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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Saturday, January 6, 2018 Pro Basketball McCollum scores 20 as Blazers stun Hawks By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — CJ McCollum had 20 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Atlanta Hawks 110-89 on Friday night. Damian Lillard added 14 points before sitting for the fourth quarter and the Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak to the Hawks at the Moda Center. Seven of Port- land’s players were in double figures. Dennis Schroder had 14 points to lead the Hawks. They trailed by 25 points in fourth quarter en route to their third loss in four games. It was not known whether Lillard would play against the Hawks because of a calf injury, but he started. Lillard was averaging just over 25 points heading into the game. Lillard missed four games with a sore right hamstring before playing 33 minutes NBA Atlanta Portland 88 107 and scoring 25 points in a 127-110 loss at Cleveland on Tuesday night. The Blazers went on a 12-2 run to take a 20-12 lead. Portland led by as many as 12 points in the opening half, but Atlanta got back within 45-43 on Dennis Schroder’s layup. After a brief dustup where words were exchanged between Jusuf Nurkic and Taurean Prince, the Blazers went on to a 52-46 lead at halftime. Prince had a 3-pointer in the first half to extend his streak to 20 straight games with a 3. Al-Farouq Aminu’s driving layup gave the Blazers an 80-63 lead late in the third quarter. McCo- AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, right, shoots over Atlanta Hawks for- ward John Collins during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland on Friday. llum’s 3-pointer and Pat Connaughton’s layup pushed Portland’s lead to 91-68 early in the fourth. Blazers coach Terry Stotts sent his all of his starters to the bench by the halfway point of the final period. Aminu also finished with 14 points. Atlanta, in the midst of a five-game trip, fell 104-103 in Phoenix on Tuesday night. TIP INS Hawks: Atlanta rookie Tyler Dorsey played for Oregon. ... The Hawks recalled forward DeAndre Bembry from the Erie Bay Hawks. He was expected to head to Atlanta for evaluation and treatment for a left groin strain. Trail Blazers: Portland fell in the first game against the Hawks this season, 104-89 in Atlanta last Saturday. ... The Blazers improved to 9-10 at home. ... Evan Turner reached double figures for the third straight game and 16th game overall. ... Port- land made 13 of 30 3-point attempts. UP NEXT Hawks: At Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. Trail Blazers: Host San Antonio on Sunday night. CFP Championship No mystery: Georgia, Alabama like running, stuffing the run By JOHN ZENOR Associated Press ATLANTA — There’s no mystery in what the Georgia and Alabama offenses do best: Run the ball. Stopping them is harder to manage, though both defenses do that quite well, too. The third-ranked Bull- dogs pound away with Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, one of college football’s best tailback tandems. No. 4 Alabama will counter in Monday night’s national championship game with an offense led by running threat quarterback Jalen Hurts and big-play tailback Damien Harris, among others. Not to mention the nation’s stingiest run defense. “That’s what Alabama is known for, having good run defense, just an overall good defense,” Michel said. “I’m excited for the challenge. I’m sure this offense is, the team is, and I’m looking forward to it.” Led by linebacker Roquan Smith , Georgia’s good at defending the run, too. While both teams will have to throw the ball some, there is no Deshaun Watson in this game. He topped 400 passing yards in each of the last two title games against the Crimson Tide. It would be a major surprise if Hurts or Georgia freshman Jake Fromm approached that big number because they simply haven’t had to. So this showdown could turn into mostly smash mouth football, old-school Southeastern Conference style, 3 yards and a cloud of ... artificial turf. Run hard and often. And do your best to keep the other team from running very far. Passing is the expected second option for a couple of teams with top 10 run games. Anb both these squads have plenty of options. The Bulldogs have two of the Southeastern Conference’s top five rushers. Chubb and Michel are the only two backs to College Football Alabama Georgia Crimson Tide Bulldogs (12-1) (13-1) • Monday, 5 p.m. (ESPN) • at Mercedes-Benz each top 1,000 yards in the same season for a program that’s produced the likes of Herschel Walker, Todd Gurley and Terrell Davis. Chubb has run for 1,320 yards and 15 touchdowns. Michel has 1,129 yards and 16 TDs and is coming off a huge Rose Bowl perfor- mance against Oklahoma. D’Andre Swift outgained both in the SEC title game against Auburn. They’ll face a run defense powered by tackle Da’Ron Payne, a 308-pounder whose biggest claim to fame now was his interception and touchdown catch against Clemson. In his day job as a run-stopper, he’s facing his biggest challenge yet. “Oh, they’re some excel- lent backs,” Payne said. “I AP Photo/Rusty Costanza Alabama defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne (94), who was used on an offensive play, pulls in a touchdown reception in the second half of the Sugar Bowl semi-fi- nal playoff game in New Orleans on Monday. think as a defensive front, we’re just going to keep trying to create a new line of scrimmage up front and wreak havoc in the trenches and as a defense just like we did this week” against Clemson. Alabama doesn’t have any backs putting up those kinds of numbers. But Harris has 983 yards and 11 touchdowns while aver- aging a robust 7.6 yards per carry. Hurts leads the team in runs while Harris and Bo Scarbrough have divvied carries throughout the year. In fact, Harris’ 19 runs in the semifinal win over Clemson was a career-high. He gained 77 yards. “It was fun, I guess,” Harris said. “I never complain about getting too many carries. That’s what it was, I just did what they asked me to do.” Just don’t expect him to rival Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry’s 36-carry night in the title game against Clemson two years ago. Scarbrough wasn’t effec- tive running in the semifinal game but the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder was a breakout star in last season’s playoffs. Josh Jacobs and freshman Najee Harris are running and receiving threats, too, much like the Bulldogs’ Swift. For Georgia, Michel is coming off a 181-yard effort against Oklahoma . He caught a 13-yard touchdown pass and his 75-yard scoring run was the Bulldogs’ longest since Chubb ran 83 yards against Alabama in 2015. Michel credited the offensive line and receivers blocking downfield for the big run. “That’s the type of play, but we’re a downhill team, so we run the ball,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of plays running downhill.” Women’s College Basketball Oregon picks up nail-biter victory, Oregon St. loses big LOS ANGELES (AP) — Maite Cazorla hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:32 left and had 18 points to lead No. 9 Oregon over Southern California 70-66 on Friday night. The Ducks (14-2, 3-0 Pac-12) also got 16 points from Sabrina Ionescu, who was 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. Cazorla added six assists. The Trojans (10-4, 0-3) were led by Aliyah Mazyck’s 21 points. USC’s leading scorer Kristen Simon was scoreless in the first half but finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was the lowest scoring game of the season for the Ducks. They started the night averaging 89.2 points per game, fourth most in the country. USC trailed for most of the game but overcame a 10-point deficit to tie it at 62 with 1:52 to play. Cazorla hit her 3 to make it 65-62, and Oregon led the rest of the way. Oregon had to overcome a dismal first quarter, hitting 2 of 14 shots and turning the ball over 10 times. USC also struggled and led only 14-7 at the end of the quarter. BIG PICTURE Oregon: The Ducks will carry their perfect Pac-12 record into Pauley Pavilion in an early conference showdown with No. 14 UCLA, the preseason conference favorite. USC: After going a strong 10-1 in the preseason, the Trojans are still looking for their first confer- ence win. UP NEXT Oregon: Travels across town to play at UCLA on Sunday. USC: Remains at home on Sunday to play No.16 Oregon State. UCLA controls game LOS ANGELES — In Los Angeles, Monique Billings scored 19 points and the No. 14 UCLA women beat No. 16 Oregon State 84-49, ending the Beavers’ eight-game winning streak on Friday night. Billings was 8-of-12 from the field with six boards and three steals for the Bruins (11-3, 2-1 Pac-12), who have won four of their last five. UCLA attempted 29 more shots from the field than Oregon State (11-3, 2-1), a disparity helped by a 21-10 edge on the offensive glass and a 21-9 advantage in turnovers. The Bruins never trailed and initially took control with a 14-4 run to end the second quarter with a 40-21 lead. They then started the third quarter with a 14-2 run and carried a 12-2 run through the end of the period to build their biggest lead at 71-31 early in the fourth. Michaela Onyenwere added 12 points, Jordin Canada and Japreece Dean had 11 each, and Lajahna Drummer chipped in 10 for UCLA. Marie Gulich had 16 points and Taya Corosdale added 10 for the Beavers. SCOREBOARD Local slate PREP BOYS BASKETBALL Saturday Baker at Mac-Hi, 4:30 p.m. Irrigon at Vale, 4:30 p.m. La Grande at Nyssa, 5:00 p.m. Union at Pilot Rock, 5:30 p.m. Elgin at Heppner, 5:30 p.m. Imbler at Weston-McEwen, 5:30 p.m. South Wasco County at Condon/Wheeler, 5:30 p.m. Powder Valley at Helix, 5:30 p.m. PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL Saturday Baker at Mac-Hi, 3:00 p.m. Irrigon at Vale, 3:00 p.m. Elgin at Heppner, 4:00 p.m. Union at Pilot Rock, 4:00 p.m. Imbler at Weston-McEwen, 4:00 p.m. South Wasco County at Condon/Wheeler, 4:00 p.m. Powder Valley at Helix, 4:00 p.m. PREP WRESTLING Saturday Pendleton at Brunner Invitational Riverside, Irrigon, Heppner at Riverside Rumble PREP SWIMMING Saturday Pendleton at The Dallas COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL Saturday BMCC vs. Big Bend CC, 4 p.m. EOU at Northwest, 7:30 p.m. COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Saturday BMCC vs. Big Bend CC, 2 p.m. EOU at Northwest, 5:30 p.m. Prep Scores BOYS BASKETBALL Friday’s Games Aloha 45, Glencoe 43 Amity 67, Sheridan 56 Arlington 41, Hori. Christ. Hood River 36, OT Baker 71, Homedale, Idaho 70, 2OT Banks 66, Yamhill-Carlton 42 Barlow 69, David Douglas 57 Bend 65, Ridgeview 42 Camas Valley 58, Glendale 32 Cascade 59, Scappoose 51 Cascade Christian 64, St. Mary’s 37 Catlin Gabel 60, Rainier 50 Central Catholic 68, Reynolds 21 Chemawa 77, Gervais 66 Chiloquin 68, Prospect 44 Churchill 60, Ashland 54 Coquille 49, Pleasant Hill 42 Corbett 53, Astoria 35 Cottage Grove 67, Stayton 64 Creswell 73, La Pine 56 Crook County 58, Sweet Home 48 Crosshill Christian 59, Falls City 40 Damascus Christian 74, Port. Waldorf 30 Dayton 78, Taft 52 Eagle Point 74, North Eugene 67 Elkton 36, Powers 33 Gaston 80, City Christian 51 Gladstone 43, Philomath 40 Grants Pass 60, Willamette 48 Hillsboro 55, St. Helens 49 Hori. Christ. Tualatin 72, Westside Christian 50 Illinois Valley 62, Lakeview 30 Jesuit 46, Southridge 43 Jordan Valley 79, Adrian 31 Joseph 46, Echo 43 Kennedy 68, Central Linn 37 Knappa 67, Faith Bible 37 La Grande 72, Ontario 51 La Salle 67, Sandy 65, OT Lake Oswego 70, Lakeridge 53 Life Christian 56, Delphian High School 35 Lost River 55, Oakridge 50 Marist 48, Thurston 45 McMinnville 75, South Salem 60 McNary 61, West Salem 54 Monroe 85, Riddle 62 Mountain View 105, Madras 71 N. Clackamas Christian 53, Valor Christian 48 New Hope Christian 57, Yoncalla 50 Nixyaawii 53, Powder Valley 51 North Douglas 33, Umpqua Valley Christian 31 North Lake 50, Gilchrist 37 North Medford 71, Sheldon 49 Nyssa 45, Riverside 42 Oregon City 54, Centennial 39 Pacific 47, Days Creek 21 Parkrose 60, Putnam 58 Pilot Rock 53, Imbler 31 Salem Academy 66, Scio 20 Santiam Christian 52, Willamina 47 Seaside 64, Newport 63 Sisters 38, Burns 28 South Eugene 60, South Medford 55 Southwest Christian 48, Country Christian 44 Sprague 74, North Salem 58 Springfield 64, Crater 45 St. Paul 50, Regis 45 Summit 70, Redmond 50 Sunset 68, Liberty 64 Tigard 61, Sherwood 46 Tillamook 61, Estacada 34 Toledo 97, Siletz Valley 38 Tualatin 57, Newberg 34 Valley Catholic 66, Molalla 47 Vernonia 53, Nestucca 48 Wallowa 44, Pine Eagle 31 West Albany 62, Forest Grove 55 West Linn 86, Canby 36 Western Menn. 88, East Linn Christian 53 Westview 63, Beaverton 53 Wilsonville 76, Milwaukie 38 Woodburn 62, Hood River 40 Far West/Skyline Crossover Tournament Brookings-Harbor 42, Phoenix 34 Douglas 53, North Valley 51 Henley 60, North Bend 38 Hidden Valley 52, South Umpqua 41 Marshfield 48, Mazama 39 Siuslaw 47, Klamath 43 POSTPONEMENTS, CANCELLATIONS Ione vs. Dufur, ppd. Hermiston vs. Silverton, cxl. GIRLS BASKETBALL Friday’s Games Amity 43, Sheridan 42 Astoria 53, Corbett 21 Beaverton 68, Westview 47 Blanchet Catholic 62, Jefferson 40 Camas Valley 55, Glendale 17 Cascade 45, Scappoose 26 Cascade Christian 46, St. Mary’s 45 Chiloquin 58, Prospect 15 Churchill 70, Ashland 33 Clackamas 73, Gresham 16 Coquille 50, Pleasant Hill 46 Country Christian 62, Southwest Christian 36 Crane 51, Monument 32 Crane 51, Monument/Dayville 32 Creswell 54, La Pine 14 Crook County 51, Sweet Home 18 Crosshill Christian 39, Falls City 37, OT Crow 61, Butte Falls/Crater Lake Charter 39 Damascus Christian 59, Portland Waldorf 6 David Douglas 58, Barlow 24 Days Creek 55, Pacific 16 Dayton 74, Taft 14 Elkton 47, Powers 12 Faith Bible 56, Knappa 30 Gaston 80, City Christian 51 Gervais 50, Chemawa 28 Glencoe 65, Aloha 38 Grants Pass 58, Willamette 36 Heppner 53, Union 47 Hillsboro 45, St. Helens 39 Horizon Christian Hood River 52, Arlington 19 Jordan Valley 39, Adrian 31 Joseph 46, Echo 43 Kennedy 47, Central Linn 40 La Grande 42, Ontario 39 La Salle 81, Sandy 26 Lake Oswego 54, Lakeridge 40 Lakeview 49, Illinois Valley 32 Liberty 69, Sunset 38 Lost River 56, Oakridge 30 Madras 59, Mountain View 46 Marist 65, Thurston 42 Monroe 63, Riddle 12 Neah-Kah-Nie 50, Columbia Christian 17 New Hope Christian 41, Yoncalla 29 Newport 44, Seaside 23 Nixyaawii 71, Powder Valley 24 North Eugene 34, Eagle Point 21 North Lake 53, Gilchrist 31 Nyssa 47, Riverside 35 Oakland 51, Bonanza 34 Oregon City 53, Centennial 16 Philomath 47, Gladstone 36 Pilot Rock 44, Imbler 34 Putnam 53, Parkrose 31 Rainier 48, Catlin Gabel 17 Ridgeview 50, Bend 47 Salem Academy 60, Scio 9 Santiam Christian 55, Willamina 48 Sheldon 47, North Medford 45 South Medford 73, South Eugene 52 South Salem 54, McMinnville 40 Southridge 56, Jesuit 26 Springfield 38, Crater 17 St. Paul 60, Regis 30 St. Stephens Academy 45, Delphian High School 28 Stayton 45, Cottage Grove 43, OT Summit 48, Redmond 45 Tigard 55, St. Mary’s Academy 34 Toledo 47, Siletz Valley 28 Tualatin 59, Newberg 23 Umpqua Valley Christian 56, North Douglas 12 Valley Catholic 79, Molalla 61 Vernonia 36, Nestucca 32 Wallowa 34, Pine Eagle 29 Warrenton 61, Oregon Episcopal 30 West Linn 59, Canby 52 Western Mennonite 43, East Linn Christian 26 Willamette Valley Christian 52, C.S. Lewis 16 Wilsonville 63, Milwaukie 50 Yamhill-Carlton 65, Banks 62, 3OT Far West/Skyline Crossover Douglas 37, Klamath 35, OT Henley 60, Brookings-Harbor 56 Hidden Valley 68, South Umpqua 19 Marshfield 51, Mazama 36 North Valley 37, North Bend 25 Phoenix 34, Siuslaw 33 Basketball NBA Friday’s Games Boston 91, Minnesota 84 Philadelphia 114, Detroit 78 Miami 107, New York 103, OT Toronto 129, Milwaukee 110 Chicago 127, Dallas 124 San Antonio 103, Phoenix 89 Denver 99, Utah 91 Washington 102, Memphis 100 Portland 107, Atlanta 88 Charlotte 108, L.A. Lakers 94 Saturday’s Games Golden State at L.A. Clippers, 12:30 p.m. Boston at Brooklyn, 3 p.m. Chicago at Indiana, 4 p.m. Cleveland at Orlando, 4 p.m. Houston at Detroit, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Washington, 5 p.m. New Orleans at Minnesota, 6 p.m. Denver at Sacramento, 7 p.m. NCAA Men’s Basketball Top 25 Schedule Friday’s Games No games scheduled. Saturday’s Games Louisviller at No. 25 Clemson, 9 a.m. No. 5 Xavier at Providence, 9 a.m. (FOX) No. 12 UNC at No. 8 UVA, 10 a.m. (ESPN) No. 14 Arizona at Colorado, 11 a.m. (PAC12) Nebraska at No. 13 Purdue, 11:15 a.m. LSU at No. 11 Texas A&M, 11:15 a.m. No. 21 Seton Hall at Butler, 11:30 a.m. (FS1) Kansas State at No. 18 Texas Tech, 1 p.m. No. 22 Arkansas at Auburn, 3 p.m. (ESPNU) No. 7 Oklahoma at No. 6 West Virginia, 4:15 p.m. (ESPN2) No. 2 Duke at NC State, 5 p.m. (ESPN) Marquette at No. 3 Villanova, 5 p.m. (FS1) No. 17 Kentucky at No. 23 Tennessee, 6 p.m. No. 10 Kansas at No. 16 TCU, 6:15 p.m. (ESPN2) No. 19 Gonzaga at Loyola Mary, 7 p.m. (ESPNU) Pac-12 Schedule Friday’s Games Oregon State 76, Oregon 64 Saturday’s Games No. 14 Arizona at Colorado, 11 a.m. (PAC12) Washington at Washington State, 1 p.m. (PAC12) UCLA at Cal, 3:30 p.m. (PAC12) Women’s Basketball Top 25 Schedule Friday’s Games No. 21 Villanova 75, Xavier 57 No. 24 Stanford 61, Arizona 46 No. 14 UCLA 84, No. 16 Oregon State 49 No. 25 Arizona State 80, No. 23 Cal 71 No. 9 Oregon 70, USC 66 Saturday’s Games No. 6 Baylor at Knasas, 12 p.m. (ESPN3) No. 1 UConn at USF, 4 p.m. (ESPN3) Pac-12 Schedule. Friday’s Games No. 24 Stanford 61, Arizona 46 Utah 74, Washington 65 No. 14 UCLA 84, No. 16 Oregon State 49 No. 25 Arizona State 80, No. 23 Cal 71 Washington State 89, Colorado 75 No. 9 Oregon 70, USC 66 Saturday’s Games No games scheduled. Hockey NHL Friday’s Games Pittsburgh 4, N.Y. Islanders 0 Detroit 4, Florida 2 Ottawa 6, San Jose 5, OT Winnipeg 4, Buffalo 3 Vegas 5, Chicago 4 Saturday’s Games St. Louis at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. Edmonton at Dallas, 12 p.m. Carolina at Boston, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Ottawa, 4 p.m. Vancouver at Toronto, 4 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Arizona, 5 p.m. Minnesota at Colorado, 6 p.m. Anaheim at Calgary, 7 p.m. Nashville at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Football NFL Wild-card Playoffs Saturday’s Games Tennessee at Kansas City, 4:35 p.m. (ESPN/ABC) Atlanta at Los Angeles Rams, 8:15 p.m. (NBC) Sunday’s Games Buffalo at Jacksonville, 1:05 p.m. (CBS) Carolina at New Orleans, 4:40 p.m. (FOX)