Oregon State Beavers MBB: Weekend Preview

Following a weekend of play that saw the Oregon State men's basketball team drop back-to-back games at the hands of Washington and Washington State, Wayne Tinkle's squad is back in the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum this weekend, playing host to UCLA and USC.

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Tinseltown takes Corvallis

Thursday, Jan. 22nd

UCLA (9-9, 2-3 Pac-12) vs Oregon State (12-6, 2-4)

Spin-> If there was ever a must-win game for the Beavers just six games into Pac-12 play, it's this matchup against the Bruins. Following a road trip where the Beavers did little to prove that their inconsistencies are in the rearview mirror in contrasting losses to Washington and Washington State, the Beavers need a win to rebuild confidence and momentum. Luckily, the Beavers seem to always play UCLA tough in Gill... they've won five of the last seven meetings in Corvallis and will be motivated to get the sting of the UW/WSU losses out of their systems. Despite the Beavers not looking great on the road a week ago, this is still a very talented team that features one of the conference's very best in Tres Tinkle and has the capability of winning on any given night. I like the Beavers over the Bruins on Thursday night...

Saturday, Jan. 24th

USC (15-3, 4-1) vs Oregon State (12-6, 2-4)

Spin-> The stronger of the two L.A. opponents, the USC Trojans find themselves tied for the Pac-12 lead with Stanford entering Thursday's games. The Men of Troy always seem to be competitive and near the top of the Pac-12 with Andy Enfield at the helm and this year looks to be no different. Outside of a blowout loss to Washington in Seattle, USC has proven to be a very tough opponent and will certainly pose challenges for the Beavers. USC senior F Nick Rakocevic (Big G's cousin) always seems to have good games against the Beavers, so keeping him in check will go a long way towards getting the win. The Beavers are in dire need of a sweep this weekend to pull even in conference play, and there's no doubt this will be the tougher of the two games. The Beavers have struggled to put it together for an entire weekend, but we've seen the glimpses... could this be the weekend we see the team execute for 40 minutes twice?

Pac-12 Standings

Quick Hitters

- Oregon State's NET Ranking is 65

- Oregon State is averaging 80.8 points in games played at Gill Coliseum while shooting 50.4% from the field and 39.2% from beyond the arc; the Beavers averaging 72.1 points in games away from Gill Coliseum while shooting 45.9% from the field and 28.4% from beyond the arc

- The Beavers lead the Pac-12 in fewest turnovers (199) and free throws made (298)

- Tres Tinkle needs 20 points to pass Steve Johnson and move into second on Oregon State's career scoring list. He trails leader Gary Payton (2,172) by 157 points. Tinkle has also made 24 consecutive free throws

- Kylor Kelley has at least one blocked shot in 30 consecutive games dating back to last season, the longest streak in program history

- Ethan Thompson is second in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage in conference games at 60.7% (34-for-56)

- Zach Reichle leads the Pac-12 in free throw percentage in conference games at 91.3% (21-for-23)

- Sean Miller-Moore is shooting 78.6% (11-for-14) from the field in Pac-12 play

- Gianni Hunt averaged 7.0 points and went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc in the two games in Washington