Washington steamrolls Oregon State, 79-69

On Wayne Tinkle’s 53rd birthday, Oregon State hosted the Washington Huskies who sit alone atop the Pac-12 standings. The Beavers were actually 3-point favorites headed into the game and Gill was expecting a hard-fought game. Unfortunately, the team did not get the memo and immediately fell behind 11-0. Things never improved after that, as the Beavers put together their all-around worst performance of the season.

The Washington Huskies are very good, their 2-3 zone absolutely befuddled the Oregon State offense all game. The Beavers frequently turned it over (especially in the first half) leading to easy Husky buckets. Oregon State is known for having a strong defense in their own right, but even when they did have time to set up their zone it was easily picked apart by Nahziah Carter and the rest of Washington’s perimeter players.

Early in the game it was fun to watch the contrast of Noah Dickerson (6-8, 250 lbs) vs. Kylor Kelley (7-1, 210 lbs) battling down low, but Kelley picked up his third foul with 5 minutes to go in the first half. Kelley’s lack of playing time severely hurt Oregon State on both ends of the floor.

Ethan Thompson especially struggled against Washington trying to initiate the offense. He ended up with 8 turnovers, but also chipped in 9 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. The game could have been much worse if the Beavers didn’t keep competing until the bitter end. Stephen Thompson single-handedly kept Oregon State’s offense afloat with his 30 points (6 three-pointers) and was really the only player that caused problems for the Washington defense.

Give credit where credit is due, Nahziah Carter and Matisse Thybulle were phenomenal in Gill Coliseum this afternoon. Washington is the most complete team I’ve seen in the Pac-12 this season and they should win the Pac-12 regular season title with relative ease. Oregon State will look to regroup as they travel to The Rockies to face Colorado (1/31) and Utah (2/2) next week.