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Colorado (17-6, 6-4) at Oregon State (13-8.6, 4-6) / Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, OR / 5:30 PM PST / Pac-12 / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM
Oregon State concludes their home series against the visitors from the mountains to the east tonight hosting Colorado, and looking for their first home sweep of a weekend Pac-12 series in a year, since doing so against the Washington schools on the first weekend of February last season.
The Buffs come in off a pretty solid beatdown Thursday night in Eugene. Pac-12 conference leading 16th ranked Oregon took a 76-56 win, but it was a 19 point game by halftime, as the Ducks dominated almost all the way.
Josh Scott had 17 points and 7 rebounds and George King added 16 points and 8 boards, but they didn't get much help. And the Buffs played without point guard Thomas Akyazili. His status for tonight remains to be seen.
The Beavers are riding an emotional high, having just pulled out a 71-69 win over Utah in Thursday's nightcap, when Stephen Thompson Jr. hit 3 free throws with 1/10th of a second left, this after Jordan Loveridge had also hit 3 free throws with 2.2 seconds left.
This is the third Pac-12 weekend road trip in a row where Colorado has dropped the first game, but the Buffs bounced back to grab the second game, and get a road weekend split the last 2 trips, in Washington and the Bay Area.
The Buffs took the first meeting this season, trampling the Beavs 71-54 back on Jan. 13 at the Coors Event Center. Gary Payton II had a big game, with a career high and game high 26 points, and a season best and game high 15 rebounds, but Thompson's 10 points was the only other Beaver total even close to double digits.
Colorado has won 12 of the previous 17 meetings with Oregon State, but the Beavers have won 4 of 6 against the Buffs in Corvallis, including a 72-58 win at Gill last season as GP II had a 24 point effort. It was the last win of the season for Oregon State, and Colorado not only avenged the loss, they ended the Beavers' season with a 78-71 win in first round of the Pac-12 tournament.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com