Washington St. (12-11, 4-7) at Oregon St. (15-8, 5-6) at Gill Coliseum at 7:00 PM PST / No TV (Again) / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed - Enjoy it while you can)

Oregon St. returns home after 3 games in 7 days on the road, having won 2 of them.

The Cougars come into Corvallis after what would be a heart-breaking 63-60 loss to UCLA, except they are so used to being beaten by the Bruins. Saturday's loss was Washington St.'s 19th straight at home against the Bruins. That's a mind numbing number.

UCLA didn't score from the field in the last 5 1/2 minutes in Pullman, but the Bruins made 7 free throws to thwart the Cougars, and negate Brock Motum's 25 point, 11 rebound double double, both game highs.

The Beavers bounced back from a bad outing in Boulder to beat Utah 76-58 in Salt Lake City last Saturday. Jared Cunningham had a game high 20 points, but Joe Burton's overall effort, 11 rebounds, 8 points, 5 assists, and a game high 6 steals, drove the win over the Utes.

The 18 point win was Oregon St.'s largest margin of victory in a conference game since a 20 point win in 1990, ironically over Washington St..

Continue reading this post »

Oregon St. (14-8, 4-6) at Utah (5-17, 2-8) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at 3:00 PM MST (2 PM PST) / No TV / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

Oregon St. concludes their trip to the Rocky Mountains with a stop off in Salt Lake City to take on Utah.

The Beavers saw Colorado get away from them in the latter stages of the first half, and the Buffs led by double digits the rest of the game, eventually winning 82-60. Oregon St. shot poorly from the perimeter against the best defensive team in the conference, but also got out run by the Buffs offensively.

Jared Cunningham and Devon Collier co-led Oregon St., with 12 points apiece, and Roberto Nelson came off the bench to add 10, mostly from the free throw line. But the balanced Buffs had 5 players who scored from 10 to 16 points. Further, Colorado dominated on the boards, getting a dozen more than Oregon St. did. As a result, the Beavers had their 3 game winning streak snapped, and dropped into a tie with Washington St. for 8th. place in the conference.

The Utes saw an upset opportunity get away when Oregon went on an 11-0 run over 5 minutes that erased Utah's last lead, and turned it into a double digit 69-59 Duck advantage with a minute to go. Nothing really changed after that except the stats, and Oregon claimed a 79-68 win. It was the third consecutive loss for Utah, which lowered them into 11th. place in the Pac-12.

Chris Hines had a co-game high 20 point effort for Utah, tied with Oregon's Devoe Joseph, and Cedric Martin contributed 15. The telling stat for the game was Utah's shooting percentage from the field falling way off after halftime, while Oregon was improving their accuracy.

Continue reading this post »

Oregon St. (14-7, 4-5) at Colorado (14-7, 6-3) at the Coors Event Center at 7:00 PM MST (6 PM PST) / No TV / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

Oregon St. makes their first visit to Boulder for a Pac-12 event. The Beavers and the Buffs did meet the last 2 seasons in non-conference games as a part of the Pac-10-Big XII Hardwood Challenge.

The Beavers are rolling, having followed up a sweep of the LA schools with a come from behind 76-71 win at Matt Court over Oregon Sunday afternoon in the season's first Civil War battle. Jared Cunningham earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors after scoring 24 of his game high 27 points in the second half. Ahmad Starks added 15 points for the Beavers, as he and Cunningham combined to hit 7 of 14 3 pointers.

The Buffs, who are a smallish team that uses a 3 guard attack, and start 6'9" senior Austin Dufault and 6'7" soph. Andre Roberson as their front court, ran into the 6'10" Wear twins their last time out, and as a result lost 77-60 to the Bruins. Before that, Colorado had run off 3 straight wins, and are 11-1 at the Coors Event Center.

Continue reading this post »

Oregon St. (13-7, 3-5) at Oregon (15-5, 6-2) at Matthew Knight Arena 3:30 PM PST / Fox Sports Net & ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

It's the season's first basketball installment of the Civil War, and if that wasn't enough, this time around, its a pretty big game as we reach the midway point in the Pac-12 season, and both teams are playing well right now, having both swept the LA schools last week.

The Ducks swept the Arizona schools the week before as well, and ended last week tied with California for first place in the Pac-12. The Beavers first weekend sweep of the LA schools since 2005 left them only 3 games out of first place, as they bounced back from their disappointing 1-5 start to the conference season.

Oregon got a 26 point, 7 rebound effort from Medford, OR, native E.J. Singler, which included a 16 of 17 performance at the free throw line, in their win over UCLA. It's usually a question of figuring out whether it will be Singler, Garrett Sim, or Devoe Joseph that has the hottest hand, or the most favorable matchup, in any given game, and then riding that hot hand. Against the Bruins, all 3 were in double figures. All 3 have taken their turns at almost single-handedly shooting down an opponent.

Oregon St. got an 18 point, 5 assist show from Jared Cunningham in their win over USC. Devon Collier added a dozen points, and Eric Moreland grabbed 11 rebounds for the Beavers. Coupled with their Thursday night victory over UCLA, it gave coach Craig Robinson his first ever career sweep of the LA schools.

Against Oregon, the more Oregon St. can get done thru Collier, Moreland, Angus Brandt, and Joe Burton, the better their chances are. The challenges the Beavers have had at picking up perimeter shooters will need to be tightened up, or the possibility exists of Singler, Sim, and Joseph all going wild at the same time with outside shooting.

Continue reading this post »

USC (5-14, 0-6) at Oregon St. (12-7, 2-5) at Gill Coliseum 7:30 PM PST / ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

Oregon St. wraps up the weekend's Pac-12 action by hosting USC this evening, in a regionally televised contest covered by ROOT Sports Northwest. Both teams are coming off close, 3 point contests, which had very different impacts on the teams' moods.

The Trojans dropped a 65-62 decision to Oregon Thursday night in the Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks led early, and the entire second half, but USC was in the game all the way. However, getting behind, getting out-rebounded, and getting badly out-shot on 3 pointers meant also getting beat at the line. Oregon made 19 of 24 free throws, including all 6 in the last 1:40 of the game, while USC only got to the line 12 times, so the fact that the Trojans made 10 of them was rendered irrelevant.

The only Trojan that can be said to have had a good game was 7'0" sophomore Dewayne Dedmon, who made 7 of 10 shots, and 4 of 5 free throws, for 18 points. Dedmon also grabbed a game high 7 rebounds.

Maurice Jones led everyone, with 22 points for USC. But Jones shot only 39%, making just 9 of 23 shots, and he was only 2 of 8 on 3 pointers. That was still better than the rest of the Trojans, who missed all 5 three pointers they took as a group.

The Trojans also never figured out how to handle Oregon guard Garrett Sim, who made 5 of 7 shots, including 4 of 6 three pointers, and also all 6 of his free throws, for 20 points.

The Beavers broke a 13 game losing streak against UCLA Thursday night, beating the Bruins 87-84 in Gill Coliseum. Jared Cunningham garnered some more somewhat begrudged recognition from the Bruins with his 16 point second half, which carried him to a game high 21 points, and Oregon St. to their first win over UCLA in 7 years, after 13 consecutive losses.

Devon Collier, who was preparing to celebrate his birthday on the off day between this weekend's games, warmed up for the fun with a 20 point effort that carried the Beavers offensively in the first half.

UCLA shot 58% in both halves, and for the game, and from 3 point range, and still lost. It happened because the Beavers also shot 58%, though not as effectively or aggressively from 3 point range, and were able to get the Bruins behind the clock and foul 8 ball. UCLA ran out of free throws with over 11 minutes to go, and had to foul to stop the clock. Oregon St. responded by 25 of 3 free throws, and 20 of 24 in the second half. 8 straight made free throws, and 10 of 12, came in the last 1:12 of the game to close out the win.

Cunningham was 10 of 12 at the line, and Roberto Nelson made 5 of 6.

Continue reading this post »

UCLA (10-7, 3-2) at Oregon St. (11-7, 1-5) 7:30 PM PST at Gill Coliseum / FSN Nationwide / ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 (Streamed)

The UCLA Bruins visit Gill Coliseum tonight to take on the Oregon St. Beavers in a game televised nationally by the Fox Sports Network of regional stations and their affiliates, including ROOT Sports. This weekend's series is the only time the LA area schools and the Oregon schools will meet, due to the Pac-12 scheduling rotation.

The teams are in about the same place, as far as their overall record goes, but are headed in diametrically opposite directions of late. Oregon St. opened the season 10-2, but have since dropped 5 of 6 in Pac-12 action. UCLA started off 2-5, a stretch that ended with a 69-59 loss to the same Texas team that the Beavers had beaten 100-95. But since then the Bruins have won 8 of 10, including their last 3, though all of their wins except one over Chaminade in Hawaii have been somewhere in greater Los Angeles. (UCLA is renovating Pauley Pavillion, and so the Bruins have played in 4 other buildings in the area.

UCLA demolished cross-town rival USC 66-47 Sunday night in the Galen Center, behind a 19 point effort from Travis Wear. With the 13 points his brother David delivered, the Wear twins wore out the Trojans with a combined 32 points and 15 rebounds. The boards contributed to an overwhelming 44-19 rebounding edge UCLA had over USC.

Meanwhile, Lazeric Jones sliced through the USC backcourt for 15 points and 5 assists. And the Bruin defense held the Trojans to 36% shooting.

After loosing consecutive overtime games, Oregon St. avoided being in any position to make it close at the end at Arizona St. by allowing the Sun Devils to shoot 65.5% in the second half, including a half dozen 3 pointers. The Sun Devils' 45 point second half pushed them to a 76-66 win over the Beavers. Oregon St. was never closer than 7 points over the last 7 and a half minutes of the game.

Chanse Creekmur was the biggest problem for Oregon St. in Tempe. Creekmur connected on 6 of 7 three pointers, for a game (and career) high 24 points. There were other hot shooting Arizona St. performances as well, as Ruslan Pateev put 5 of 6 shots down, for 10 points, and Kyle Cain came off the bench to hit 8 of 13 shots, for 16 points.

The combination of hot Arizona St. shooting and poor Oregon St. defense negated a 21 point effort by Devon Collier, which was supplemented by 41 points from the Beaver backcourt, as Ahmad Starks and Roberto Nelson both posted 14 points, and Jared Cunningham was right behind, with 13 points.

Continue reading this post »

Oregon St. (11-6, 1-4) at Arizona St. (5-11, 1-3) at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe at 6 PM MST (5 PM PST) / ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 (Streamed)

Oregon St. wraps up their road trip to the desert with tonight's game in Tempe against Arizona St.

With the advent of the Pac-12's rotating schedule module, where some teams only meet once in the regular season, this year, the Oregon and Arizona schools only face each other once, in the desert.

The Beavers mounted a furious rally to take the lead in the late moments in Tucson Thursday night, as Ahmad Starks scored the last 10 points in regulation for Oregon St. But after Arizona's Kyle Fogg tied the game, Starks missed a 3 pointer that would have won the game, and the 'Cats went on to claim an 81-73 win after a fight-marred overtime.

The Sun Devils dropped a 67-58 decision to visiting Oregon Thursday night, despite getting a game high 23 points from Trent Lockett. That was also a season high individual scoring performance for Arizona St., and tied Lockett's career best scoring effort.

Continue reading this post »

Oregon St. (11-5, 1-3) at Arizona (11-5, 2-1) at 6:30 PM MST (5:30 PM PST) at the McKale Center / ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 (Streamed)

Oregon St. opens this season's road trip to the desert with a visit this evening to the McKale Center to take on Arizona.

With the advent of the Pac-12's rotating schedule module, where some teams only meet once in the regular season, this year, the Oregon and Arizona schools only face each other once, in the desert.

The Beavers are looking to bounce back from a thrilling but disappointing 4 overtime 103-101 loss Saturday night to Stanford. The Cardinal rallied from double digit deficits in both the first and second halves, and the game turned into the longest battle in the history of either school. Stanford survived when Roberto Nelson, who had earlier hit back to back 3 pointers with only one shoe on took the game deciding shot, and it was a couple of inches too long. The loss left Oregon St. with a weekend split against the Bay Area.

Nelson and Jared Cunningham were the 2 Beavers of the 6 in double figures with the most points in the Saturday night 3 hour plus marathon, as both posted 19 points. Joe Burton and Devon Collier both turned in double doubles, with Burton getting 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Collier accumulated 16 points and 11 boards.

The Wildcats got a weekend split as well, but needed a 57-46 win over USC on Sunday, after their trip to LA started with a loss to UCLA. Jesse Perry's 20 points overcame a gloomy 2 of 15 shooting performance by the 'Cats from 3 point range. Soloman Hill helped out with 11points, and Kyle Fogg contributed 10, and also had 3 assists. It will probably be up to Fogg to try to control Cunningham.

Continue reading this post »

Stanford (12-3, 2-1) at Oregon St. (11-4, 1-2) at 7 PM PST at Gill Coliseum / ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 (Streamed)

Oregon St. concludes their weekend series against the Bay Area schools this evening against Stanford.

The Beavers out-scored California in a shoot-out Thursday night. Jared Cunningham and Ahmad Starks both scored 24 points for Oregon St., and Angus Brandt buried all three 3 pointers he took, on his way to a 14 point effort in the 92-85 win over the Bears.

Joe Burton was also in double figures, with 13 points. He and Cunningham each had 5 assists as well.

The Cardinal came up on the short end of a 78-67 score against Oregon, after the Ducks' Devoe Joseph dropped 30 points on them. Stanford was led by Josh Owens, who had 19 points. 17 of them came in the first half, however, and foul trouble rendered Owens ineffective after the break, and the Ducks flew away. Aaron Bright was the only other Stanford starter in double digits. 6'9" John Gage came off the Cardinal bench to score 13 points.

Continue reading this post »

California (12-3, 2-0) at Oregon St. (10-4, 0-2) at 7 PM PST at Gill Coliseum / No TV / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 (Streamed)

Oregon St. opens their Pac-12 home schedule against California, who is making their first road trip of the the Conference season.

The Beavers lost both of their opening weekend games in the state of Washington, falling behind early and then seeing a rally fall short in each outing.

Washington's Tony Wroten ripped up Oregon St. for 26 points in the teams' conference opener, which launched him toward being named the Pac-12 Player of the Week. And though the Beavers got back within 3 points on Ahmad Starks' 3 pointer, but the Huskies ran off 12 unanswered points to claim the 95-80 win. A half dozen Huskies were in double figures against the Beavers. Joe Burton led Oregon St., with 18 points, and Angus Brandt was right behind him, with 16.

Saturday in Spokane, Oregon St. again got off to a slow start, and couldn't control Washington St.'s Brock Motum, who hung a game high 26 points on the Beavers. DaVonte Lacy's hot shooting piled another 18 points on for the Cougars.

And the Cougars confused Oregon St. for much of the game with an unexpected dose of zone defense. As a result, multiple rallies fell short, and the Cougars edged the Beavers 81-76.

Jared Cunningham led Oregon St., with 18 points, and Starks sank 5 three pointers, on his way to an 18 point effort.

The Golden Bears, preseason favorites to win the first Pac-12 campaign, beat both of the LA schools on opening weekend to claim one of three shares of the conference lead.

Allen Crabbe converted 2 free throws with 8.4 seconds left to finally put USC away, in a game the Golden Bears won 53-49, after surviving a 17 point performance by the Trojans' Maurice "Mojo" Jones in their conference opener.

California had much less trouble with UCLA, as all 5 starters were in double figures, led by Crabbe's 20 points, as well as Robert Thurman's 11 points off the bench. Thurman hit all 5 shots he took in just 13 minutes of action. The Bears' balance easily overcame the Bruins, who got a game high 26 points from Tyer Lamb, and a combined 25 points from the Wear twins, but only 18 from the rest of their program.

Continue reading this post »