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B2 SPORTS East Oregonian Thursday, March 7, 2019 Arizona State at Arizona highlights the Pac-12 week By JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer A look at things to watch this week in the Pac-12 Conference: Game of the week: Ari- zona State at Arizona, Sat- urday. The Sun Devils could use a win to solidify their at-large NCAA Tournament chances. The Wildcats are seeking a better seed in next week’s Pac-12 Tournament with a victory. Regardless of what’s at stake, this is a rivalry game and it’s always heated. Ari- zona State won the first meeting 95-88 after Remy Martin scored a career-high 31 points, but that game was in Tempe. Saturday’s game is in Tucson, where McKale Cen- ter is sure to be hopping on senior night. The Sun Devils already have the No. 2 seed for the conference tourna- ment locked up. Looking ahead: Eight seeds and two first-round byes for the Pac-12 Tourna- AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File In this Feb. 28, 2019, file photo, UCLA guard Jaylen Hands, center, celebrates after hitting a 3-point shot as center Moses Brown, left, and guard Kris Wilkes follow during the second half of the teams’ NCAA college basketball game against Southern California in Los Angeles. UCLA won 93-88 in overtime. ment still have to be deter- mined in the final week of the regular season. Wash- ington and Arizona State have the top two spots and first-round byes, while Washington State and Cali- fornia are set as the final two seeds. Oregon State, UCLA and Utah are all at 9-7. Colo- rado, Oregon and USC are all 8-8, so they still have a shot at earning the coveted first-round bye if things fall right. The Oregon schools play the Washington schools this week and the Southern California teams play the two mountain schools, Col- orado and Utah. Inside the numbers: Washington Matisse Thy- bulle is currently tied for second on the Pac-12’s sin- gle-season steals list with 101. He’ll need nine in two games this week to match the record set by Cal’s Jason Kidd in 1993. ... The Pac-12 Tournament starts a week from Wednesday in Las Vegas. ... Oregon State’s Kylor Kelley has 99 blocked shots this season, good for ninth all-time in the Pac-12. He moved into the top six with three blocked shots in two games this week. Player to watch: Jaylen Hands, UCLA. The Bru- ins’ sophomore guard has been one of the confer- ence’s best players all sea- son and was named player of the week after finish- ing with 21 points and 10 assists in UCLA’s win over rival USC. He has six dou- ble-digit assist games and is 11th nationally with 6.5 per game. On the women’s side: No. 6 Oregon wrapped up the regular-season title by sweeping the Arizona schools last week and will be the No. 1 in the conference tournament, which starts Thursday in Las Vegas. .... Ducks guard Sabrina Ionescu was named the Pac- 12 player of the week for the second straight season after averaging 19.5 points and 8.1 assists. Ionescu also set the NCAA single-season tri- ple-double record with seven and the all-time mark with 17. ... The Ducks, No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Oregon State and No. 25 UCLA all have first-round byes in the conference tournament. Manford: Slow Bucks: Stifling defense shuts down Bucks attack free agent market a Continued from Page B1 12 rebounds and Jack ‘distributional problem’ and Roche, the NWOC player of By JIMMY GOLEN Associated Press BOSTON — It’s not collusion, it’s a “distribu- tional problem” that has shut dozens of baseball players out of the free agent market this off- season, commissioner Rob Manfred said on Wednesday. Speaking to a group of Boston business exec- utives, Manfred said the percentage of reve- nue going to the players hasn’t changed in the past 15 years or so. If players are unhappy about how it’s being spent, Manfred said, he’s happy to talk to them about solutions. “The money that’s going for them in aggre- gate is the same,” he said at a meeting of the Boston College Chief Executives Club. “It may be that you (players) think some guys are getting too much, some guys are getting too little. You’d like to create additional opportunities. It’s up to you to explain to us what you’re looking for in terms of distribution of those dollars.” After years of growth, the total amount spent on player payroll dropped last year for the first time since 2010 and only the second time since 2002. What’s bothered the play- ers, though, has been the slow market for free agents like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. The lack of a bidding war for two of the game’s stars left them waiting until after the start of spring training for other offers. A couple of dozen other free agents remain unsigned, and some play- ers and agents accused owners of colluding to keep salaries down. But Manfred preferred to look at the result: 10 years and $300 million for Machado, and 13 years and $330 million for Harper. “In case you missed it, we did spend 600 mil- lion bucks — 630 to be exact — on two players last week. Set some new records,” Manfred said in an on-stage conversa- tion with Red Sox presi- dent Sam Kennedy. “Play- ers are still getting these mega-contracts.” Manfred said he would be willing to discuss changes now, even though the collective bargain- ing agreement doesn’t expire until after the 2021 season. “But (players) have to identify for us what it is that you see as the prob- lem in the system,” he said. Manfred’s comments came as owners and play- ers neared an agreement to allow teams to carry an extra player for most of the season starting in 2020 and for other changes to the way rosters are man- aged. The deal would include a limit on Sep- tember call-ups — lower- ing the maximum roster size from 40 players to 28 — and on the number of pitchers, designed to end the parade of relievers that can cause games to run long. Baseball also agreed not pursue a pitch clock through the 2021 season. “Baseball, like every other institution, has to thoughtfully approach change to address con- cerns that fans raise,” Manfred said. “One of the things that our research tells us is that the length of the games is an issue and one of the causes of that is relief pitching changes. And I think we have to be open to thinking about changes in that area.” Players have proposed changes such as expand- ing the designated hitter to the National League and altering the amateur draft to discourage teams from tanking in order to improve their draft position. “It’s always important to make small deals that allow you to address big- ger issues,” Manfred said. “And we’re working hard to do that.” Weather: Games delayed Continued from Page B1 on Saturday at Kennison Field. As of Wednesday after- noon, the field was cleared of snow, as were four lanes of the track. With tempera- tures expected in the 40s the next couple of days, Usher hopes things will thaw out a bit more. Saturday’s jambo- ree will begin at 11 a.m. Each team will play two 20-minute games against two opponents. Hermiston will play Southridge at 3 p.m., and Richland at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, the soccer teams will return to Ken- nison field for nonleague games. Chiawana will play Walla Walla at noon, fol- lowed by Kennewick and Kamiakin at 2 p.m., Rich- land and Hanford at 4 p.m., and Hermiston and Pasco will finish things off at 6 p.m. the year, finished with 13. The loss drops the Bucks into Thursday’s consolation round game against No. 6 Crater. Dong said he hasn’t seen a lot of the Comets, only the little bit the coach- ing staff watched during their 57-39 loss to No. 3 Sil- verton in another quarter- final game, but it’s obvious who sticks out — 6-foot- 10 sophomore center Nate Bittle. “Aside from the big guy (Bittle), I think we match up pretty well with them,” Dong said. “The big kid is tough, so we’re going to have to figure out what to do with him and go from there.” After any big loss, com- ing back and playing the next day isn’t easy. Dong took responsibility for the loss, and the postgame talk was all about getting back up off the mat. “I didn’t have them pre- pared. I take responsibility for that,” Dong said. “After you get knocked down, you have two choices from there. Are you going to lay down and let them beat you up, or stand up and fight back? That was the mes- sage. We’ve got one in the morning, and it’s a winnable game for us.” Pendleton takes on Crater at 10:45 a.m., and the game will be broadcast on the OSAA Radio Network. Sophomore guard Dakota Sams, of Pendleton, dribbles the ball Wednesday against Wilsonville in the quarter- finals of the Class 5A state tournament at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. Wilsonville won 70-40. Photo by GM Artman for the East Oregonian SCOREBOARD NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Toronto Philadelphia Boston Brooklyn New York Southeast Miami Orlando Charlotte Washington Atlanta Central x-Milwaukee Indiana Detroit Chicago Cleveland W 46 41 40 34 13 W 30 30 29 27 22 W 48 42 32 19 16 L 19 24 26 33 52 L 34 36 35 37 44 L 16 23 31 47 49 Pct .708 .631 .606 .507 .200 Pct .469 .455 .453 .422 .333 Pct .750 .646 .508 .288 .246 GB — 5 6½ 13 33 GB — 1 1 3 9 GB — 6½ 15½ 30 32½ WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest W Houston 39 San Antonio 37 New Orleans 30 Dallas 27 Memphis 26 Northwest W Denver 42 Oklahoma City 39 Portland 39 Utah 37 Minnesota 30 Pacific W Golden State 44 L.A. Clippers 37 Sacramento 32 L.A. Lakers 30 Phoenix 15 x-clinched playoff spot ——— Tuesday’s Games L 25 29 37 37 40 L 21 25 25 27 35 L 20 29 32 34 51 Pct .609 .561 .448 .422 .394 Pct .667 .609 .609 .578 .462 Pct .688 .561 .500 .469 .227 GB — 3 10½ 12 14 GB — 3½ 3½ 5½ 13 GB — 8 12 14 30 Indiana 105, Chicago 96 Philadelphia 114, Orlando 106 Houston 107, Toronto 95 Memphis 120, Portland 111 Minnesota 131, Oklahoma City 120 Boston 128, Golden State 95 Wednesday’s Games Detroit 131, Minnesota 114 Miami 91, Charlotte 84 Washington 132, Dallas 123 Brooklyn 113, Cleveland 107 San Antonio 111, Atlanta 104 Chicago 108, Philadelphia 107 Utah 114, New Orleans 104 Phoenix 107, New York 96 Boston 111, Sacramento 109 Denver at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Thursday’s Games Indiana at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. Oklahoma City at Portland, 7:30 p.m. Friday’s Games Dallas at Orlando, 4 p.m. Washington at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Cleveland at Miami, 5 p.m. Detroit at Chicago, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Houston, 5 p.m. Toronto at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Utah at Memphis, 5 p.m. Denver at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Sacramento at New York, 9 a.m. Brooklyn at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Washington at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Boston at L.A. Lakers, 5:30 p.m. Charlotte at Milwaukee, 6 p.m. Phoenix at Portland, 7 p.m. NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Tampa Bay GP W L OT Pts GF GA 67 51 12 4 106 263 176 Boston 66 40 17 9 Toronto 67 41 21 5 Montreal 67 36 24 7 Buffalo 66 30 28 8 Florida 66 28 26 12 Detroit 66 23 33 10 Ottawa 67 23 38 6 Metropolitan GP W L OT Washington 67 39 21 7 N.Y. Islanders 66 38 21 7 Carolina 66 36 23 7 Pittsburgh 66 35 22 9 Columbus 66 37 26 3 Philadelphia 67 32 27 8 N.Y. Rangers 66 27 28 11 New Jersey 67 25 33 9 89 198 164 87 241 191 79 204 194 68 190 211 68 209 227 56 182 227 52 199 251 Pts GF GA 85 231 211 83 192 161 79 199 180 79 229 204 77 205 198 72 204 224 65 190 219 59 189 225 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central GP W L OT Pts GF GA Nashville 69 39 25 5 83 207 184 Winnipeg 66 39 23 4 82 224 198 St. Louis 66 35 25 6 76 192 185 Dallas 66 34 27 5 73 167 170 Minnesota 67 32 27 8 72 186 196 Colorado 67 29 26 12 70 220 211 Chicago 66 27 30 9 63 220 250 Pacific GP W L OT Pts GF GA Calgary 66 41 18 7 89 234 192 San Jose 66 39 19 8 86 238 206 Vegas 67 36 26 5 77 201 187 Arizona 66 32 29 5 69 177 186 Edmonton 66 29 30 7 65 187 216 Vancouver 67 28 30 9 65 183 208 Anaheim 68 26 33 9 61 151 209 Los Angeles 66 24 34 8 56 159 210 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per confer- ence advance to playoffs. Tuesday’s Games Columbus 2, New Jersey 1, SO Pittsburgh 3, Florida 2, OT Boston 4, Carolina 3, OT N.Y. Islanders 5, Ottawa 4, SO Tampa Bay 5, Winnipeg 2 Nashville 5, Minnesota 4, SO Dallas 1, N.Y. Rangers 0 Anaheim 3, Arizona 1 Colorado 4, Detroit 3, OT Montreal 3, Los Angeles 1 Wednesday’s Games Washington 5, Philadelphia 3 Vancouver 3, Toronto 2, OT St. Louis 5, Anaheim 4 Calgary at Vegas, 7:30 p.m. Thursday’s Games Florida at Boston, 4 p.m. Columbus at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Colorado at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Buffalo at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Vancouver at Edmonton, 6 p.m. Calgary at Arizona, 6 p.m. Montreal at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. St. Louis at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Friday’s Games Minnesota at Florida, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Washington, 4 p.m. Winnipeg at Carolina, 4:30 p.m. Montreal at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Saturday’s Games Buffalo at Colorado, 12 p.m. St. Louis at San Jose, 1 p.m. New Jersey at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. Philadelphia vs. N.Y. Islanders at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 4 p.m. Toronto at Edmonton, 4 p.m. Ottawa at Boston, 4 p.m. Detroit at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Columbus, 4 p.m. Chicago at Dallas, 5 p.m. Carolina at Nashville, 5 p.m. Los Angeles at Arizona, 5 p.m. Vegas at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
