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Gill Coliseum, 7 PM / No TV / KEJO 1240 / KPAM 860 (Streaming)
Oregon St. kicks off the Ticket City Legends Classic tonight against West Alabama at 7 PM at Gill Coliseum.
The Tigers (1-1), who play in the Gulf South Conference, lost 78-57 on Saturday to Lynn, after defeating Barry 77-46 Friday night. Tonight, they will try their hand at playing more than one person at a time.
The Beavers (1-0) won their opener Saturday afternoon, downing Cal-St. Bakersfield 86-62, largely behind the 19 steals the defense snagged from the Roadrunners.
The obscure nature of West Alabama and their opponents tells you most of what you need to know about tonight's game. It's a game Oregon St., or any other major conference team, should win handily, and actually spend most of the evening working on whatever coach Craig Robinson deems to need the most work. The Tigers, like all teams in these situations, see it as an opportunity against the biggest name they will play against, probably all season. If they lose, not big deal, and if they get well behind, it might be gym-rat ball for them as well. If they find they can hang with the Beavers, then phones start lighting up with upset alerts.
So most Beaver fans will be interested in how the team plays, and whether they are actually sharp or not on any given play, regardless of the overall circumstances. It can be a terriblly tough game to prepare for, or play.
The move to much more man-to-man defense is the theme of the Beavers' pre-season, and this will be another chance to see how well they play in transition.
Unfortunately, you won't be able to evaluate this unless you are there, or watching the BNO Online stream, assuming it works, as there is no tv. Fortunately, Mike Parker's radio call gives us a pretty good visual picture of what's happening.
Here's the place to anticipate what's ahead for Beaver basketball.
Go Beavs!