Following a week of action that saw Wayne Tinkle’s team suffer a disappointing loss to Kent State, and Scott Rueck’s Beavs bounce back from their defeat to Texas A&M with a strong showing against a solid Duke squad, BeaversEdge senior writer Brenden Slaughter dives into five things we learned from the week of action.

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The Oregon State men’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament hopes took another big hit on Friday afternoon as the Beavers (7-4) dropped a very winnable game to Kent State (66-63) and in doing so, suffered their first loss of the season at Gill Coliseum. The loss was the Beavers' third in four games and with just one game against Central Connecticut State left before Pac-12 play, the Beavers are out of opportunities for a marquee non-conference win and have tons of questions across the board in regards to exactly what this team can do. Granted, as Tinkle mentioned after the Dam City Classic, only two players in the program have been there for two plus years in Tres Tinkle and Stephen Thompson Jr., but at some point, that excuse is going to be heard on deaf ears by the Oregon State fanbase. There’s still plenty of time in this season for the Beavs to turn it around, and the impending return of Gligorije Rakocevic will certainly help the Beavers defensively, but it’s up to Tinkle and Co. to right the ship and turn this thing around in conference play.

Switching gears to women’s basketball, Oregon State bounced back from a tough loss to Texas A&M with a solid win over the Duke Blue Devils in Gill Coliseum. After having an uncharacteristic shooting night against A&M, OSU responded in fine-fashion in friendly confines of their home court as the Beavers shot 48 percent from three-point range and featured every player scoring except for Janessa Thropay who only played two minutes. The Beaver defense was in full force as well as the Beavers held Duke to just 11 percent shooting from three-point range. While the Beavers allowed 44 percent shooting from the field, which is well-above their season average of 34 percent, and that will certainly be something Rueck wants the Beavers to further improve on heading into their matchup with CSU Bakersfield.

With the rest of the Pac-12 conference not having a clear cut favorite and Oregon suffering untimely injuries to stars Bol Bol and Kenny Wooten, it’s almost like the conference is begging for someone to step up and seize control. Whether or not that can be the Beavers is very much debatable. The Pac-12 has just one team ranked in the top-25 in Arizona State (No. 18) and they’re expected to fall by the time the new rankings come out.

All season long, we’ve been talking about potential of this team, and unfortunately for Beaver fans and coaches alike, so far it’s been just that, potential. In theory, a team that features the Thompson brothers, Tres Tinkle, key contributors off the bench, and size in the post should be good enough to be in the upper-echelon of the Pac-12 given the parity this season. However, the Beavers can’t seem to put it all together. Whether it’s continuing to lose winnable games (Saint Louis, Texas A&M, or Kent State), play too much isolation basketball, or have leaky three-point defense, the Beavers haven’t been able to shore up weaknesses that are turning out to be their achilles heel. Granted, their is a whole season of Pac-12 play remaining and a lot can change, but Tinkle and Co. better get on the right track quickly to salvage this season.

After having a down game against Texas A&M, OSU’s do-it-all point-guard Destiny Slocum returned to form in a big way against Duke, leading the team in scoring with 21 points while dishing out two assists and securing three rebounds. She shot 50 percent from the field (8-of-16) and took a page out of Kat Tudor’s book by knocking down a season high five three-point shots. When Slocum is taking and creating shots for herself and her teammates, the Beavers engine hums to perfection. Combine her ever-improving comfort and play in Rueck’s system with continued growth from Joanna Grymek (second straight game with at least eight points and two rebounds) and the steady play of Kat Tudor and Aleah Goodman off the bench, with the Beaver starters and this team is only just beginning to scratch its potential.

One of the more disappointing aspects of the Beavers’ loss to Kent State was another rough outing for Thompson Jr. as he went 1-of-16 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range including missing the game-tying look. If the Beavers’ non-conference schedule has taught us anything, the Beavers don’t win when Thompson Jr. isn’t hitting his shots. It’s no coincidence that the Beavers’ four losses have come when Thompson Jr. has shot 29 percent (Missouri), 22 percent (Saint Louis), 18 percent (Texas A&M), and six percent (Kent State). With all that being said, it’s crystal clear that the Beavers win when Thompson Jr. is making his shots, and so the Beavers need to tweak things to get him easier looks. It all starts with ball-movement and sharing the sugar and if the Beavers can get back to passing up good looks for better ones a la Rueck’s model, we’ll see Thompson Jr. and the Beavers return to form.