1/13/2021 basketball Edit

Oregon State MBB/WBB Roundup

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

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With both Oregon State basketball programs working their way back to the court following teamwide-pauses due to COVID-19, BeaversEdge.com gives you the latest on both teams.

MORE: Top OSU Defenders in 2020: No. 1 Avery Roberts | Update on 2022 QB Jayden Denegal

WBB: ASU Game Postponed, Beavers To Play Arizona on Sunday

After having not played since Dec. 19th against Washington State due to a team-wide COVID-19 pause that has nearly lasted a month, the Oregon State women's basketball team is scheduled to take the floor against No. 11 Arizona on Sunday afternoon in Tucson.

The Beavers' game at Arizona State, which was originally scheduled for Friday, has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 issues within the Sun Devil program.

The Wildcats (8-2, 6-2 Pac-12) are coming off a two-point loss to Washington State in Pullman and will host No. 10 Oregon on Thursday before hosting the Beavers on Sunday.

Prior to the pause, the Beavers were 3-3 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 play.

Quick Hits

- The Beavers fell out of the WBCA Coaches' poll on Dec. 22, marking the first time they have not been ranked in the poll since the 2013-14 postseason rankings. UConn, Baylor, and Maryland are now the only teams to be ranked in every poll since that point.

- OSU also fell out of the AP Poll on Dec. 21, snapping a 76-week run in that poll, the seventh-longest in the nation at the time.

- Oregon State's last six games have been postponed indefinitely. Overall the Beavers will have had 29 days without a game heading into Sunday's contest.

- The Beavers have scored first in all six games this season.

- Oregon State was picked to finish fifth in both of the Pac-12 preseason polls. The last time the Beavers were picked fifth, they won the conference (2016-17).

- The Beavers are 11th in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in blocked shots per game this season.

- Oregon State is also 18th nationally in assists per game, and 16th nationally in fewest fouls committed.

MBB: Beavers Set To Return To Action On Thursday

After having a COVID-19 pause that saw matchups against Colorado & Utah postponed last week, the Oregon State men's basketball team returned to practice on Tuesday and will host Arizona at Gill Coliseum on Thursday evening.

The Beavers (5-4, 1-2 Pac-12) will only have two full practices (Tuesday & Wednesday) before hosting the Wildcats and that's going to be a challenge for Wayne Tinkle's group as the players that were available last week were limited to individual workouts.

"It was weird having a pause like that in the middle of the season," Tinkle said. "But we are back at it, and we're going to be playing Arizona on Thursday on short rest. Our theme has been no excuses, no explanations. We roll with what we have and we throw our best shot out there."

With the team having some downtime this past week, Tinkle said that it allowed the coaching staff to really hone in on the mistakes that have been plaguing the team at critical moments this season. He noted that the relative immaturity and inexperience of this team has contributed to some of the issues, but that he's hopeful things will start to click.

"We made it very clear with our team that the same things have cost us games," Tinkle said. "We've held leads in all of our losses in the second half and we've got to get better at finishing. It's discipline, it's effort, it's having each others' backs defensively, and continuing to do the right things on offense. We've got to fight through it and be tougher and a more bonded unit. We're seeing improvements in areas, we just have to be more consistent."

Quick Hits

- Oregon State leads the Pac-12 in assists (16.89), 3-point field goal percentage (.366), and assist/turnover ratio (1.57). They are second in free throw percentage (.740), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.291), and blocked shots (4.89).

- Jarod Lucas and Gianni Hunt have combined to go 13-for-23 from beyond the arc and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line the last two games ... Lucas leads the Pac-12 in free throw percentage at 95.0% (38-for-40).

- Warith Alatishe leads the Pac-12 in rebounding (8.89); he has grabbed double-figure boards in five of the nine games.

Ethan Thompson passed Mark Radford and moved into seventh on Oregon State’s career assists list with 407 dimes.

- Zach Reichle is the only player on the team to dish out multiple assists in all nine games.

- Rodrigue Andela left the Stanford game in the first half with an injured right foot. Per Tinkle, he's questionable for the game against Arizona as he's yet to return to a full practice. He'll likely be a game-time decision.

- Tinkle said he's hopeful that the USC game will be made up next week. He also said there's a plan in place to make up the mountain schools separately at different points this season.

- Associate head coach Kerry Rupp, assistant coaches Marlon Stewart and Stephen Thompson, and senior center Roman Silva missed the California and Stanford games due to COVID-19 testing results and contact tracing protocols. Tinkle expects all three coaches to be back against Arizona on Thursday but said that Silva likely won't have his full level conditioning back to take the floor.