The Beavs put the pedal to the medal from start to finish, beating the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners by 24 points. But how did they really do? My take on their performance:

1. Offense 

Great shooting percentage from the field (54%), went to the foul line and converted a lot (made 27/36 FT attempts). Assists are high (16) but too many turnovers (22). Could also do better on the 3s (31%) but other than that it's a good offensive showing.

Score: (9/10) 

2. Defense 

On the one hand, forcing 27 turnovers is great. But other than turnovers the Roadrunners shot an also-impressive 46% shooting from the field, 39% from 3 (both exceeding my expectations). The Beavs could also do better on the boards a tad bit, even though they have 1 more offensive rebound and 2 more overall in this game.The bottom line is that if the Beavs aren't stealing the ball, they aren't doing a good job on the defense. But the disparity in TOs and steals are good enough to offset the good shooting percentages this time. Also good to see Brandt get 2 blocks.

Score: (6/10)

3. Backcourt: 

Starks, Cunningham, Nelson and Barton combine for

- 14-26 shooting (54%), scored 45 of 86 pts (52% of points)

- 3-11 from 3 (27%)

- 13-17 from FT (76%)

Looks like Nelson is shaking some rust (6 TO), and Starks, Cunningham must find their range again but other than that the backcourt has done its share to win.

Score: 8/10

Frontcourt: 

Burton, Brandt, Collier and Moreland

- 13-20 from field (65%), adding 2 threes from 3 attempts(!!)

- 14-19 from the line (pretty good for their standards)

- Burton has 5 assists and 4 steals while Bradt has 3 dimes of his own. Really want to see the foursome grab more boards, but other than that they did a really good job

Score: 9/10

Extra bits: The 8 players I've mentioned here look like they are the core of the team, but they need two more guys to step up and be rotation players. I think McShane and Murphy can fill those roles but they look really shaky this time around (no points between the two, though Kevin did grab 4 boards). 

Also, Moreland looks like a key frontcourt piece, and hopefully Barton continues his strong play to complement Cunningham, Starks and Nelson. Also, Coach Rob seemed to continue with the 3 big guys, 2 little guys starting lineup. I was a bit skeptical about that lineup but at least there's no harm done right now. 

Overall, the Beavs did many things right in this game, but still have a ways to go in order to compete in the Pac 12.

A.R.A

PS: Love the unis!