Josh Tarver led the Beavers with 19 points as they knocked off Division II Western Washington Vikings on Sunday night.
The Beavers had three other players besides Tarver in double figures. Marcel Jones and Seth Tarver each had 12, and Sean Carter had 11. Ten players saw time in the game, and nine of them played for over ten minutes.
The Beavers shot 44% from the field, 33% from behind the arc, and 56% from the line. The free throw percentage really needs to improve as the Beavers get ready for Pac-10 play. OSU went 13 for 23 from the line tonight. If we raise that percentage from 56 to 80, that adds five points to the Beavers' score. And if we want to have a chance of beating teams in the upper echelon of the Pac-10, we're going to need all the easy points we can get.
However, the difference in this game was turnovers. The Beavers forced 29 turnovers, ten of those coming from Western Washington guard Andrew Ready. Oregon State got 31 points off turnovers compared to the Vikings' 14.
But Coach Jay John doesn't think the Beavers are where they need to be. Here's some of what John had to say after the game: "I thought we were really lethargic. The passing angles weren't as crisp for us like they are in practice. We can't turn the ball over. Offensively, we were well behind where we needed to be."
For the Vikings, forward Steve Alford led all scores with 19. He was the only player in double figures.
This game wraps up the exhibition scheduele for the Beavers. They travel to Fairbanks, Alaska to start their season on Thursday the 13th. They'll take on Colorado State in the first round of the eight team tournament.
GO BEAVERS!
--JB--