure send shots
back, just like this one .
DIFFICULT START
Portland
State
opens
the season with a difficult
road trip, with a trip to Cal
State-Fullerton next. Geving
would like to get a split in the
two games, but the real benefit
could be down the line, once
the Big Sky Conference season
starts.
“We competed, so there’s
a lot of positives out of it and
some of the things we didn’t
do well, at least we’ve got it
on film and we can improve on
it,” he said.
UP NEXT
Portland State plays at Cal
State-Fullerton on Sunday.
Arizona State hosts Cal
Poly on Sunday before heading
to Orlando for the Tire Pros
Invitational.
———
More AP college basketball:
www.collegebasketball.ap.org