Oregon State MBB/WBB Roundup

With the Oregon State men's basketball team dropping all three of its road games this past weekend and the OSU women's basketball team falling to Stanford in its lone home contest, BeaversEdge.com gives you the latest on both squads as they'll be looking to bounce back this week...

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MBB: Beavers In Need Of Bounceback Following 0-3 Week

Following a home sweep of the Washington schools to start February, the Oregon State men's basketball team was playing good basketball heading into road matchups against Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State this past week.

Unfortunately for the Beavers, all that positive momentum came screeching to a hault as the week on the road was brutal. It started with a doozy of a loss to Colorado and was followed by tough defeats to Arizona and Arizona State, which were both winnable games.

While the 79-48 loss to Colorado last Monday could likely be attributed to having to play and travel to altitude on short rest, the losses to UA & ASU particularly sting because both games were within the Beavers' grasp.

Whether it be against Arizona where the shots weren't falling and foul-trouble became an issue or against ASU where a slow start and turnovers proved too much to overcome, there was a regression this week and it's disappointing to see after it looked like everything was starting to come together for Wayne Tinkle's group.

Up next, the Beavers return home to the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum for matchups against Utah and Colorado. With the team two games behind .500 in Pac-12 play, this home slate is crucial to keeping pace in the standings and giving themselves a shot to be in the upper half of the standings by the conclusion of the conference season.

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WBB: Fourth Quarter Dooms Beavers Against No. 5 Cardinal

Following a team-wide pause due to COVID-19 tracing protocols within the program that saw games against Arizona and Arizona State postponed the first week of Feb., the Beavers returned to action this past week as they dropped their only matchup, a home contest against Stanford, 83-58.

OSU was slated to have games against the Cardinal and Cal this past weekend, but because of COVID-19 issues within the Bears' program, the Beavs were left with just one contest.

The Beavers (6-6, 4-6 Pac-12) hung tough with the Pac-12's best all the way until the final quarter as entering the fourth OSU trailed 60-52. But it was the fourth that was the downfall as the Cardinal blitzed the Beavers and outscored them 23-6 in the final period to make the final score look a lot more lopsided than the game was.

With 12 games played and 13 needed to reach the threshold required to be eligible for the NCAA Tournament, the Beavers will almost certainly play enough games to meet the criteria. The question is, will they win enough games to have a strong resume to be selected?

Most years, that's a silly question as the group routinely competes for the NCAA Tournament. But this year, the Beavers have been hamstrung by multiple COVID-19 teamwide pauses and that's affecting their ability to get into a consistent flow and rhythm on the court.

With road matchups against USC, UCLA, and Oregon looming the next two weeks and the high likelihood of additional makeup games being played too, it's gut-check time for Scott Rueck's squad. The Beavers need wins to bolster their postseason resume and while there's still time left, every game takes on even greater importance...