EUGENE, Ore. -- An embarrassing road loss to Baylor may prove to be a valuable lesson for Oregon.If the fourth-ranked Ducks want to meet their own lofty expectations, theyll have to earn it on the boards.Two days after losing by 17 points to the unranked Bears, Chris Boucher had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead Oregon to its 27th consecutive home victory, 76-54 over Valparaiso on Thursday night.Boucher was coming off a 12-point, two-rebound performance against Baylor.His activity allowed him to him to have the 25 points, Oregon coach Dana Altman said. He had no defensive rebounds the other night and we lost the rebounding battle by 11.Tonight we won it by 13, and that was the difference in the game.Jordan Bell added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Ducks (2-1), who took control early in the second half with an 11-4 run fueled by Bells eight points to open a 52-38 lead. Bell scored 12 points in the second half as Oregon shot 15 of 27 from the field.That was our goal, just to go inside, Bell said. Against Baylor we went 3 for 21 at the 3-point line, so we just wanted to go inside.Alec Peters led the Crusaders (3-1) with 24 points to become the schools second-leading career scorer. Tevonn Walker added 12 points.Valparaiso shot just 23.3 percent in the second half as Peters was its only starter to make more than half of his attempts. The Crusaders finished 4 of 21 from 3-point range.I think its pretty evident that we are not shooting the ball very well, Valparaiso coach Matt Lottich said, and to beat a team like Oregon youre going to have to hit shots from the outside.Backup freshman point guard Payton Pritchard had nine points and five assists for the Ducks, who led by as many as 25 points in the second half.Oregon had a 40-27 rebounding edge and blocked six shots.Altman said his teams size and rebounding ability should be what sets the Ducks apart.If youre not beating people on the boards, youre not taking advantage of your athleticism, he said. Our goal should be a plus-eight or -nine on those boards for the season, and if we do that, itll be really positive for our team.The Ducks played again without preseason All-America Dillon Brooks, who continues to recover from offseason foot surgery. Altman was noncommittal about the junior forwards availability for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational when Oregon opens play Monday against Georgetown.I dont know if hell play in Maui, Altman said, and if he does, it wont be very much.BIG PICTUREValparaiso: Coming off a 30-win season and deep run in the NIT, the Crusaders were held 28 points below their season average while shooting just 32.1 percent from the field against the Ducks.Oregon: The Ducks likely will slip in Mondays poll off their 66-49 loss at Baylor, but they may regain Brooks services while in Hawaii.POLL IMPLICATIONSDespite Thursday nights win, Oregons best-ever No. 4 ranking likely will take a hit after its 66-49 road loss to unranked Baylor on Tuesday.STAT OF THE NIGHTBoucher, who has scored in all 38 games hes played at Oregon, had 18 points by halftime and missed his career high by one.HIGHLIGHT REELThough not known for his ball-handling, the 6-foot-10 Boucher flashed some nifty moves when he picked off a cross-court pass, dodged a Crusader at mid-court, dipped inside another off the dribble and smoothly threw down a one-handed dunk in the first half to cap a 9-0 run.UP NEXTValparaiso plays Alabama on Monday in Las Vegas at the four-team MGM Grand Main Event. The Crusaders will face either BYU or Saint Louis on Wednesday before heading home.Oregon heads to Hawaii to play Georgetown on Monday in the first round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The Ducks will face either No. 9 Wisconsin or Tennessee on Tuesday. Joaquin Andujar Astros Jersey . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. Jose Urquidy Astros Jersey . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. https://www.cheapastros.com/ . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Kyle Tucker Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Doug Rader Astros Jersey . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. RIO DE JANEIRO -- In the Olympics, women can paddle a kayak but not a canoe. Some men think it should stay that way.As the canoe sprint competition wrapped up Saturday, the medalists in the mens kayak four criticized plans to include womens canoe single (C1) and double (C2) in the next Olympics.I dont think the womens canoeing like C1 or C2 belongs (in the) Olympic Games, said Erik Vlcek, who took silver with Slovakia.His argument was that women canoeists are just not good enough. A Czech paddler joked that canoeing is harmful for a womans posture.Their comments underscored how gender equality remains an unsettled issue in canoe sprint, a flatwater sport where athletes race in canoes or kayaks.In Rio, there were eight events for men -- five kayak and three canoe -- and only four for women, all kayak. Its one of the few sports on the Olympic program with more medals for men than women, and the International Canoe Federation has come under pressure to even things out.If we like to guarantee canoe in the Olympics we need women in the Olympics, International Canoe Federation president Jose Perurena told The Associated Press.For Tokyo 2020, the federation has decided to cut two mens events -- the C1 200 meters and K2 200 meters -- to make room for two canoe events for women.Max Hoff, who won gold with Germany in the mens K4, agreed with Vclek that womens canoeing events arent competitive enough and shouldnt replace mens events that are.They have to improve the womens canoe so that when they get into the Olympic program they are really good, he said.Hoff said he understands that canoe sprint risks being kicked out of the Olympics if it doesnt achieve better gender balance but for us boys were sorry about that because some disciplines of our racing are gone.Womens canoe events were introduced to the canoe sprint world championships in 2010.Perurena saaid that women canoeists are already competing at a high level and that by Tokyo their events will be as competitive as the mens.ddddddddddddHe called the canoe sprint competition in Rio a great success, partly because of the good weather and the scenic setting on a lagoon surrounded by mountains and the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue.Germany won four of the eight mens events while Spain won two and Ukraine and Britain one each.Danuta Kozak of Hungary dominated the womens competition, winning gold in the K1, K2 and K4 events over 500 meters. Shes the first female kayaker to win three gold medals in the same Olympics. New Zealands Lisa Carrington defended her Olympic title in the K1 200 meters.Female competitors have long called for more gender balance in canoeing, though many also show sympathy for male colleagues whose events are being dropped from the Olympic program.As women we are happy that there are more races for us, said Franziska Weber, who won silver medals for Germany in the womens K2 and K4. But it is also sad for the men that there are some great events that we miss in the next Olympics.Josef Dostal, who got bronze with the Czech Republic in the mens K4, joked that his team mates were split on allowing women canoeists in the Olympics, with one in favor because they are beautiful, another against and a third has a wife so he cannot say a word.Dostal also quipped that women would develop an unnatural posture from canoeing, in which athletes kneel in the boat and paddle on just one side of it. Kayakers sit down and use a paddle with blades on both ends.Canoeists are always like one shoulder up, one shoulder down, he said, demonstrating what he meant with his body. Imagine all the girls walking like that. ' ' '