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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2016)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian OREGON: Continued from 1B 1976. The Ducks’ previous three coaches, Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and Helfrich, were all assistants who were promoted. Taggart will also be the first black head football coach at Oregon. The length and terms of his contract with the Ducks were not immediately released. “Oregon has a strong national presence and a proud recent history of playing among the nation’s elite, and I look forward to the challenge of upholding the excellence,” Taggart said in a statement. “I can’t wait to get started.” Taggart was 16-20 at Western Kentucky, taking over when it was first tran- sitioning to FBS. He went 7-5 in his last two seasons with the Hilltoppers and then moved to USF, not far from where he grew up in Bradenton, Florida. It took two seasons and a change in offensive philos- ophy from more pro-style, West Coast schemes to a spread, but he now has the 25th-ranked Bulls rolling. They finished second in the American Athletic Conference East Division to Temple and will play South Carolina on Dec. 29 in the Birmingham Bowl. Wednesday was the second straight day the AAC has lost one of its best coaches, and the third the conference has lost since Thanksgiving weekend. Temple’s Matt Rhule was hired by Baylor on Monday and Tom Herman left Houston for Texas on Nov. 26. Taggart had support from former NFL player and broadcaster Tony Dungy, whose son Eric played at USF in 2014 after transfer- ring from Oregon. Taggart served as running backs coach for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford from 2007-09 and is cred- ited with helping to recruit Andrew Luck. Harbaugh had recruited Taggart, a quarterback, to play at Western Kentucky under father Jack Harbaugh from 1995-98. After taking over when Kelly left in 2013, Helfrich went 37-16 in his four seasons as head coach of the Ducks. He signed a contract extension in early 2015, and had an $11.6 million buyout. Just two seasons ago, Oregon went to the first College Football Playoff championship game, led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota. But the Ducks struggled this season with a five- game losing streak — the program’s longest since 1996 — and finished at the bottom of the Pac-12 North with just two conference wins. In a statement after his dismissal, Helfrich thanked his own family, the campus community, the fans, and his coaches and their families. “Finally, to the players — thank you, and I love you,” he said. “The future is bright for this young, talented team, and we will be supporting them and their new leadership.” Mullens also reportedly interviewed Boise State’s Bryan Harsin and Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano before settling on Taggart. Kelly, now with the San Francisco 49ers, had said he was not interested in the job, as did former offensive coordi- nator Scott Frost, now at Central Florida. Taggart leaves USF with four seasons remaining on a five-year, $9 million contract. The deal he received last winter included a provision for a $1.7 million buyout. For the immediate future, Taggart will need to reach out to Oregon’s recruits. Defensive back Deommo- dore Lenoir and defensive end Langi Tuifua both previously withdrew verbal commitments. Offensive lineman John Vaka said he was no longer committed via Twitter on Tuesday. ——— AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo contrib- uted to this report. Thursday, December 8, 2016 MLB A year after no-hitter, Giants trade Heston to M’s By JANIE MCCAULEY Associated Press AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File In this Friday, Oct. 2, 2015 file photo, San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Chris Heston throws to the Colorado Rockies during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO — One year after pitching a no-hitter, right-hander Chris Heston was traded from the San Francisco Giants to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday for a player to be named. The Giants did not have a spot for the 28-year-old in their rotation featuring Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Matt Moore and Matt Cain. Seattle’s need for additional rotation depth made the Mariners a perfect partner. After going 12-11 as a rookie in 2015 and no-hitting the Mets on June 9 that year, Heston spent most of this season in the minors, making just four appearances for San Francisco. He went 1-1 with a 10.80 ERA in five innings of relief. Heston showed enough as a rookie for Seattle to view him as a worthwhile option for its starting staff. The Mariners’ rotation was thinned significantly when they traded Taijuan Walker to Arizona last month in a deal that brought back shortstop Jean Segura. Segura filled a crucial hole, but his acquisition came at a significant cost in Walker. Seattle’s rotation for next season now includes Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton as certainties, leaving Ariel Miranda, Nathan Karns and Heston as the trio likely to compete for the final two spots. To open a roster spot, Seattle designated infielder-outfielder Richie Shaffer for assignment. NBA Antetokounmpo gets triple-double, Bucks beat Blazers By DAVE BOEHLER Associated Press MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo is emerging as a dynamic player and precocious leader — and at 22 years old, he’s already closing in on one of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s franchise records. Antetokounmpo got his second triple-double of the season to lead the Milwaukee Bucks over the Portland Trail Blazers 115-107 on Wednesday night. Antetokounmpo had 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his seventh career triple-double Portland — second-most with the franchise behind Abdul-Jab- bar’s eight. Antetokounmpo is the only NBA player averaging Milwaukee at least 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals this season. “Maybe it wasn’t a fluid game for Giannis, but this is what he does,” Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd said. “He fills up the stat sheet. ... He is a winner and he helped his team find a way to win tonight by getting other guys involved. That is the maturity of a 22-year-old, that you can see a leader is growing right in front of us.” Jabari Parker added 27 points for Milwaukee, which rebounded from a one-point home loss to San Antonio on Monday to win for the fifth time in six games. “The team is rolling right now, feeling good,” Antetokounmpo said. “Jabari is a beast right now.” Portland Trail Blazers’ Mason Plumlee shoots over Milwaukee Bucks’ John Henson during the first half of an NBA basket- ball game Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Milwau- kee. AP Photo/Morry Gash 107 115 The Bucks entered holding oppo- nents to a NBA-best .311 shooting percentage from 3-point range, but Portland drilled 17 of them on 40 attempts — both season highs. Damian Lillard made five and scored a team-high 30 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists. C.J. McCollum added 23 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Blazers continued a nine-game stretch of playing eight times on the road. “That’s one of the things we do,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “We shoot a lot of 3s when we move the ball.” Milwaukee led 101-90 with 5:27 left after two free throws from Antetokounmpo, but then Portland hit three straight 3s in 56 seconds to trim the deficit to two. The Bucks responded with the next three baskets to take a 107-99 lead after a jumper from Parker with 2:03 to go. Another 3 from Allen Crabbe trimmed the margin to 109-105 with 56 seconds remaining, but that is as close as Portland got. TIP-INS Trail Blazers: The team’s 12 3-pointers in the first half tied the franchise high. The last time it had that many was 2002. ... Mason Plumlee became the fastest Portland player to tally 150 rebounds and 100 assists (23 games) since Scottie Pippen in 1999-2000 (22 games). Bucks: Jason Terry played his 1,300th career game. ... Antetok- ounmpo was called for a 10-second violation when attempting a free- throw in the third quarter. ... Miles Plumlee, the older brother of Mason, sat out for the third straight contest. ONE WAY TO LOSE Portland had eight of its 15 turn- overs in the final quarter, including three in a stretch of 1:13 midway through the frame. “I don’t know if I’d say it was sloppy,” Stotts said. “Not all turn- overs are sloppy. (Crabbe) stepped out of bounds — that’s a turnover. We had a 24-second shot clock (violation) — that’s a turnover. But I was probably more concerned with some of our shots.” QUOTE OF THE NIGHT Kidd, when asked about Lillard’s play: “He is one of the top guards in the world,” he said. “His range is once he gets past half court.” MONROE SCORING AGAIN Greg Monroe had 15 points — one shy of his season high. Since a two-point game at Brooklyn on Thursday night, he is averaging 12.3 points per game in three outings. UP NEXT Trail Blazers: Visit Memphis on Thursday night after winning there Nov. 6. Bucks: Host Atlanta on Friday night for the first time this season. College Basketball No. 8 Gonzaga tops Washington By NICHOLAS GERANIOS Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. — Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points as No. 8 Gonzaga beat poor- shooting Washington 98-71 on Wednesday night in a resumption of their cross-state rivalry. Przemek Karnowski added 17 points and Jordan Mathews had 14 for Gonzaga (9-0), which dominated from the opening minutes. Freshman Markelle Fultz had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Washington (4-4), which has lost three straight. The Huskies came in averaging 88 points per game. Noah Dickerson had 12 points and 15 rebounds for Washington, which shot just 30 percent for the game. Gonzaga shot 53 percent. Williams-Goss, who played for Washington before transferring to Gonzaga and becoming eligible this season, made 9 of 13 shots against his former team. Johnathan Williams scored Gonzaga’s first three baskets and Mathews added consecu- tive 3-pointers as the Zags jumped to a 16-4 lead. Mathews’ hit another 3-pointer as Gonzaga pushed the lead to 27-6. Washington made only two of its first 16 shots. Gonzaga led 35-10, after shooting 73 percent from the field, while Washington made just four of its first 25 shots. AP Photo/John Locher Allen Boore competes in the saddle bronc riding event during the seventh go-round of the National Finals Ro- deo, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Las Vegas. RODEO: Rogers, Minor place fourth in team roping Continued from 1B AP Photo/Young Kwak Gonzaga forward Johnathan Williams, left, and Wash- ington forward Noah Dickerson go after a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Spokane, Wash., Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016. Mathews had 14 points as Gonzaga led 47-22 at halftime, after making 64 percent of its shots from the field. Washington shot just 21 percent (9 of 42) and missed all seven of its 3-point attempts. But the Huskies did have a 17-0 advantage in offensive rebounds at halftime. Washington’s shooting picked up early in the second half, but so did Gonzaga’s and the Huskies could not make up any ground. Silas Melson’s 3-pointer lifted Gonzaga to a 68-34 lead. The teams first played in 1910, and have played intermittently ever since. Washington ended the home-and-home series in 2006, after Gonzaga won eight of the previous nine games. Washington and Gonzaga actually renewed their rivalry in the Bahamas last season in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, an 80-64 Gonzaga win. Washington’s last victory in Spokane occurred in 1944. The Huskies still lead the all-time series 29-16, with their last win in 2005. head. Trevor Knowles of Mount Vernon continued to find himself just outside the big money with a 4.8 that tied for eighth in the round. That wasn’t the case for team ropers Garrett Rogers and Jake Minor, though. After winning their first check of the rodeo on Wednesday, the team brought home some more bacon on Thursday with a 4.5-second time that was fourth in the round for an even 11 grand. Matt Sherwood and Quinn Kesler won the round in 4.1, and overtook the aggregate lead when world leaders Luke Brown and Jake Long missed for the first time of the week. Sherwood and Kesler are the only team with seven completed runs. In tie-down roping, Cana- dian champ Matt Shiozawa made a quick catch and turned in the top time in 7.3 seconds. Riley Pruitt remained in the aggregate lead with 59.0 on seven that included his fifth-place time of 7.8 on Wednesday. In saddle bronc riding, CoBurn Bradshaw took the round with an 85 on The Cervi Brothers’ Greeley Hat Works 2 Cookies. Jake Watson is the only rider with seven scores, and leads the aggregate with 581 total. In barrel racing, Mary Bulger was the fastest on the night at 13.58 seconds and Lisa Lockhart took over the aggregate lead with a 13.72 that gives her 96.83 on seven. In bull riding, Shane Proctor of Grand Coulee, Washington, is closing in on the world title after tying for the round win with an 85 on Bar T Rodeo’s Broken Arrow. He’s the only rider with seven scores and has 590 total. Also with 85 on Thursday were Garrett Tribble on Salt River Rodeo’s Big Jake and Cody Rostockyj on Andrews Rodeo’s Monkey Punch. The WNFR continues tonight with the eighth performance at 6:45 p.m.
