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No. 17 Alabama aims to rediscover 3-point touch vs. Oregon

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No. 17 Alabama aims to rediscover 3-point touch vs. Oregon


November 25 – Playing for third place in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla., isn’t what No. 17 Alabama envisioned before the tournament began.

However, that’s the situation for the Crimson Tide (4-1), who were upset 92-81 by Ohio State on Friday. Alabama will face Oregon on Saturday afternoon in a matchup of the two Friday losing teams.

Oregon (4-1) fell 88-82 to Santa Clara in the second opening-round game.

The Crimson Tide entered their contest leading the nation in scoring (101.8 points per game) and 3-point shooting (48.9 percent). On Friday, however, they made just 9 of 30 (30 percent) from long range.

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Alabama was held to 33 points before halftime while giving up 38 to Ohio State. The first number was a season low and the second was a season high.

Forward Grant Nelson led Alabama across the board with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Former Ducks player Aaron Estrada added 19 points, and Mark Sears had 17 to go with four assists, four rebounds and three steals.

“We’ve been saying for the four regular-season games and both scrimmages that our defense isn’t where it needs to be,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “This certainly was not a good defensive game for us, but (the Buckeyes are) a good team and played us tough.

“They had two players combine for 52 points and go 19 of 20 from the foul line. They had 30 foul shots as a team. You can’t put teams on the free throw line as much as we did, so there is a lot to learn from. We have to be better on defense at this level.”

Ohio State hit 54 percent of its field-goal attempts and 10 of 18 shots from 3-point range.

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Oregon trailed by 11 points with 2:04 to play in its Friday game but cut the deficit to four with 49 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Brennan Rigsby. It wasn’t enough, as the Ducks were playing short-handed without their best player, center N’Faly Dante, and another big man, Nate Bittle.

This week it was revealed that Bittle had wrist surgery and will be re-evaluated in eight weeks. Dante, who made the All-Pac-12 squad last season, had knee surgery and will miss at least four weeks. In his lone game this season, Dante amassed 16 points and 21 rebounds in a win over Georgia.

Keeshawn Barthelemy led Oregon with 17 points against Santa Clara, and Kwame Evans Jr. added 16. Oregon missed 9 of 21 free throws and was outrebounded 39-36.

Friday marked Alabama’s first game not played in Tuscaloosa. The Ducks have played just twice at home in Eugene, Ore., as their season opener was in Las Vegas (the victory over Georgia) and their past two games were in Florida.

Oregon and Alabama have met four previous times, each game in a different location. The Ducks have won three straight meetings — at home in Eugene in 2016; in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2015, and at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii in 2008. The Crimson Tide won in Las Vegas in 2003.

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–Field Level Media

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Oregon

Former Oregon Ducks guard Jermaine Couisnard signs with New Orleans Pelicans: Reports

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Former Oregon Ducks guard Jermaine Couisnard signs with New Orleans Pelicans: Reports


Former Oregon Ducks guard Jermaine Couisnard will get his shot at NBA Summer League.

After going undrafted in the 2024 NBA Draft, Couisnard signed a summer league contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, according to multiple reports Friday.

Couisnard averaged 16.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in his final season at Oregon, his sixth in college basketball. Prior to his two seasons at Oregon, Couisnard played four seasons at South Carolina.

The 25-year-old will have a chance to audition for either an NBA or international contract at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas July 12-22.

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Couisnard’s former Oregon teammate, N’Faly Dante, also went undrafted and signed a two-way deal with the Houston Rockets on Thursday.

— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference for The Oregonian and co-hosts the Soccer Made in Portland and Ducks Confidential podcasts. He can be reached at rclarke@oregonian.com or @RyanTClarke.

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Oregon Ethics Commission nixes investigation into Gov. Kotek, First Lady

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Oregon Ethics Commission nixes investigation into Gov. Kotek, First Lady


The commission said its analysis would be different if Aimee Kotek Wilson received a salary or other private benefits

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has decided against launching a full investigation into complaints concerning Gov. Tina Kotek and her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson.

At a meeting on Friday, the agency examined the preliminary report on the case involving a potential Office of the First Spouse before determining that the governor did not violate any ethics laws — including those on conflicts of interest or nepotism.

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“We note that had the Governor unilaterally decided to provide the First Lady with a salary or other private benefits, the above analysis would be different,” the commission wrote in its preliminary review. “The analysis would also be different if there was any suggestion that the public duties of the First Lady could financially benefit a private business with which the First Lady was associated.”

In late March, news broke that Kotek Wilson had an office in the governor’s base of operations at the state library and an on-loan staffer from the Department of Administration Services. With a master’s degree in social work, the First Lady was also known to attend official meetings regarding behavioral health.

The following week, the governor clarified that her wife was solely an “unpaid volunteer with both lived and professional experience.” Kotek also announced she had asked the Ethics Commission for guidance on a potential Office of the First Spouse, but the commission later said it couldn’t advise her because of its plans to review complaints on the same matter.

Subsequently, the governor abandoned plans to create the First Lady’s office.

“After listening to and reflecting on the concerns of Oregonians who have contacted my office, as well as the advice of staff, I want to be clear about next steps: There will not be an Office of the First Spouse,” Kotek said.

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The announcement came after her office released several emails from senior staff members who abruptly left their positions earlier in the year. In one email, Kotek’s former Chief of Staff Andrea Cooper said she was “asked not to attend” a meeting where events were added to Kotek Wilson’s calendar.



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U.S. Supreme Court sides with Oregon city, allows ban on homeless people sleeping outdoors • Maine Morning Star

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U.S. Supreme Court sides with Oregon city, allows ban on homeless people sleeping outdoors • Maine Morning Star


The U.S. Supreme Court Friday sided with a local ordinance in Oregon that effectively bans homeless people from sleeping outdoors, and local governments will be allowed to enforce those laws.

In a 6-3 decision, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the opinion that the enforcement of those local laws that regulate camping on public property does not constitute the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

“Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it,” he wrote. “The Constitution’s Eighth Amendment serves many important functions, but it does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people and in their place dictate this Nation’s homelessness policy.”

The case originated in Grants Pass, a city in Oregon that argues its ordinance is a solution to the city’s homelessness crisis, which includes fines and potential jail time for repeat offenders who camp or sleep outdoors.

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent arguing that the ordinance targets the status of being homeless and is therefore a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

“Grants Pass’s Ordinances criminalize being homeless,” she wrote. “The Ordinances’ purpose, text, and enforcement confirm that they target status, not conduct. For someone with no available shelter, the only way to comply with the Ordinances is to leave Grants Pass altogether.”

During oral arguments, the justices seemed split over ideological lines, with the conservative justices siding with the town in Oregon, arguing that policies and ordinances around homelessness are complex, and should be left up to local elected representatives rather than the courts.

The liberal justices criticized the city’s argument that homelessness is not a status protected under the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The liberal justices argued the Grants Pass ordinance criminalized the status of being homeless.

The Biden administration took the middle ground in the case, and U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler offered partial support.

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“It’s the municipality’s determination, certainly in the first instance with a great deal of flexibility, how to address the question of homelessness,” he said during oral arguments in late April.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.



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