USC 73, Oregon State 56

Obviously, I'm not going to spend much time talking about last night's loss; we play the #1 team in the Pac-10 tomorrow.

I only got to listen to the game on the radio, but after watching these guys play all year, it's really not that hard to envision. It was easy to tell that we had another horrendous night shooting the ball. 41% from the field, 18% from three point range and 31% from the line. Those of you not paying close attention to where Oregon State ranks nationally in the free throw percentage category, here's a little taste for you.

That's right, 331st. We keep falling down the list. All I have to say is thank goodness we have a better Free Throw percentage than Arkansas Pine Bluff. That would be embarrassing...

Anyways, notes from last night's game:

• A quick glance at the box score will show you that the Beavers only had one player in double digits: Kyle Jeffers with 15. Josh Tarver and Calvin Hampton were the runners up, each with 9 points. For what it's worth, Jeffers is leading the team in field goal percentage at 56%.

• Speaking of starters and double digits, USC had every starter score ten points or over. The Beavs only had one guy on their entire team go for over 15. Oregon State's starters need to be more of a threat. The obvious ones are Josh Tarver (needs to work on consistency, but it will come) and Wesley Washington (currently battling some wrist problems, but if he gets back and is healthy, he needs to work on getting to the basket more often). I also thing McGillis could make himself a bigger threat.  

• Cuic didn't get a whole lot of time. He came off the bench for 6 points in 16 minutes. One would imagine that him and Jay John aren't exactly on the same page. Rumor has it that if Jay John sticks around until next year, Cuic won't stay at Oregon State. Somewhat disappointing, but then you figure the guy is mainly only effective when he's scoring more points than giving up. Next year we will have C.J. Giles, Marcel Jones and Josh Tarver all togheter, which I think could be a good trio. Also, Cuic (might) be back, as well as Washington, McGillis, Shaftanaar, as well as others. Kyle Jeffers and Michael Johnson are the only players we lose due to graduation.

That's just what was running through my head. Feel free to post your comments below. We'll get some UCLA game previews and the like up as soon as we can. Tipoff tomorrow is at 2:30 p.m., on FSN NW.

Go Beavers!

--JB--