College

The eighth-ranked Oregon women's basketball team won the Pac-12 Conference regular season title for the first time in nearly 20 years Sunday, earning the honor after a 74-61 win over Arizona in Tucson, Ariz.

Oregon improved to 27-4 and finished conference play at 16-2, one game ahead of Stanford. Oregon last won the conference title in 2000 when it featured just 10 schools.

Ruthy Hebard finished with 24 points and Lexi Bando added 15 by hitting five 3-point shots.

Oregon next plays in the Pac-12 Tournament, which begins Thursday in Las Vegas. Oregon earned a first-round by with the title. Oregon will play the winner of Thursday's Utah vs. Colorado game.

No. 12 Oregon State (23-6, 14-4) beat Arizona State 64-60 Sunday for its seventh consecutive win and also earned a first-round tournament bye by finishing in a tie for third place with No. 10 UCLA. OSU will play the winner of Thursday's Arizona vs. Arizona State game.

2. TIMBERS CLOSE PRESEASON WITH VICTORY

The Portland Timbers beat Sporting Kansas City Saturday in their preseason finale and now have a week to prepare for their season opener in Los Angeles against the Galaxy at Stub Hub Field.

Portland begins its eighth season of MLS play having ended last season as the Western Conference leader, although it dropped a first-round playoff duel to the Houston Dynamo.

3. BLAZERS GETTING HOT AFTER ASG

Portland's last-second 106-104 win at Phoenix Saturday improved the team to 34-26 overall and moved it to within 1.5 games of third place in the Western Conference standings. Portland plays host to Sacramento on Tuesday night, and Minnesota Thursday.

4. OSU GYMNASTICS

A week after setting a season-high in points, No. 8 Oregon State lost to No. 3 UCLA, 198.075-196.525 at Pauley Pavillion.

The Beavers finish their regular season with meets at home against BYU, March 5, and Michigan State, March 10.

The fast-moving scandal that hit the University of Arizona men's basketball program this week broiled into a key win for the Oregon Ducks Saturday before a national audience via ESPN and a packed house at the Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon got 30 points from Elijah Brown and double-figure scores from the other four starters to beat the 14th-ranked Wildcats 98-93. The Ducks won the battle of turnovers 17-4.

Brown hit 15 of 17 free throws to help Oregon overcome Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton, who had 28 points and 18 rebounds. Ayton is a key figure in the FBI probe that recorded coach Sean Miller discussing a payment of $100,000 to an agent to secure Ayton attending Arizona. Miller did not coach the team Saturday, with assistant Lorenzo Romar - the one-time University of Washington coach, taking over that role.

The win moved the Ducks to 19-10 overall, 9-7 in conference games after the weekend sweep of the Arizona schools.

Oregon State, which lost to Arizona Thursday, beat Arizona State 79-75 at Gill Coliseum Saturday to improve to 14-14, 6-10. The Beavers finished their home schedule at 13-4 overall.

Both Oregon schools travel to Washington to close out the regular season.

The Oregon men's basketball team opened a key weekend with a 75-68 win over Arizona State Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, but now comes the big game: Arizona.

The Ducks take on the Wildcats Saturday night in a nationally-televised game on ESPN in what is effectively a playoff-preview.

Oregon's pair of losses last weekend in Los Angeles dropped it out of contention for second place in the Pac-12 Conference and put the team in a win-or-else situation to reach the NCAA Tournament. Oregon needs to win the conference tournament and Arizona (23-6, 14-1) is atop the conference standings ranked No. 14 in the nation.

Game time is 7:15 p.m. Saturday.

Elijah Brown led the Ducks (18-10, 8-7) Thursday with 19 points and seven rebounds. He hit eight of his 12 field-goal attempts.

Oregon State (13-14, 5-10) lost to Arizona 75-65 in Corvallis Thursday and takes on Arizona State Saturday at 5 p.m.

Both Oregon schools close out their regular season next week with games in Washington.

The conference tournament begins March 7 in Las Vegas.

2. DUCKS SEEK CONFERENCE TITLE

The Oregon women's basketball team, having moved up to No. 8 in the nation, is two wins from taking the conference regular-season title, with only games at Arizona State tonight and Arizona Sunday in the way. Oregon is 25-4, 14-2, and a game ahead of Stanford in the conference standings.

No. 12 Oregon State (21-6, 12-4) takes its five-game win streak to Arizona tonight and Arizona State on Sunday.

3. BLAZERS BACK IN ACTION

Portland's All-Star Game break ends tonight with a game at Utah followed by a game at Phoenix Saturday night. The Blazers enter the weekend two games ahead of the Jazz in the Western Conference standings.

With Oklahoma City winning Thursday night, the Blazers dropped a full game out of fifth place in the Western Conference standings, but the Los Angeles Clippers lost at Golden State and dropped a half-game further behind the Blazers in the race for the eight playoff spots.

4. TIMBERS NAME FINAL PRESEASON OPPONENT

The Portland Timbers will take on Sporting Kansas City Saturday in their final preseason match at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz.

Portland's eighth season in Major League Soccer begins March 4 in Los Angeles against the Galaxy.

As the men's and women's basketball regular season heads to a close, a number of Oregon schools are well-positioned for success on the national and regional stage, starting with the Western Oregon men's team.

The Wolves, 25-1 entering the week, were ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA Div. II Coaches poll. Senior Tanner Omlid, a 6-foot-4 forward from Central High, leads Western Oregon at 13.8 points per game with only one other player averaging in double figures. Western Oregon is the top-ranked team from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The GNAC leader among women's teams is Alaska-Anchorage.

George Fox, at 22-3, leads the Northwest Conference in women's basketball and is ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest NCAA Div. III coaches poll. On the men's side, Whitworth is the conference leader.

At NAIA Div. II, Eastern Oregon is 20-0 in the Cascade Conference and ranked No. 6 nationally. Southern Oregon is ranked No. 10 and Northwest Christian is No. 16. College of Idaho leads the men's side.

And in the Northwest Athletic Conference, Umpqua is 25-0 and ranked No. 1 on the women's side, with Clackamas at No. 4 and Lane at No. 7. Portland has been ranked No. 1 or 2 all season on the men's side, with Linn-Benton at No. 7 and Clackamas at No. 8.

After playing their way to a 19-point lead Monday night, the No. 10 Oregon women's basketball team did what all the fans at Matthew Knight Arena thought they would do - they made the game exciting.

No. 8 UCLA fought back and took a three-point lead in the final minute before the Ducks rallied and won in overtime, 101-94, before a crowd of 7,098 and a national audience on ESPN2.

Oregon's win kept the Ducks (14-2, 25-4) atop the conference standings - all alone after No. 16 Stanford (13-3, 19-9) lost to rival Cal on Saturday - heading into the final weekend of the season: a pair of road games in Arizona.

UCLA (12-4, 21-6) dropped a full two games out of first after entering the weekend tied with Oregon and Stanford.

No. 12 Oregon State (12-4, 21-6) swept UCLA and USC and moved into a third-place with with the Bruins.

2. OREGON, OSU MEN'S HOOP

With a shot at moving up to second in the conference standings, the Oregon men dropped to seventh with a pair of weekend losses in Southern California and are essentially on a path where they need to win the conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Oregon plays host to the Arizona schools this weekend, as does Oregon State (5-9, 13-13).

3. BLAZERS ADD BRANDON RUSH

With the final stage - two months - of the regular season upcoming, Portland signed much-travelled guard Brandon Rush to a 10-day contract Monday.

Rush has played for nine years in the league, but not this season.

4. PREP FINALS

After the second and third round of high school state championships played out Friday and Saturday with wrestling and swimming, OSAA sports get a weekend off before the first three boys and girls basketball finals begin. But, non-OSAA sports have a championship weekend upcoming with bowling.

The Oregon bowling championships begin Friday in Klamath Falls, with nordic and alpine finals set for March.

The Oregon Ducks will look to hold onto their spot atop the Pacific 12 Conference and move up in the national rankings tonight when they play host to the UCLA Bruins at Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon enters ranked No. 9, while UCLA is No. 7 for the time, having lost to Oregon State Friday night.

ESPNU will be on hand to televise the game.

One key note in the game is Oregon's Ruthie Hebard, who has made her last 30 field-goal attempts to set an all-time NCAA record.

The Ducks are

2. PORTLAND TIMBERS KEEP PRESEASON MOVING FORWARD

The Timbers dropped a 2-1 decision to FC Dallas Saturday, but kept its drive to the regular season on track by playing many of its predicted starters for most of the game. Forward Fanendo Adi and midfielder Diego Valeri were among the group that played 80 or more minutes.

Newcomer Samuel Armenteros, who joined the club last week, scored for Portland. Former Timbers forward Maximiliano Urruti scored both goals for Dallas.

Portland plays the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday. The regular season begins March 3 in Los Angeles.

3. DAMIAN LILLARD ALL-STAR

Damian Lillard, representing the Portland Trail Blazers for the third time at the All-Star Game, scored a team-high 21 points in 21 minutes, but Team Steph lost 148-145 to Team LeBron at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Liillard made 9 of 14 shots from the field and grabbed three rebounds. All five of his misses were from beyond the three-point line.

Portland (32-26) returns to action with a game Friday at Utah (30-28), and Saturday at Phoenix (18-41). The Blazers are currently tied with Denver for the sixth spot in the Western Conference, just a half-game behind No. 5 Oklahoma City, and one game ahead of the No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers.

4. PLAYOFFS BEGIN FOR 3A, 2A, 1A BASKETBALL

The smaller schools across the state begin their playoffs Wedensday when the Class 1A boys and girls play the first of two rounds of games 16 teams playing elimination games. The eight winners of Wednesday's games will be paired with a league champion for the eight-team tournament play-in round Saturday with seeding among the 16 teams taking place at that time.

The Class 3A and 2A teams have a one-game play-in round Saturday having reached the end of their regular season this past weekend.

At CLASS 3A, De La Salle North Catholic of Portland is seeded No. 1 in the boys bracket, while Salem Academy is seeded No. 1 in the girls bracket.

AT CLASS 2A, Western Mennonite is seeded No. 1 in the boys bracket with Kennedy seeded No. 1 among the girls.

The Oregon women's basketball team beat USC Friday night in double-overtime at the Matthew Knight Arena, getting a key three-point shot from Lexi Bando that secured a 80-74 win.

The ninth-ranked Ducks improved to 13-2 in conference play and remained in first place when Oregon State beat No. 7 UCLA 67-64 in overtime in Corvallis to improve to 11-4.

Oregon plays host to UCLA on Monday night.

The game featured forward Ruthie Hebard making all 12 of her field goals to run her streak to 30 consecutive made field goals - an NCAA record for both men and women.

USC plays at Oregon State on Sunday.

Both Oregon schools wrap up the regular season with games in Arizona, then head to the conference tournament in Las Vegas, March 2.

2. OREGON MEN GET ANOTHER SHOT AT LA

The Oregon men's basketball team dropped a key game Thursday night, giving up the decisive basket with 0.8 seconds remaining in a 72-70 loss at USC.

MiKyle McIntosh scored a season-high 23 points and Payton Pritchard added 17, but the Ducks lost their chance to stay within a half-game of second place in the Pac-12 standings. Oregon entered a half-game behind the Trojans in the conference standings behind USC and UCLA, but both LA schools won Thursday with the Bruins beating Oregon State at the same time as the Oregon game played out.

Oregon, 7-6 in the conference, gets a chance to stay within striking distance with a game at UCLA Saturday.

OSU lost 75-68 and fell to 5-8 in conference play with a game at USC Friday.

3. DAMIAN HEADS FOR TEAM STEPH

Portland Trail Blazer Damian Lillard will be in LA this weekend as well for his third trip to the NBA All-Star game, being played Sunday at the Staples Center.

Lillard will play on the roster selected by Steph Curry in the new All-Star game set-up in which the team stars, Curry and Lebron James, selected their teams ala playground-style.

Curry's team includes James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Jimmy Butler of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

4. TIMBERS PREP FOR NEXT PRESEASON MATCH

The Portland Timbers will play their fourth preseason match Saturday in Tucson, Ariz., fresh from a 1-1 tie with the Houston Dynamo Wednesday.

Portland faces FC Dallas Saturday as it contines to prepare for the season opener in Los Angeles, March 3.

The Oregon women's basketball team, fresh from a pair of wins over the Washington schools, plays host to the Southern California schools this weekend, with No. 7 UCLA on tap for 7 p.m. Monday night.

The ninth-ranked Ducks, Bruins and Stanford are tied atop the Pac-12 Conference standings at 12-2, wich Oregon State in fourth at 10-4. The Beavers, ranked 15th, get their shot at the Bruins on Friday night in Corvallis.

USC, in seventh in the conference at 7-7, plays at Oregon on Friday, and OSU on Sunday.

Both Oregon schools wrap up the regular season with games in Arizona, then head to the conference tournament in Las Vegas, March 2.

2. OREGON WOMEN GET No. 7 UCLA THIS WEEKEND

The Oregon men's basketball team dropped a key game Thursday night, giving up the decisive basket with 0.8 seconds remaining in a 72-70 loss at USC.

MiKyle McIntosh scored a season-high 23 points and Payton Pritchard added 17, but the Ducks lost their chance to stay within a half-game of second place in the Pac-12 standings. Oregon entered a half-game behind the Trojans in the conference standings behind USC and UCLA, but both LA schools won Thursday with the Bruins beating Oregon State at the same time as the Oregon game played out.

Oregon, 7-6 in the conference, gets a chance to stay within striking distance with a game at UCLA Saturday.

OSU lost 75-68 and fell to 5-8 in conference play with a game at USC Friday.

3. DAMIAN HEADS FOR TEAM STEPH

Portland Trail Blazer Damian Lillard will be in LA this weekend as well for his third trip to the NBA All-Star game, being played Sunday at the Staples Center.

Lillard will play on the roster selected by Steph Curry in the new All-Star game set-up in which the team stars, Curry and Lebron James, selected their teams ala playground-style.

Curry's team includes James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Jimmy Butler of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

4. TIMBERS PREP FOR NEXT PRESEASON MATCH

The Portland Timbers will play their fourth preseason match Saturday in Tucson, Ariz., fresh from a 1-1 tie with the Houston Dynamo Wednesday.

Portland faces FC Dallas Saturday as it contines to prepare for the season opener in Los Angeles, March 3.

The Oregon men's basketball team, fresh from a weekend sweep of the Washington schools, is in Los Angeles with a chance to move into second place in the Pac-12 Conference.

Oregon plays at USC Thursday night, then at UCLA Saturday.

The Trojans and Bruins are both at 8-5 in conference play, with the Ducks tied with Washington at 7-5. Oregon held Washington to just 40 points in its 65-40 win over the Huskies Thursday. They followed it up with a 84-57 win over Washington State.

Oregon State, in 10th place at 5-7, plays UCLA and USC as well.

Arizona leads the conference at 10-3.

2. OREGON WOMEN GET No. 7 UCLA THIS WEEKEND

The Oregon women's basketball team, fresh from a pair of wins over the Washington schools, plays host to the Southern California schools this weekend, with No. 7 UCLA on tap for 7 p.m. Monday night.

The ninth-ranked Ducks, Bruins and Stanford are tied atop the Pac-12 Conference standings at 12-2, wich Oregon State in fourth at 10-4. The Beavers, ranked 15th, get their shot at the Bruins on Friday night in Corvallis.

USC, in seventh in the conference at 7-7, plays at Oregon on Friday, and OSU on Sunday.

Both Oregon schools wrap up the regular season with games in Arizona, then head to the conference tournament in Las Vegas, March 2.

3. WINTERHAWKS RUN OUT OF SHOTS

Portland's Valentine's Day game with Vancouver turned went vastly haywire as the Hawks outshot the Giants 49-19, but still lost 4-2.

Portland has a week off to prep for a home game with Kelowna before a three-game road trip.

4. THORNS STARS HEAD FOR NATIONAL DUTY

Portland Thorns midfielder Lindsey Horan and defender Emily Sonnett were named to the 26-player preliminary U.S. Women’s National Team roster Wednesday.

The USWNT plays host to the SheBelieves Cup for a third consecutive year with matches against Germany, France and England. Head coach Jill Ellis will name the final 23-player tournament roster near the end of training camp that begins Monday.

The opening games of the tournament will take place March 1 at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, as the United States squares off against Germany at 4 p.m.

A winless record didn't hamper the Portland State football team from signing a promising class of recruits for the upcoming college football season.

The Vikings, an NCAA FCS Playoff team just three years ago, released its class of 15 signees Wednesday - a class that includes three current seniors at Oregon high schools.

Portland State is headed for its fourth year under coach Bruce Barney, who took the program to the playoffs in his first year as coach, when he was technically listed as an interim coach. In 2015, the Vikings were 9-3, then 3-8 in 2016 and 0-11 last year, although its schedule included a narrow 35-32 loss at Oregon State.

The Vikings are scheduled to play at Nevada and at Oregon this fall. Their schedule includes five games at Providence Park.

Oregon players who signed with Portland State include Jordan Hill from Lincoln, Alex Sanchez from South Salem, and Dawson Carr from Rainier.