Beavers Set For Wednesday Evening Skirmish With Washington
Jan. 21, 2013
THE GAME: Oregon State (10-8, 0-5 Pac-12) hosts Washington (12-6, 4-1) at Gill Coliseum on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in the first meeting between the two schools since the Beavers' epic upset in last year's Pac-12 Tournament. TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally on the Pac-12 Networks with Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd calling the action. RADIO: The game will air live on Beaver Sports Radio Network with Mike Parker calling the action. It can also be heard online at this link for a fee or on satellite radio on Sirius Channel 123. ONLINE: Live updates are available by visiting osubeavers.com and clicking on Gametracker. SOCIAL MEDIA: Live updates will be available on Twitter and Facebook. QUICKLY: The Beavers pulled off the biggest upset in Pac-10/12 Tournament history when they beat No. 1-seed Washington as the ninth seed last year ... Oregon State is second in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (.367) and tied for first in three-point percentage defense (.316) ... Roberto Nelson averaged 21.5 points against UCLA and USC to move into sixth in the conference in scoring (16.1) ... Nelson became one of 10 players in school history to shoot a perfect percentage from the free throw line in a game with a minimum of 10 attempts when he went 10-for-10 against USC ... Eric Moreland (.612), Joe Burton (.542) and Devon Collier (.531) are 3-6-7, respectively, in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage; no other school has three players in the top 15 ... Moreland is tied for the lead in the Pac-12 with seven double-doubles ... Collier needs 59 points to become the 37th player in Oregon State history to score 1,000 career points ... Burton is tied for seventh all time at Oregon State with 633 rebounds. vs. WASHINGTON: Oregon State and Washington meet for the 292nd time in history with the Huskies leading the series 154-137. The 291 meetings between the two schools are the third-most in NCAA history, trailing only Oregon State-Oregon (338) and Oregon-Washington (292). The Beavers hold a 94-48 advantage in games played in Corvallis, including a 44-27 edge in contests at Gill Coliseum. The Huskies have won 16 of the past 20 meetings, but two of the Oregon State wins have come in the past two seasons and were huge for the program. The first, a 68-56 victory on Feb. 3, 2011 at Gill Coliseum, came when Washington was ranked 20th in the nation, which snapped a 28-game losing streak to Top 25 teams with the previous win coming in 2006 (75-65 over No. 24 Arizona on Jan. 12 at Gill). The other big win was an exciting 86-84 upset at the Pac-12 Tournament on March 9, 2012 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles when Washington was the No. 1 seed. It was the first time a No. 9-seed defeated a No. 1-seed in Pac-10/12 history (0-5 previous) and was the Beavers' first-ever win over the top-seed in tournament history (0-5 previous with four losses to Arizona and one to UCLA). After upsetting Washington, the Beavers advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament for the fourth time in school history (1988, 1989 and 2005 were the others) where they fell to Arizona, 72-61. FABULOUS FRONTLINE: By now everyone knows Angus Brandt is out for the season, so we'll leave him out of the conversation for sake of this note. The frontline of Eric Moreland (.612), Joe Burton (.542) and Devon Collier (.531) are third, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage. No other school in the conference has three players in the Top 15, and only Arizona State and UCLA have two players among the 15 best shooters in regards to percentage. Oregon State's three players are shooting a combined 55.4 percent (238-for-430) from the field this season. MORE ON THE FRONTLINE: Eric Moreland is second in the Pac-12 in rebounding (10.9), while Devon Collier is tied for 14th (6.8) and Joe Burton is 19th (6.1). Only Oregon State and Arizona State have three players among the Top 20 in the conference in rebounding. As a team, the Beavers are averaging 38.7 boards per game, which is third in the Pac-12 and nearly four more rebounds per game than last season (34.8). OFFENSIVELY SOLID ONCE AGAIN: Oregon State's offense has been solid this season despite losing last year's leading scorer Jared Cunningham (17.9 ppg) to the NBA and Angus Brandt (11.3 ppg) to a season-ending injury. The Beavers are averaging 74.6 points per game, which is fourth in the Pac-12 and just 4.3 less than last year when Oregon State led the conference in scoring for the first-time ever with a school-record 78.9 points per game (conference scoring records began in 1959-60). The 74.6 points per game is higher than the 16 years prior to last year's record mark (1994-95 team averaged 75.6). SPREADING THE WEALTH: Oregon State is one of only two teams in the Pac-12 with five players averaging double-figure scoring (Angus Brandt is the sixth, but we aren't counting him since he's injured). Those five players have each led the team in scoring in games this season: Ahmad Starks 5, Roberto Nelson 5, Devon Collier 4, Joe Burton 1, Eric Moreland 1 (Nelson and Moreland shared scoring honors in two games) and have all scored 20-plus points in a game with Nelson doing it five times, Collier and Starks each with four, Burton with two and Moreland once. UTILIZING THE ARC - OFFENSIVELY: Oregon State is second in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage at 36.7 percent (102-of-278), trailing only Arizona at 38.2 percent (135-for-353). The Beavers finished eighth in the conference in three-point percentage last season at 35.9 percent and have NEVER led the conference in that category since the statistic began in 1986-87. UTILIZING THE ARC - DEFENSIVELY: Oregon State is tied for first in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage defense at 31.6 percent (100-of-316) with Oregon, which has taken and made the exact same amount of shots from beyond the arc. The Beavers allowed opponents to shoot 38.8 percent from deep last season, which was 11th in the conference. BOMBS AWAY FROM THE BACKCOURT: The starting backcourt of Roberto Nelson and Ahmad Starks have combined to make 73 percent of Oregon State's three-pointers (74 of 102) and have attempted 62 percent of the team's shots from beyond the arc (173 of 278). Nelson is second in the Pac-12 in three point percentage at 44.9 percent (31-for-69), while Starks is eighth at 41.3 percent (43-for-104). The only Oregon State player to lead the conference in three-point percentage was Sasa Cuic in 2005-06. BLOCK PARTY: Oregon State is averaging 4.72 blocked shots per game this season, which is fourth in the Pac-12 (it was 5.1 before the three-game suspension to Eric Moreland). The Beavers averaged 4.61 blocks per game last season to finish second in the Pac-12 and trail only UCLA by 0.03 (4.64). The Oregon State school record for blocked shots in a season is 4.74 in 2005-06. THE FIVE-MINUTE MARK: Having the lead at the five-minute mark has been very important during the Craig Robinson era as the Beavers are 62-6 when leading with five minutes to play, including a 10-1 mark this season. On the flip side, Oregon State is 8-73 when trailing with five minutes to play in the same timeframe, with an 0-7 record this season. ROBERTO FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: Roberto Nelson went 10-for-10 from the free throw line against USC to join nine players in Oregon State history to shoot a perfect percentage from the stripe in a game with a minimum of 10 attempts. Jared Cunningham vs. George Washington, 12/18/2010 (15-for-15) ROBERTO HEATING UP AGAIN: Roberto Nelson averaged 21.5 points in the two games in Los Angeles, including a game-high 26 against USC, to improve his scoring average in Pac-12 games to 16.8. He has scored in double figures in 12 of the past 13 games and is sixth in the Pac-12 in all games at 16.1 points per game. He has a team-best five 20-plus point games this season, which is already two more than his first two seasons combined. ROBERTO LOOKING TO JOIN ELITE COMPANY: Roberto Nelson is leading the team in scoring (16.1) and is second in assists (48 total - Joe Burton is first with 56) and has a chance to become the first Oregon State player to lead the team in both categories in a season since Deaundra Tanner in 1999-00. Other Beavers to lead the team in scoring and assists in a season are Freddie Boyd, Lester Conner, Gary Payton, Brent Barry and Carson Cunningham. THE CHASE FOR 1,000: Devon Collier has 941 points at Oregon State and needs 59 more to become the 37th player in school history to score 1,000 in his career. The lefty leads the Beavers in double-figure scoring games this season (15) and is tied for second with four 20-point games, which is one more than he had in his first two seasons combined. Other players on the pursuit for 1,000 career points are Ahmad Starks (874), Joe Burton (857) and Roberto Nelson (803). BURTON MOVING UP CAREER LISTS: Joe Burton moved into a tie for seventh at Oregon State in career rebounding with 633 and is on pace for 724 in a guaranteed 32 games, which would put him in fifth all time. Burton has only missed one game in his Oregon State career and has a chance to play in more games than any player in school history. With the Beavers guaranteed 32 games this season, Burton would tie Josh Tarver (2006-10) for the all-time record with 130 career games and could pass him depending on postseason play. Career Rebounds List Career Games Played List BURTON LOOKING TO MAKE IT THREE IN A ROW: Joe Burton leads the team in assists with 56 (Roberto Nelson is second with 48) and has a chance to lead the team in that category for the third straight year. Other Oregon State players to lead the team in assists three years include George Tucker (1975-77), Dwayne Allen (1978-80), Gary Payton (1987-90), Charles McKinney (1991-93) and Deaundra Tanner (1999-01). Payton is the only player to lead the team four times. Burton would be the only non-guard to make the list. MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE IS BACK: Eric Moreland sat out three straight games for a violation of team rules, but returned against USC and came off the bench at the 12:46 mark of the first half to finish with three points and eight rebounds. Despite missing the three games, Moreland is still tied for the lead in the Pac-12 with seven double-doubles (with Andre Roberson of Colorado). Moreland needs five more double-doubles to move into the Oregon State's single-season top-10 list. MORELAND BOARDING: Eric Moreland is averaging 10.9 rebounds per game (163 total), the second-best total in the Pac-12. Only one Oregon State player has led the conference in rebounding since 1985 (Philip Ricci in 2002-03 at 8.2 per game). Nine Oregon State players have averaged double-figure rebounds in a season, but the last time it happened was 1963-64 when Mel Counts had a double-double in all 29 games and averaged 16.9 boards. Moreland crushed the freshman rebounding record that was held for 38 years by Lonnie Shelton last season and is close to moving into the sophomore top-10 list. Players To Average Double-Figure Rebounding In A Season Sophomore Rebounding List Freshman Rebounding List MORELAND'S OWN BLOCK PARTY: Eric Moreland has at least one blocked shot in 13 of his 15 games this season, including a block in 11 consecutive games, which equals the fifth-longest streak in Oregon State history with Scott Haskin and Jose Ortiz (Nick DeWitz holds the record with 20). Moreland already owns the school freshman mark when he had 69 last season and has moved into fourth on both the sophomore and career lists. Career Blocked Shots List Sophomore Blocked Shots List Freshman Blocked Shots List EYE-POPPING NUMBER: Ahmad Starks took only one shot against USC, which is the fewest in a game in his three-year Oregon State career. His previous low was two as a freshman (at Montana and vs. UCLA) and the fewest shots he took last season was five (vs. West Alabama and at California). CHALLE, OLAF, JARMAL & LANGSTON: Sophomore Challe Barton and freshmen Olaf Schaftenaar, Jarmal Reid and Langston Morris-Walker have gotten more minutes, and more comfortable, as the season has progressed. Barton has provided valuable consistency as the backup point guard by shooting 47 percent from the field with 35 assists and 14 steals. Schaftenaar is third on the team with 17 three-pointers and has taken 57 of his 70 shots from beyond the arc as a player who has proven not to be shy. Reid was put in the starting lineup when Angus Brandt was injured and has shown flashes of brilliance on offense and as a stopper on the defensive end. Morris-Walker has been the energizer bunny off the bench as an active player on defense and at the top of the 1-3-1. NO TIME TO PANIC: Oregon State opened conference play 1-5 two times previously under Craig Robinson but turned both of those seasons around. In 2008-09, the Beavers went 6-6 over the final 12 conference games and then won five of six in the College Basketball Invitational to win that postseason championship. Last season saw a 1-5 start to Pac-12 play, but Oregon State went 6-6 over the final 12 conference games and then won two games in the Pac-12 Tournament to advance to the semifinals and then won two more games in the CBI. RECORDS UPDATE: Four Oregon State records have been equaled this season, including single-game team blocked shots (11 vs. Montana State), single-game individual blocked shots (6 by Eric Moreland vs. Towson), single-game individual three-pointers made (7 by Ahmad Starks at Kansas) and a perfect percentage from the free throw line in a game with a minimum of 10 attempts (10-for-10 by Roberto Nelson at USC). MISSING ANGUS & GOMIS: Senior center Angus Brandt and sophomore forward Daniel Gomis both had surgery and will miss the remainder of the season. Brandt suffered an isolated tear of the ACL in his right knee against Purdue. He was averaging 11.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game before the injury. Brandt will have to apply for a medical hardship from the Pac-12 office, which should be approved since he played in nine games or less during the first half of the season. Gomis had surgery on the left leg he broke two summers ago in his native Senegal and will redshirt this season. BEAVERS SIGN TWO STUDENT-ATHLETES FOR 2013-14 SEASON: Hallice Cooke, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard from Union City, N.J., and Cheikh N'diaye, a 7-foot, 230-pound center from Carlsbad, Calif., signed National Letters of Intent to join the Oregon State men's basketball program for the 2013-14 season. Cooke attends St. Anthony High School where he averaged 7.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists last season when St. Anthony won the second of back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles. He is ranked the 45th best guard in the nation by Rivals.com. N'diaye attends Army-Navy Academy where he averaged 11.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 5.3 blocked shots per game during his junior season. He is ranked the 36th best center in the nation by ESPN.com. Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to Our Beaver Nation. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events. Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube. Follow this link to find out more about the Pac-12 Networks.
|
|
||||||||||||||||
