Oregon State Basketball: Civil War Game Analysis

The over-matched Oregon State Beavers traveled to Eugene Saturday evening and were run out of the gym by their in-state rivals the Oregon Ducks, losing 85-43. Freshman Guard Payton Pritchard led the Ducks with 17 pts., and Senior Guard Dylan Ennis had 16 points. Every Duck player that saw time on the court scored points. The Beavers quickly found themselves down 21-0 and didn’t score their first points until 10:44 left in the first half when Drew Eubanks made a layup. Oregon State found themselves down 41-13 at halftime and shot 16.7 percent in the first half. The Ducks never let up as they outscored the Beavers 44-30 in the second half. Beaver Sophomore Drew Eubanks led all scorers with 19 points and Sophomore Guard Stephen Thompson Jr. added 10 pts.

Turnovers:

Unless, your shooting lights out and playing lock down defense, committing 21 turnovers will not win many games. Credit the Ducks, for playing excellent defense. In addition, the Ducks had 12 blocked shots. The Ducks constantly pressed the Beavers, which made it difficult for the Beavs to get into their offense. The Beavers need to improve on the way they handle Defensive pressure. One of the reasons the Ducks shot 51 percent from the field was that they were able to transition turnovers into easy baskets. In addition, youth and injuries have forced many Beaver players into different roles, which have factored into the abundance of turnovers.

Shooting:

Once again, credit the way Oregon played on defense to pressure the Beavers into poor shooting numbers. The Beavers shot 31 percent from the field and were 3-18 from three point land. Also, the Beavers continued to struggle from the free throw line by shooting 61 percent. Take away Drew Eubanks 7-10 shooting night, the rest of the Beavers were 9-41 shooting.

Drew Eubanks:

The positive factor for the Beavers was the play of Sophomore Forward Drew Eubanks. Eubanks led all scorers with 19 points. In addition, Drew had two blocked shots and 6 rebounds. Drew was the lone bright spot for the Beavers Saturday evening. Drew battled through a thigh injury that he suffered a week ago, which caused him to miss practice all week. According to Oregonian’s Danny Moran, Drew could barely talk after the game because of a bacterial infection, which made his performance tonight even more impressive. The Sophomore Forward from Troutdale is having a solid season and continues to grow as a force down low.

Final Analysis:

It wasn’t pretty. The Beavers ran into a buzz-saw Saturday night. Oregon is playing like a top 10 team. The Ducks are going to make lots of noise in the tournament. Judging by tonight, the Beavers have a long, windy road ahead of them in order to regain respectability in the Pac-12. We have talked constantly, about injuries, graduation, transfers, youth, etc. Tres Tinkle’s injury was a major blow to the team, and his injury recovery has taken longer than expected. The Beavers are forced to play with the hand that their dealt. They need to regroup, as Stanford visits Gill Coliseum Thursday night (8PM. Pac 12 Networks), and Cal at Gill Saturday evening. (7:30p Pac-12 Networks)