Red-Racers Forum » urt Rambis the last two years.Lee said Rose, who o

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Oregon opened the Maui Invitational with a disappointing loss, won in overtime and closed with a click-on-all-cylinders win.Winning the tournament was the goal, but getting better with each game wasnt a bad consolation.Chris Boucher scored 21 points, Tyler Dorsey added 19 and No. 13 Oregon beat Connecticut 79-69 on Wednesday in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational.Obviously, we still have a lot of stuff we need to work on offensively and defensively, but I think we took a step, said Oregon forward Jordan Bell, who had 12 points. I think every game we got a little better.Oregon (4-2) lost its opener to Georgetown, but bounced back with an overtime victory over Tennessee on Dillon Brooks long 3-pointer. The Ducks wanted to get off to a fast start in their Maui finale and did just that, racing to a 15-point lead in the opening 4 1/2 minutes.UConn (2-4) chipped into the lead by halftime, but the Ducks started flying again, building the lead back up to 17.Dylan Ennis added 15 points for Oregon, which shot 54 percent and made 9 of 21 from 3-point range.Jalen Adams led the Huskies with 27 points and Rodney Purvis added 13.Comes down to fundamentals: play defense and execute on offense, UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. I dont know what else to say. Energy and youve got to play defense. They made shots and we didnt make shots. Simple game. Theres no secret to it.The Ducks attacked the Huskies from the opening tip, scoring the games first 10 points, racing out to an 18-point lead.Ollie called a timeout 41 seconds into the game and Adams, the Huskies leading scorer, headed to the bench at 17:03 after picking up his second foul.I dont think we were just playing with the intensity we should have, Adams said. We didnt match their intensity or their energy and I think we have to work on that. Weve got to build on that.Oregon pushed the lead to 21, but the Huskies came roaring back.UConn started hitting shots it was missing earlier, while the Ducks went more than 8 minutes without a field goal, trimming the lead to 39-28 by halftime.Oregon revved up again to start the second half, hitting 5 of its first 7 shots to push the lead to 53-34.UConn had one more run. The Huskies whittled away at the lead and got it down to eight with 3 minutes left, but couldnt make up any more ground.I just thought our energy level today was much better because of the ball movement and getting some shots down, Oregon coach Dana Altman said.BIG PICTUREOregon finished the Maui Invitational with a flourish after a dud of a start. The Ducks should get better as Brooks, their leader, builds up stamina in his return from offseason foot surgery.UConns young team is still trying to gel. The Huskies struggled against Oklahoma States pressure in the opener, Chaminades perimeter shooting the next game and the Ducks flock of athletes in the finale.BROOKS PROGRESSIONBrooks was limited to eight points in 13 minutes in Oregons opener against Georgetown, his first game back since offseason foot surgery.The preseason All-America was back to his Duck-leading role against Tennessee in the second round, scoring 17 points and hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in overtime.Brooks was limited to nine points in 18 minutes Wednesday, but did all the little things the Ducks need, like playing defense, distributing the ball -- five assists -- and providing leadership.LARRIER OUTUConn announced Wednesday that sophomore forward Terry Larrier will miss the rest of the season with a torn left ACL.Larrier was injured Monday night against Oklahoma State while driving to the basket. Hes expected to be out eight months.UConn was expecting a big contribution from the 6-foot-8 Larrier, who sat out last season after transferring from Virginia Commonwealth.UP NEXTUConn hosts Boston University on Nov. 30.Oregon hosts Boise State on Monday.---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25Nike Air Max Clearance Canada .Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Cheap Nike Air Max Canada . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. http://www.airmaxclearancecanada.com/ . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Nike Air Max Outlet Canada . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Nike Air Max Canada Wholesale . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Derrick Rose said Monday he isnt worried about a rape trial set to start next week because he feels he didnt do anything wrong.Rose said he is instead focused on his first season with the New York Knicks. His first practice with the team will be Tuesday.My concern is just playing well this year, Rose said. I cant think about the case. I feel like Im innocent and I feel like I didnt do anything wrong, like I said, and I cant let that distract me with the year that I have ahead of me.A woman sued Rose last year in California, contending the former MVP and two of his friends raped her in August 2013 while she was incapacitated after a night of drinking. Rose and the others say they had consensual sex with her that night.The civil trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 4 -- barring any settlement -- the day the Knicks play their exhibition opener in Houston. Its unclear how much, if any, of the preseason he would have to miss if there is a trial.Im not worried about it, but if I do have to miss time, its a part of it, Rose said. Of course I dont want to be in this position, but it is what it is and Im going to let my lawyers and my team handle it.Rose added that he hadnt heard anything about a possibility of criminal charges being brought.The Knicks acquired Rose from Chicago in June. The point guard said he is healthy after a series of injuries, mostly to his knees, that have plagued him since his MVP season in 2011.Because of the injuries, Rose hasnt played in more than 66 games a season since he first tore his ACL in the 2012 playoffs. Rehab has forced him to report early or stay late after practices and games for much of the last few years, which he said was tiresome.But he was able to focus on basketball this summer while adding yoga to his workout routine, and Knicks who have been playing with him say Roses quickness has returned.ddddddddddddHes extremely focused right now, All-Star Carmelo Anthony said, adding that hes never played with a point guard with Roses explosiveness. Hes healthy, he has a different mindset. He has a clear mind and hes ready to go out there and try to help us with our goals.Rose was the biggest addition to a Knicks team that also signed his former Bulls teammate, Joakim Noah, and veteran guards Courtney Lee and Brandon Jennings. If he remains healthy, Rose can get the Knicks playing at a quicker pace and create easier baskets under new coach Jeff Hornacek, after their offense often stalled while playing the triangle under Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis the last two years.Lee said Rose, who once hit a game-winning shot over him while Lee played for Houston, has looked confident during offseason workouts.He kind of reminded me of that MVP D-Rose, especially in some of the drills that we were doing, Lee said. He was able to get to his spots quick, explosiveness and knock down shots.Rose averaged 16.4 points in 66 games last season, and most of the games he missed were unrelated to his knees. The Chicago native has been focused on learning a new city and team, traveling with a group of Knicks players to practice in Puerto Rico at Anthonys invitation.Having to miss time in October would delay his ability to get comfortable. A settlement would prevent that, but Rose didnt discuss that possibility, praising his legal team for taking care of the details.Theyre handling everything and theyre giving me time to focus on what I need to focus on and thats just straight basketball, Rose said.---Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney ' ' '