Beavers To Battle Trojans Wednesday In L.A.
February 29, 2016 | Men's Basketball
THE GAME: Oregon State (17-10, 8-8 Pac-12) will play its penultimate game of the regular season when it takes on USC (19-10, 8-8) at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
TELEVISION: The game will be televised on FS1 with Kevin Burkhardt and Steve Lavin calling the action.
RADIO: The game will air live on Beaver Sports Radio Network with Mike Parker calling the action. It can also be heard online at this link.
LIVE STATS: There will be live stats at this link.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Live updates will be available on Twitter and Facebook.
QUICKLY: Through Feb. 28 games, Oregon State is No. 32 in the RPI with six top-50 RPI wins and a strength of schedule of sixth in the nation ... Oregon State has at least 17 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1989 (22-8) and 1990 (22-7) ... Wayne Tinkle is the second Oregon State coach to win at least 17 games in his first two seasons; Bob Hager did so in 1923 (19-7) and 1924 (20-5) ... Oregon State had a rebounding margin of +13.0 the past two games ... The Beavers are 13-0 (7-0 Pac-12) with more or equal rebounds as their opponent ... Oregon State has fewer turnovers than its opponent in 15 of the 16 Pac-12 games ... Among Pac-12 freshmen, Tres Tinkle is fourth in scoring (13.1), rebounding (5.4) and steals (1.2) ... Tinkle is averaging a team-best 15.6 points in Pac-12 road games ... Drew Eubanks averaged 15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds the past two games ... Gary Payton II has multiple steals in six straight games and is fifth in the nation in steals per game (2.56).
vs. USC: Oregon State and USC meet for the 133rd time with the Trojans leading the series, 68-64, including a 36-23 edge in games played in Los Angeles.
The Beavers have won nine of the last 13 meetings after dropping seven straight from 2005 to 2008.
Oregon State won the first game between the teams earlier this season, 85-70, on Jan. 24 at Gill Coliseum. Gary Payton II had 22 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Tres Tinkle added 18 points, Drew Eubanks had 12 and Stephen Thompson Jr. came off the bench to score 11.
Since 1990, USC is 20-4 at home in the series, although Oregon State's four road wins during that stretch were part of season sweeps (1995, 2003, 2010 and 2014).
The teams split the series last season with each winning at home. Oregon State got the victory, 59-55 on Jan. 24 at Gill Coliseum, before the Trojans won 68-55 on Feb. 14 at the Galen Center.
A WIN OVER THE TROJANS: If Oregon State defeats USC it will improve to 18-10 overall and 9-8 in Pac-12 play. It would also:
- Equal Oregon State's most conference wins since the 1989-90 team went 15-3 (the 1992-93 team finished 9-9).
- Be the third time since 2010 the Beavers swept the season series (the teams played only once in 2012 and 2013).
Click on the PDF in the Related Links box above for the full game notes.
