Finally, a win.
Sasa Cuic reached the 1,000 point mark at Oregon State with 22 points on the night, only three less than he scored against Arizona on Thursday. Wesley Washington added 13, and was not only a offensive threat but brought major defensive intensity.
Started by former Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart, it was "Coaches vs. Cancer" night across America. The purpose is to promote cancer prevention, as well as early detection. As a result, both Jay John and Herb Sandek's coaching staffs were outfitted in tennis shoes.
Coming into the game, Arizona State was riding a lengthy 13 game losing streak, and Oregon State had only won 1 out of 11 conference games. Although the Sun Devils haven't logged a conference win, they've lost 11 games by less than 5 points this year. Make it 12 after this loss.
Oregon State started the game with a bang, getting two early three pointers from Josh Tarver and Sasa Cuic. Cuic needed 16 points on the night to be the 33rd player in Oregon State history to reach 1,000 points on his career, and he almost achieved the feat in the first half. The Beavers and Sun Devils played a very slow paced game that teeter-tottered back and forth for much of the first half until Oregon State broke a 20-20 tie with a 12-3 run to put them ahead 9 points, 32-23. Arizona State countered with 6 unanswered points in about the last minute of the half to go into halftime down only 3, 32-29.
At the half, Cuic already had 15 points, and was perfect (3-3) on three pointers. The Beavers needed a performance like this from him, since Kyle Jeffers got into some foul trouble early which caused him to only shoot one shot in the first half. Kyle only saw about 3 minutes of action the entire first half.
Arizona State has proved that they are a second half team throughout the Pac-10 season, but the Beavers never let them get a lead larger than 3 points in the second half. A big reason why Oregon State was able to finish off ASU was the elimination of Jeff Pendergraph. We told you he was going to be a big threat not only scoring, but also with offensive rebounds. The Beavers held him to 8 points, all of which were free throws. He only got 3 offensive rebounds, and was 0-3 shooting from the floor.
Besides the 22 point effort from Sasa, the Beavers also got a very good night out of Wesley Washington. Wesley had 13 points, his season high against Pac-10 competition. He has become a huge threat for the Beavers on both ends of the floor. He has always been our best defensive player in my opinion, but on offense he's been moving very well without the ball, drawing fouls, and just doing the little things. He put together two 3 point plays yesterday, and all of this with a bad wrist. He will need surgery on it at some point, but he feels that he can still help the team, so he's fighting through the pain. Josh Tarver quietly had a strong night, only scoring 5 points, but with 7 assists and only one turnover.
Free Throws! The Beavers were 16 of 22. 73%!!!
Another interesting stat- neither team scored on a fast break.
The Beavers play at Stanford and Cal this week, before returning to Gill for the Washington schools the week after.
Go Beavers!
--JB--