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Taylor lifts Ducks to ninth straight triumph

Dec 16, 2006 - 6:29 AM EUGENE, Oregon (Ticker) -- Oregon is still perfect. Bryce Taylor scored 24 points to lift No. 24 Oregon to a 100-74 victory over Eastern Washington for its ninth straight triumph.

The last time the Ducks (9-0) won nine straight was the 1996-97 season, when they opened the season with 10 victories.

Taylor shot 8-of-10 from the field and sank 2-of-3 from 3-point range. The junior guard scored 21 points in a 92-64 rout of Bethune-Cookman on Monday.

The 6-5 Taylor also grabbed eight rebounds, helping the Ducks toa 42-26 edge on the backboards.

"Our big men played well tonight," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "It was a good game to get into our bench because of the tempo of the ballgame, and everyone contributed. The inside game is interesting for us because we can score inside in many different ways, and it doesn't always have to be our big men."

Forward Malik Hairston added 20 points while Aaron Brooks scored 16 for Oregon, which goes for its 10th consecutive win against Idaho State on Sunday.

"Idaho State is a much different team than the one that we faced tonight in that they slow the ball down and are a ball-control team," Kent said. "They will give us an entirely different look for us to work on, and how we respond to that will be a good test for this team."

Paul Butorac led the Eagles (5-6) with 16 points while Michael Taylor chipped in with 14.

The Ducks shot 59 percent (37-of-63) from the field while the Eagles finished at 47 percent (30-of-64). Oregon outrebounded Eastern Washington, 42-26.

"The shooting has pretty much been there all year, but I thought that we rebounded exceptionally well tonight," Kent said. "We also pressured the ball really well and played excellent defense."