Aaah, doesn't that final score sound refreshing? The Beavers are now 4-3 and over the .500 mark. 

After the recent blunder to Sacramento State, this is exactly what the Beavers needed to do at home against an inferior opponent. The win caps off a solid weekend of basketball for the Beavers, who defeated Colorado on Friday night, 74-69. 

In this game, we saw more of what we've been seeing recently-- good things out of Jared Cunningham and Joe Burton. Interestingly enough, they were co-leading scorers in the game with thirteen points. I was only able to listen to this game on the radio, so it's hard for me to draw many conclusions. Read the remainder of this post to hear Craig Robinson's thoughts on the two freshmen. 

Seth Tarver's defensive tenacity continues to impress. He tied Brent Barry's single-season record with eight steals in tonight's game, and did it in just 26 minutes. He had three steals right off the bat in Bakersfield's first three possessions that allowed OSU to build a quick seven point lead, then continued to lead the defensive effort for the remainder of the game. He was 4-for-4 from the line, 3-for-8 from the field and finished the game with 10 points. 

His brother Josh had a great game as well, pitching in 12 points and four assists. He only missed one of his seven shots, which is good to see as he continues to develop his touch. As you'll see below, Craig Robinson feels that a big reason that Jared Cunningham is playing so well is because of what Josh has done to help him out during his freshman season. 

The good free-throw shooting continues. The Beavers were 19-of-21 on Friday night, and were 19-of-22 against Bakersfield today. Cunningham was 5-of-5, Seth was 4-of-4, Haynes was 2-of-2, Wallace was 2-of-2, Burton was 5-of-6... so lots of guys are converting from the stripe. 

After leading Cal State Bakersfield 38-24 at the half, Oregon State came out and shut the Roadrunners down on the offensive end in the second frame, holding them to just fifteen points. They had only six points in the paint compared to Oregon State's 26, and shot 21% from the field. It should also be noted that OSU shot a season high 58.3% from the field, and held their opponent to a season low 26.5%. 

Coach Robinson's Postgame Comments: 

On the good weekend of basketball...

This is what we should expect from ourselves, but you know how hard it is to get the guys in the right mindset. This was terrific because this was a game last year that we played last year on the road after two tough Pac-10 games and only won by six or so and had a tough time. The margin was much closer than it should of been last year, and we were all set up to do it again. Mid-way though the firs half, I wasn't sure how the game was going to go. I thought they responded very well to the adjustments we had to make in the second part of that first half, and then at halftime they were much more focused and much better on defense. 

On the free throw shooting...

I told the team that I'm not even going to talk about our free-throw shooting... never underestimate the power of the whammy. That's how you win games. You beat teams by getting them into foul trouble early, then making your foul shots and playing good defense while executing your offense. We did all three of those things today. 

On the poor three point shooting (1-12) during the game... 

I'm not opposed to guys taking a three, but do it at the end of the shot clock. We could have run that same set all the way though, down to the shot clock, and still gotten that same shot. Why not look at the other option before you take the final option? That's something we need to get better at. The guys who were taking those shots were trying to shoot themselves out of the dark cloud they were under. I don't necessarily blame them but you have to know the situation. 

On Joe Burton... 

He's doing well and is really taking advantage of the opportunities he's been given. He's not playing a ton of minutes. I'm trying to work him in to not getting into foul trouble while playing good defense. Int the short period of this season, he's gotten better already. He had one foul in the game which I didn't think was his foul. He didn't have any others in teh game and he managed to mis maybe one shot in the game.. no, it was one foul shot... he was 4-for-4 from the field, and he led us in rebounding again. We're really pleased and w're hoping that his progression keeps going in an upward slopw. 

On Seth Tarver, and him tying the single-game steals record with eight... 

I told him that if I would of known that he was that close to breaking the record I would have left him in there, but when you do that sort of thing that's when guys get hurt, so I was glad I didn't know it. People don't understand how amazing of a statistic that is. That's really quote an accomplishment. At the beginning of the game in the locker room, I told Seth that he had to get us going right way. He came out and got three steals and we converted on all of them, and went up 7-0. Then had the ability to wistand a run by the other team. He's embraced the identity of this team. 

On Jared Cunningham, who played 50 minutes of turnover-less basketball during the weekend...

He is quickly becoming a person who we can't take out of the game. He has played terrifically for a freshman. It's interesting, because we're turning the ball over more than we ever have, but our freshman are taking care of it. It should be noted that the reason why Jared is so good is because Josh is helping him be good. Josh Tarver has really stepped up for his this year. He had a great game for us tonight... 6-of-7 with four assists... and he has taken to showing Jared how to get into the offense and what to look for... and helped with the transition from high school to college a lot better. 

Next up for the Beavers is a game December 12 on the road at Nebraska. 

--Jake | (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com) | Twitter