Oregon St. Nike N7 Game Against SIUE

SIU-Edwardsville (1-5) at Oregon St. (2-1) / Gill Coliseum / 8 PM PST / Pac-12 Channel / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM

Game Notes / SIEU Team Page / SIEU Game Notes / Rosters

Oregon St. hosts their 4th annual Nike N7 (Nike's Native American and Aboriginal Initiative, headed by Sam McCracken) game tonight, against SIUE, or Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

The Cougars, from the Ohio Valley Conference, have been in the neighborhood for most of the last week, having played 3 games Friday night through Sunday up at the Stott Center, in the Portland St. tournament. Tonight caps the Cougars' trip, before heading home for Thanksgiving.

SIUE lost all 3, but could easily have swept the tournament. The Cougars lost to UC_Davis 80-75 on Friday, 77-73 to the Vikings on Saturday night, and then 73-72 to Loyola-Illinois (Chicago) Sunday afternoon.

6'4" senior guard Tim Johnson is SIUE's leading scorer, averaging 13 points per game, while 6'10" junior forward Keaton Jackson, who is from Vancouver, WA's Prairie High, and 6'4" swingman Rozell Nunn co-lead the Cougars on the boards, both averaging 4.4 per game. 6' sophomore guard Donivine Stewart is second in scoring for SIUE, with 12.6 points per game, and leads the Cougars in assists, averaging 4 per game.

The Beavers have been off for over a week, since downing Maryland 90-83 back on Sunday, Nov. 17, after visiting the White House, and in from of the first family, who tagged along with the team to watch the game, and the first "Brother In Law", Oregon St. coach Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama's brother.

Oregon St. got a 31 point, 7 assist performance from Roberto Nelson against the Terrapins, which helped him earn the Pac-12 Player of the Week honor, but also got a huge game from Devon Collier, who had 29 points.

The Beavers will again don turquoise uniforms for the N7 Initiative game, a tradition that began in 2010, and meant so much to Joe Burton (above playing in last year's N7 game), himself a native American, who graduated this past spring.

The first 1,000 Oregon State students to enter Gill Coliseum after the doors open at 7 PM will receive a free Nike N7 t-shirt. Fans who may still own one from prior years are encouraged to wear their vintage N7 shirts as well.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com

(Photos by Andy Wooldridge)