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Oregon State (17-10, 8-8) at USC (19-10, 8-8) / Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA / 8 PM PST / Fox Sports 2 / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM
Oregon State starts the final weekend of the regular season, and their last road trip of the conference season, tonight with a visit to USC. It's another game, not unlike last Wednesday against Washington, where there the game has major consequences for both the Beavers and Trojans.
With both teams bubbling around on the edge of an invite to the NCAA Tournament, the winner will add a important victory to their resume. And it will impact seeding in next weekend's Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas, where both teams probably need to do some work, and tonight's loser probably a lot of work, and a bump in seeding could be significant.
The Beavers are on a bit of a roll, after having swept the Washington schools last week, first with an 82-81 win over the Huskies, on Stephen Thompson Jr.'s buzzer beater last Wednesday, and then a 20 point blowout of the Cougars Sunday afternoon on Senior Day.
And Oregon State played one of their best games of the season in the team's first meeting of the season, when the Beavers beat the Trojans 85-70 back on Jan. 24.
The Trojans on the other hand, are having what was a nationally impressive start to the season go off the rails. USC has lost 3 in a row, including getting swept this past weekend in the Bay Area, losing both games by at least 20 points, and 5 of their last 6 outings.
And the Beavers have won 9 of the last 13 against the Trojans, pulling within 4 wins in the all time series, that has USC holding a 68-64 edge.
But this is a road game, and Oregon State has only won 2 conference road games in the 2 years that Coach Wayne Tinkle has been here. and just 1 this season.
High stakes once again late at night in the Pac-12!
And to make matters more challenging for Oregon State, the Beavers will be without Tres Tinkle tonight. Tinkle suffered a foot injury in practice yesterday, and when it came time for pregame, it was determined that Tinkle won't be able to go.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com