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Utah (17-5, 6-3) at Oregon State (12-8.6, 3-6) / Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, OR / 8 PM PST / ESPN2 / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM
Oregon State and Utah kick off the second half of their Pac-12 conference campaigns tonight.
The Utes, who come into the weekend's games tied for second in the Pac-12, are on a roll, having won 5 games in a row. The streak started in their first meeting with Oregon State, back on Sun. Jan. 17 in Salt Lake City, a 59-53 come from behind win after the Beavers had held a 14 point lead. Their last win was a 96-74 rout of Stanford last Saturday, which avenged an earlier 2 point loss in Palo Alto to the Cardinal.
The Beavers will be looking to replicate the level of play they accomplished in their last game at Gill, an 85-70 win over then 21st ranked USC back on Sun. Jan. 24. It was Oregon State's only win in their last in their last 6 games. The Beavs were swept last weekend in the desert, losing by 28 at Arizona State last Thursday, and then by 27 2 nights later at Arizona.
The rematch with Utah tonight just happens to be when Oregon State's Jarmal Reid becomes eligible again, after serving a 4 game suspension for tripping an official in the game at Utah. Whether Coach Wayne Tinkle decides to use Reid tonight, in light of the irony of it all, will probably be a game time decision.
Reid's return became a more urgent issue for Oregon State this week though, after Daniel Gomis suffered a leg injury. Gomis' status is highly doubtful, and may even be lost for the season.
It's the 27th meeting of the teams all time, with Utah holding a 16-10 edge, though Oregon State has won 9 of 11 games played at Gill. Since the Utes joined the Pac-12, they have a 4-3 edge over the Beavers, who won the first 3 meetings, but have lost the last 4 in a row.
The Beavers and Utes only met once last season, with Utah prevailing 47-37 in a visit to Corvallis.
Oregon State's coach Tinkle is quite familiar with Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak though. They played together at Montana, and were both assistants under Mike Montgomery, and Tinkle served as an assistant to Krystkowiak for the Griz, before taking over as head coach after Krystkowiak went on to the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA.
Utah is a 2 1/2 point road favorite tonight.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com