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6 seed Oregon State (19-11, 9-9) vs. 3 seed #24 California (22-9, 12-6) / MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, NV / 8:45 PM PST / Fox Sports 1 / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM
Oregon State meets California tonight in the final quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Tournament at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Playing minus Trace Tinkle, who will be out again tonight with the right foot injury he suffered in practice Tuesday of last week, and with Coach Wayne Tinkle seriously ill, the Beavers still advanced out of the first round with a 75-66 win over 11 seed Arizona State last night.
And they did it without any points from either Gary Payton II or Drew Eubanks until well into the second half. Stephen Thompson Jr., who has stepped into the starting lineup in place of T. Tinkle, had only one 3 pointer in the first half as well. Depth overcame foul trouble as well as injuries though, as Malcolm Duvivier had his best game in a long time, and 10 Beavers not only contributed, they all scored and rebounded.
The Bears, who are 7 point favorites set back and watched the show, enjoying the first day ye that winning 8 of 9 down the stretch earned them.
That run included an 83-71 win in Berkeley over the Beavers, which avenged their earlier 77-71 last minute loss at Gill in the teams' first meeting of the season.
Oregon State by many accounts played their way off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament with last night's win, and California's late season run has them secure in the field, but that doesn't take anything away from tonight's matchup, as both teams have seeding to play for.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com