Oregon St. Heads To The Palouse To Take On Washington St.

Oregon St. (10-7, 2-3) at Washington St. (8-10, 1-5) / Beasley Arena, Pullman, WA / 7 PM / Pac-12 Channel / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM

Game Notes / Washington St. Game Notes

After winning the season's first Civil War showdown against Oregon 80-72 on Sunday night, Oregon St. makes their Washington road trip. The first stop is in Pullman, to take on Washington St. tonight.

The Beavers played one of their better game of the season in their only action last weekend, taking an 80-72 win over Oregon in the 340th mens' basketball battle of the Civil War.

Roberto Nelson had a game high 22 points, and Eric Moreland added a 15 point, 13 rebound double double to lead the way. The Beavers also played a dominant inside game, swatting aside 8 shots, and out-rebounding the Ducks 42-34.

The Cougars got run out of the Bay Area, getting blown out at Stanford 80-48, and then were blasted again last Saturday in Berkeley, when the Golden Bears rolled to a 76-55 victory.

Washington St. was playing without DaVonte Lacy, their leading scorer. Lacy, who remain out of commission, had to have an appendectomy last month, and more importantly, suffered a rib cartiledge injury that will keep him on the sideline until probably sometime next month.

With Lacy out, most of the Cougars' offense has to come from Que Johnson, their 6'5" freshman guard who was already their second leading scorer, with guard Royce Woolridge and forward D.J. Shelton their other key players.

Johnson had 21 points in Palo Alto, and 18 at California. Woolridge, who also leads Washington St. in assists, averaging 3.1 per game, was the only other Cougar in double figures at Stanford, with 13 points, but was held to just 2 points by the Golden Bears, on 1 of 7 shooting.

Shelton, the nephew of former Oregon St. great Lonnie Shelton, had a 17 point, 11 rebound double double against the Bears. But while he had 9 boards against Stanford, the Cardinal shut him out scoring wise.

Therein lays the problem for Cougar coach Ken Bone; finding any consistency from his depleted roster. So much so that many, including our associates up at the Coug Center, believe Bone will be relieved of his job at the end of the season at the latest. Washington St. has lost 6 of their last 8 games, doing nothing to dissuade that.

The Beavers must be wary of the injured Cougs though; they upset Utah 49-46 in their last home game. And they only lost to Colorado by 1 point, on a comparatively neutral Spokane court no less, falling 71-70 in overtime. And the Buffs still had Spencer Dinwiddie, now out for the season after tearing his ACL at Washington, at that point.

Last year, the Cougs came out on top in Corvallis, winning 71-68, while the Beavers prevailed by a point in Pullman, pulling out a 67-66 win.

A win would pull Oregon St.'s Pac-12 record up to level, a good milestone after losing their first 2 conference games.

Andy_Wooldrige@yahoo.com