Oregon State
Pacific (Ore.) (Exhibition)
Beavers Open Season With Exhibition Win Over Pacific, 64-33
November 04, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 4, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State showed off its tenacious man-to-man defense by forcing 22 turnovers and limiting visiting Pacific (Ore.) to 25.6 percent shooting in a 64-33 exhibition win at Gill Coliseum on Friday night.
The Beavers jumped out to a 31-6 lead in front of a crowd of 2,624 and held the Boxers to only nine first half points as junior Jared Cunningham knocked down two three-pointers and threw down a dunk after a steal to score eight points and lead the quick start.
"I really liked the way we came out so aggressively on the defensive end," Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. "I think there's still a long way to go. But what I can see in this sort of dress rehearsal is that we are on the right track. We have enough speed, enough athleticism and enough depth to play man-to-man defense. We even got in a little foul trouble out there and we were able to do some creative things because we have more players. I'm really excited to keep working on it. We aren't there yet but we are heading in the right direction."
Offensively, Oregon State had 20 assists on its 24 field goals and had three players in double-figures with Cunningham finishing with 12 points and sophomore Devon Collier and redshirt freshman Eric Moreland each pouring in 11. Junior Joe Burton led the Beavers with eight rebounds and five assists, while Cunningham, Collier and Burton each had three steals.
"We had 24 baskets on 20 assists and that speaks to our execution and chemistry," Robinson said. "That's a team in there. I'm very proud of how hard we played. That's how hard we want to play all of the time. It was good to see us handle a game we are supposed to handle. We've had trouble with that in the past. I'm very proud of our effort tonight."
Thirteen players saw action for the Beavers and 10 of them ended up in the scoring column, including sophomore Rhys Murphy who is coming back after missing all but four games the past two seasons. He made a three-pointer and had a left-handed tip jam off a miss that brought the crowd to its feet.
"We were just joking around in the locker room saying Rhys kissed the streetlight," Cunningham laughingly said in reference to his famous "Kiss the Sky" dunk. "He didn't touch the sky; he touched a streetlight. But it was a nice dunk. I'm proud of him and I hope that he has a successful season."
Collier made 4-of-5 shots to finish with 11 points and six rebounds but knows the Beavers still have work to do before the regular season begins.
"I just felt like it was a learning experience to see what we needed to work on," he said. "Like executing more, since our defense was pretty good. We still need to work more on execution on the offensive end."
The Beavers shot 48.1 percent in the first half and held the Boxers to 13.6 percent shooting, while forcing 14 turnovers and coming up with seven steals, to take a 33-9 lead at the break. Eight Oregon State players had at least one assist in the first half.
"We were very appreciative to get to come down here and play against the Beavers," Pacific head coach Tim Cleary said. "Many of our players have grown up in Oregon and they know Gill Coliseum and the tradition and history of Oregon State basketball. We are extremely thankful for Coach Robinson and his coaching staff giving us the opportunity to come down and play in the big time, so to speak."
The Beavers open their regular season Saturday, Nov. 12 against CSU Bakersfield at 1:30 p.m. at Gill Coliseum in the 2nd Annual Nike N7 Game presented by Spirit Mountain Casino.
NOTES: Oregon State had a starting lineup of junior Jared Cunningham and sophomore Ahmad Starks at guard, junior Joe Burton and sophomore Devon Collier at forward and junior Angus Brandt at center ... Freshman Daniel Gomis and sophomore walk-on Michael Moyer didn't play; Gomis is recovering from a broken leg and Moyer has to sit out the season after transferring from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. ... Walk-ons Daniel Jones, C.J. Mitchell and Jullian Powers all saw playing time for the Beavers.
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