15 Days ‘Till OSU Basketball: A Quick Look At The Beavers Non-Conference Opponents

Carroll College (10/23 - Home): The Fighting Saints made it to last year’s NAIA National Championship with a 29-8 mark, but will be filing holes across the board. A duo of guards in Dane Warp, an honorable mention All-American, and Shamrock Campbell will anchor Carroll.

Warner Pacific (10/29 - Home): Traveling down from Portland, Warner Pacific will make the in-state visit to Corvallis in Oregon State’s second exhibition clash. The Knights are a fellow NAIA squad, who are coming off a 16-14 campaign under ninth-year head coach Jared Valentine.

Cal State-Northridge (11/5 - Home): The Matadors have a heck of a trio in Lamine Diane (24.8 PPG), Terrell Gomez (19.2 PPG) and Rodney Henderson Jr. (10.6 PPG) coming back to campus, coached by Mark Gottfried and a staff that includes NCAA champ Jim Harrick and Mo Williams.

Iowa State (11/9 - Home): The Beavers will be Iowa State’s second game and first road trip of the season, which may help OSU to challenge a team replacing five of it’s top seven scorers from a season ago. Guards Tyrese Haliburton, Prentiss Nixon and Rasir Bolton will lead Iowa State.

Oklahoma (11/12 - Neutral): Another Big 12 team plugging holes, Lon Kruger will need to rework his roster heading into 2019-2020, as well. However, Oklahoma can still rely on two steady pieces in Kristian Doolittle, a probable all-leaguer, and Brady Manek, as well as a cast of newcomers.

Wyoming (11/16 - Away): The Cowboys fell by 19 to the Beavers in Corvallis last season, one of their 24 losses during what became a disastrous campaign. Wyoming will be more balanced and less top heavy without star Justin James, but the talent will need to develop fast on this roster.

UC-Santa Barbara (11/20 - Home): UC-Santa Barbara will move on without guard Ar’Mond Davis, however the Gauchos bring back their next four leading scorers, including one-time Beavers target Amadou Sow, Max Heidegger, Devearl Ramsey and former OSU point guard JaQuori McLaughlin.

Grambling State (11/23 - Home): Two names to remember in this one for a reloading Grambling State team are Ivy Smith Jr, a guard from Tacoma who posted 11 points and 13 assists against UT-Rio Grande Valley in the CIT last year, and Devante Jackson, the team’s best returning big.

San Jose State (11/27 - Neutral): The Beavers will meet up with the Spartans in Las Vegas this year, in what should be a winnable contest against a squad that returns no double-digit scorers from a year ago. The Spartans are coming off back-to-back four-win seasons under Jean Prioleau.

Portland State (12/1 - Home): Projected to finish 6th in both the media and coaches Big Sky preseason polls, the Vikings may be a similar replica to last season’s outfit. Portland State was a tale of two teams in 2018-2019, posting a 12-4 mark at home and a 3-10 record on the road.

Arkansas Pine-Bluff (12/14 - Home): January 18th will be the first home game against a Division I opponent for Arkansas Pine-Bluff, meaning they’ll be travel weary for the better part of the season. This meeting against OSU in mid-December will be their 9th road game of the season.

UT-San Antonio (12/18 - Neutral): A showdown in Houston will make the Roadrunners feel more like the home squad in this one. The fighting Steve Henson’s return Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, both 20+ PPG scorers last year, to a team picked 2nd in the C-USA preseason poll.

Texas A&M (12/21 - Away): Year one of the Buzz Williams’ era in College Station will include a visit from OSU in what could be a very fun SEC-Pac-12 match-up. The Aggies are coming off a 14-18 season in which they definitely under-performed, but the cupboard is far from bare.

North Dakota (12/29 - Home): The Paul Sather era begins in Grand Forks, as the first year head coach will inherit a squad picked second-to-last in the Summit League preseason poll. Explosive scorer Marlon Stewart and sharpshooter Aanen Moody are two guards to watch out for.