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.