Mario Cristobal continues to build his coaching staff this week with the hiring of Jim Mastro as the Ducks’ new running backs coach and run-game coordinator.

Per the Seattle Times, Mastro — who spent the past six seasons with Washington State — will join the Ducks on a three-year, $375,000 contract. Mastro, a veteran coach with two decades worth of experience, is also responsible for the creation of the “pistol” offense with Nevada head coach Chris Ault in 2005.

Sources told the Times that Mastro had cleaned out his desk on Thursday, but delayed announcing his decision out of respect for recently deceased Cougars QB Tyler Hilinski.

Mastro replaces Donte Pimpleton, who followed former Oregon head coach Willie Taggart to Florida State.

Cougars’ running back James Williams voiced his support on Twitter earlier this morning.

Everyone knows the admiration and respect I have for Coach Mastro. After having him look ALL of us RB’s straight in the eye and giving us all the details I would be disappointed if he didn’t take this opportunity.#UltimateRespect #FamilyForever #RBU #TeamMastro

— James Williams (@boobiewilliams2) January 20, 2018

Oregon running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio also chimed in.

Committed to Washington State in HS because of Mastro… just wasn’t the place for me, Oregon is. I know God planned this for us to reunite. More than thrilled to work with him… feels like a dream. Can’t wait to get on the field with my dude!

GODucks!

— Cyrus Habibi-Likio (@cyri3e) January 21, 2018

Mastro is the third coach to depart WSU for Oregon in recent years, following defensive line coach Joe Salave’a and QB coach David Yost.

Oregon and Cristobal still have three assistant coaching spots to fill.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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After the Ducks’ abysmal 38 percent shooting performance against Arizona Friday night, head coach Kelly Graves made it clear that his team needed to improve if it hoped to compete with the No. 18 Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Ducks rose to the challenge, dominating the Sun Devils for a 74-64 win. They shot an impressive 66 percent from the field.

“We shot it so well tonight,” Graves said. “Arizona State is typically among the best in the conference and sometimes in the nation at field goal defense. I just thought we were getting really good opportunities.”

The No. 8 (6-0 Pac-12) Ducks have now won nine straight and sit alone at the top of the conference.

The Ducks were bolstered by scoring from Satou Sabally (10 points), Maite Cazorla (15 points), Ruthy Hebard (20 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (26 points). Notably, Hebard shot a perfect 9-of-9 from the field — her second such performance of the season.

Both teams came out of the gate strong, but the Ducks closed out the first quarter on a 12-4 run. They were stout on defense as well and forced an errant pass from ASU after several missed layups. It was Ionescu who put an exclamation point on the quarter when she grabbed a steal and weaved past several ASU defenders en route to a layup to give the Ducks a 22-12 lead.

The Sun Devils weren’t content to roll over.

Oregon struggled to contain ASU star Kianna Ibis, and her 11-point second quarter carved into the Ducks lead. For nearly four minutes, the Ducks were unable to score. By halftime, ASU had closed the gap and trailed just 38-34.

“We kind of let up on the defensive end,” Ionescu said.

But Oregon looked like a new team after halftime.

After snagging a steal, Cazorla sent the ball to Ionescu, who promptly hit a 3-pointer. After the Ducks forced four straight turnovers, ASU took a time-out to try and regroup. The Ducks simply overwhelmed the Sun Devils en route to a 16-0 start to the quarter.

When ASU finally did score, they only managed five points. When the quarter ended, the Ducks held a commanding 59-39 lead.

“I think we came out with a lot more energy,” Ionescu said. “We need that defensive intensity in order to win. They’re not going to beat themselves.”

The Sun Devils closed the gap in the fourth quarter, but never came closer than 10 points back. Even so, Graves and Ionescu both voiced a desire to finish stronger after the Ducks scored just four points in the final six minutes.

Picking up a big win over a ranked opponent is always special, but doing it on your coach’s birthday? Even better.

“Getting him a win for his birthday means a lot,” Hebard said.

Next up for the Ducks is a road trip up to Corvallis, Oregon, for the first part of the Civil War series against No. 18 Oregon State on Friday.

Follow Aaron Alter on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon men’s basketball dropped a close road game to the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats, 90-83, on Saturday in Tuscon, Arizona.

Despite double-digit points from MiKyle McIntosh (2o points), Elijah Brown (25 points) and Payton Pritchard (12), the Ducks were unable to complete a sweep of the Arizona schools. The loss also drops to the team to 2-3 in Pac-12 play, their worst start since the 2014-15 season.

The Wildcats jumped out to strong start in the first half, opening up leads as large as 12 points. The Ducks refused to go quietly and battled back to close the gap, going into halftime down just 41-38.

The Ducks came out of the break looking much the same, and they struggled to catch Arizona until eight minutes into the half. It was Paul White who knotted things up at 55 with a pair of free throws.

The team surrendered the lead once again however until Elijah Brown drained a deep 3-pointer to give the Ducks a 69-68 lead. A dunk from the Wildcats grabbed the lead back however, and Oregon was unable to grab it back.

The Ducks will look to get back on track when they take on the USC Trojans on Thursday in Eugene.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon women’s basketball fought through a slow start to grind out a 62-44 win over the Arizona Wildcats on Friday night.

The win moves the No. 8 Ducks (5-0 Pac-12) into first place in the Pac-12, and makes them the only undefeated squad in the conference. It also extends the team’s winning streak to eight games.

Once again, it was the knockout sophomore duo of Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard who led the charge. Ionescu finished with a double-double on a team-high 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Hebard added 14 points.

While the Ducks have shot 50 percent from the field this season, they struggled to connect against the Wildcats, making just 38 percent of their attempts.

“We couldn’t possibly shoot worse,” Ducks head coach Kelly Graves said. “I don’t think we took a bad three all night. Those are shots we typically make — I don’t know what the deal was.”

Lexi Bando started the game with a 3-pointer but the Wildcats fought back, going on a 10-0 run before Ionescu stopped the bleeding with a jumper. Ionescu almost sing-handedly pulled the Ducks through the first quarter, capping off the period by burying a deep 3-pointer to give her team a 19-14 lead.

The Ducks were unable to pull away in the second quarter either. A pair of early fouls on Hebard forced Graves to take his star post player off the court, delivering a hit to the Ducks’ presence down low.

“That can’t happen,” Graves said.

Guard Maite Cazorla stepped up for the Ducks, burying a pair of 3s within a minute of each other to maintain a narrow lead. Her second basket would prove to be the last points the Ducks scored in the first half, making it to the locker room with a tenuous 27-26 lead.

“You miss a few, and you kind of get down,” Ionescu said. “I think we kind of panicked a little bit and veered off of what we normally do.”

While Graves said that the team didn’t have much of a halftime speech, it was clear something clicked when the game resumed. The Ducks opened the third quarter with an offensive barrage from Ionescu and Hebard, with the two leading their team on a 10-0 run.

In the closing minutes of the third quarter, freshman Aina Ayuso pulled up and made a pair of clutch 3-pointers to extend the Ducks to a 45-31 lead.

“She’s a really good player,” Graves said. “Those were two important 3s, and that really helped. Nice to see out of a freshman.”

By the fourth quarter, it finally looked like the Ducks had hit their stride. Riding on 44 percent shooting from 3-point range, the team closed out the Wildcats to maintain their winning streak.

Despite the rocky shooting from his team, Graves still noted the silver lining.

“We’re 5-0,” Graves said. “I think that’s something to be proud of.”

The Ducks will look to maintain their Pac-12 dominance when they face the No.18 Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday in Eugene.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon men’s basketball stunned the Arizona State Sun Devils in a 76-72 win in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday night. The loss was ASU’s first home defeat of the season.

For the Ducks (2-2 Pac-12), the victory comes on the heels of a tough loss at the hands of Oregon State. Guards Payton Pritchard and Elijah Brown each finished the night with 18 points, while forward Mikyle McIntosh notched a double-double on 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The first half was an exercise in back-and-forth play for the Ducks. With just over eight minutes to play in the first half, ASU led just 20-18. Then the Ducks turned the ball over, and the tables turned.

The Sun Devils went on an 11-0 run before Oregon stopped the bleeding. Both teams traded baskets in the final four minutes of the half, and when the clock hit zeroes, the score was tied at 41 after Brown nailed a 3-pointer.

The second half followed a similar pattern, both teams jostling for the lead. The Ducks eventually fought their way to an eight-point lead with just over four minutes in the game. The Sun Devils closed the gap to two at one point, but were unable to knot things up. A pair of Pritchard free throws with 14 seconds left iced the game, the Ducks left the court victorious.

The Ducks won the rebounding battle despite shooting worse than Arizona State. Oregon grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 19 more shots for the Ducks.

While the game was near the end and Arizona State began fouling, Elijah Brown and Pritchard hit key free throws. Overall, Oregon shot 12-of-14 from the line.

The win is big for a Ducks team looking to strengthen their case for the NCAA Tournament.

Oregon will look to build on the win when they face the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats on Saturday.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon women’s basketball rode double-digit efforts from Maite Cazorla, Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu to survive a tough road clash with No. 14 UCLA, beating the Bruins 70-61 in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The Ducks move to 4-0 in conference play with the victory — the program’s best start since 2001. The win also marks Oregon’s first completed sweep of the LA schools after the team defeated USC Jan. 5.

The Ducks jumped out to an 11-2 lead to start the game before allowing the Bruins to make four unanswered baskets to close their advantage to three to end the first quarter.

Things stayed close through the second quarter. Initially, Oregon began to open up a wider lead again, but UCLA refused to go away easily. Neither team had a strong performance from the field — the Ducks shot 33 percent while the Bruins managed just 25 percent shooting at the half, as the Ducks held a 27-23 lead.

Out of the break, Oregon maintained its narrow advantage until a shade under four minutes into the third quarter. A 3-pointer from UCLA put the Ducks down briefly, though they took back the lead by the end of the quarter.

With just 1 minute, 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Ducks held a scant 60-59 lead. Bando provided the dagger in UCLA’s heart, hitting a 3-pointer to allow Oregon to hold on to escape Pauley Pavilion with the win.

Despite the victory, the Ducks struggled with turnovers, giving up the ball 18 times. They also were uncharacteristically cold from deep, going just 25 percent from beyond the arc.

The Ducks will look to extend their winning streak against the Arizona Wildcats on Friday in Eugene.

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Oregon women’s basketball delivered a dominant performance on Friday, blowing out Hawai’i 85-44 in the final game of the 2017 Duel in the Desert tournament in Las Vegas.

The win marks the seventh time this season that the No. 10 Ducks have won by at least a 30-point margin, and moves the team to 11-2 going into Pac-12 play.

Hawai’i scored first, moving up 3-0 in the opening minutes off of a layup and free throw. But a basket from Sabrina Ionescu put the Ducks up, and they never relinquished the lead.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the Ducks star trio of Ruthy Hebard, Lexi Bando and Ionescu who led the way.

Hebard finished with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, while Bando continued to dominate from deep, making 4-of-6 baskets from beyond the arc. Ionescu led her team in both scoring and rebounds, with 19 points and eight boards along with six assists and six steals.

Ionescu was also named Duel in the Desert MVP, continuing what has already been a stellar season for the sophomore.

The Ducks will open Pac-12 play Dec. 29 against Washington State in Eugene.

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Going into Saturday’s game, the Oregon single-game combined 3-point record was 27.

By the end of the Ducks’ 114-87 victory over the Weber State Wildcats, 34 3-pointers had been made.

Despite a lackluster showing on defense, the Ducks’ offensive firepower was enough to get the job done. The win keeps the them undefeated at home and moves them to 7-1 on the season.

“One of my coaches said in the locker room after the game, ‘you don’t know whether to laugh or to cry,’” head coach Kelly Graves said about the high-scoring affair. “I think there was a little of both tonight. We didn’t really come to defend, we had very little intensity. Thank goodness we had a good shooting night as well.”

The Ducks started the game strong when Sabrina Ionescu kicked off what would turn into an 11-0 run with a deep 3-pointer. Weber State was able to fight back, preventing the Ducks from running away with the game.

In a tightly contested second quarter, it was senior sharpshooter Lexi Bando who, after a slow first quarter, provided the biggest offensive spark for the Ducks. The Eugene native backed up her reputation as the nation’s most efficient 3-point shooter among active players with a barrage of five buckets from behind the arc.

“They weren’t falling in the first quarter for me,” Bando said. “But coach told me to get in there and make a shot, and I finally started hitting them.”

Without Bando’s hot streak, the game could well have been tied at the half. The Ducks led by just nine points going into the break.

Then the third quarter happened.

The Ducks overwhelmed the Wildcats with a 44-point explosion on 82 percent shooting from the field. Three Oregon players, Satou Sabally (12), Ruthy Hebard (11) and Ionescu (15), posted double-figures in the third quarter alone.

Ionescu finished the game with a double-double on 21 points and 14 assists, tying the Oregon single-game record for assists.

While the Ducks delivered their best offensive performance of the season, the defense struggled mightily. After allowing only four 3-pointers through the previous three games, the Ducks were unable to stop the 3-ball on Saturday, and the Wildcats shot the deep ball at a 50-percent clip against them.

“That kind of shooting is contagious,” Graves said. “We were fortunate that we were having one of those nights. The 3-point shot is a big part of their game, and we knew coming in that the only way they could beat us is if they were scoring three at a time.”

Even so, Graves enjoyed the offensive clinic his team put on.

“That’s about as much fun as I’ll have on the sideline,” Graves said. “I actually smiled a few times.”

The Ducks will continue their homestand against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds next Saturday at Matthew Knight Arena.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon women’s basketball took care of business with an 87-45 win over the Hampton Lady Pirates Tuesday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

Despite missing one of their key players in Ruthy Hebard due to a lower leg injury, the Ducks adapted to remain undefeated at home in 2017, and bring their record to 6-1 on the year.

“I was actually really proud of our team,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “We’ve got a lot of sickness and some people that’ve got to heal physically, so we were a little shorthanded tonight. But man, I was really impressed with the intensity we came out with tonight.”

The Ducks came out of the gate strong in the first quarter, cruising to a 21-11 lead. Junior forward Oti Gildon, who was filling in for Hebard, posted a double-double on a career-high 20 points and 12 rebounds. Her numbers led the team in both categories.

“I was a little nervous, ’cause I haven’t started in a college game yet,” Gildon said. “I stepped up to the plate and played pretty well.”

For his part, Graves wasn’t surprised.

“People forget that Oti won two state championships in the state of Washington,” Graves said. “She’s a heck of a player. Tonight we really needed her, and she stepped up. This is not out of the ordinary.”

The Ducks stifled the Lady Pirates defensively, holding them to just seven more points in the second quarter. The key in the performance was the Ducks’ conference-best 3-point defense — the team has allowed just four baskets from downtown over its previous three games.

“We’re active in the zone, you know, players like these two (Gildon and Satou Sabally) are so long, contesting shots on the perimeter, nothing’s coming easy. We gave up a little bit to the Oklahoma post player but at the same time we’re giving up 2s and not 3s and that was the key to beating that team and again tonight.”

The Ducks never let the pressure up, with double-digit efforts from Sabrina Ionescu (13 points) and Lexi Bando (11 points) contributing to the lopsided final score.

While the dominant win might not carry the same clout as a big win over a ranked opponent, Graves still considers the game valuable experience.

“That’s a really good team that we kinda made look not as good tonight,” Graves said. “They all can’t be top-10 opponents. You can still get a lot out of it… You can’t get lazy, you can’t take anything for granted. You’ve gotta go out and do the work.”

While pleased with the win, Graves wants to see more careful play on the ball from his team moving forward.

“Second half, sometimes we lose a little focus and kinda make some crazy mistakes, turnover-wise,” Graves said.

Next up for the Ducks is a home clash with the Weber State Wildcats on Sunday.

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Oregon women’s basketball brought down the hammer with an 81-40 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles on Tuesday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

The dominant performance came on the heels of a tough road loss to the Louisville Cardinals, and kept the Ducks (4-1) undefeated on their home court.

“It felt good to get back home, get back up on the horse again,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said. “This has not been an easy week for us. We were seven days on the road — left last Tuesday, got in yesterday. I’m proud of them. All in all, it was a pretty good effort.”

Oregon started the game a little slow, with an uncharacteristic turnover from Ruthy Hebard that allowed the Eagles to get on the board first. Lexi Bando responded by draining a deep 3-pointer to give Oregon the lead.

The Ducks stepped on the gas and never looked back, finishing the quarter with a 23-8 lead.

Freshman phenom Satou Sabally stepped up when she was subbed in with five minutes left to play in the first quarter. Her time on the floor started with an errant pass that was intercepted by an Eagles player. In a display of awareness and athleticism, Sabally rushed back to her hoop to deliver a swift block. She went on to deliver another block, along with a pair of rebounds and a layup in just under five minutes of play in the quarter.

“It’s what you have to have, that next play mentality,” Graves said of Sabally’s effort. “She’s really maturing right before our eyes. I think it’s fun to watch, and people will be excited to see the growth she has a player.”

The Ducks didn’t let up in the second quarter, scoring 24 points on 69 percent shooting.

That was in large part to forward Ruthy Hebard, who led her team with 22 points in addition to six rebounds. She didn’t miss a single shot in the first half and forced four steals, two of which led to points for the Ducks.

“She had a perfect night,” Graves said. “That doesn’t happen very often.”

While they held the lead through the second half, the Ducks weren’t quite as explosive. Their shooting cooled off to a still respectable 41 percent as Graves gave his freshmen more playing time.

Flying under the radar somewhat was Sabrina Ionescu. While she failed to reach double-figure scoring, she had one of the game’s best highlights when she came flying into the paint to score a last-second putback basket. She also added ten rebounds and five assists.

Bando made her presence felt again in the fourth with a pair of buckets from three. The senior guard has continued to uphold her reputation as one of the nation’s top three-point shooters, making baskets from beyond the arc at a 65 percent clip this season.

Moving forward, the Ducks will prepare to face Oklahoma in the PK80 tournament this weekend. It’s an opportunity Graves is looking forward to.

“This is such a great opportunity,” Graves said. “They’re [Oklahoma] good. They play their butts off.”

The Ducks will face the Sooners at 2:30 pm at Matthew Knight Arena this Saturday.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronalter95 

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