Beavers, Devils To Battle At Pac-12 Tourney
March 07, 2016 | Men's Basketball
THE GAME: Oregon State (18-11, 9-9 Pac-12) will face Arizona State (15-16, 5-13) in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament at 8:40 p.m. on Wednesday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
TELEVISION: The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Oregon with Ted Robinson and Bill Walton calling the action and Lewis Johnson reporting from the sideline.
For information on how to watch the game online or on a mobile device, click on this link. If you live overseas and want to watch the game, it is available via Eversport or YouTube at this link.
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 March 6 games, Oregon State is No. 30 in the RPI with six top-50 RPI wins and a strength of schedule of eighth in the nation ... The Beavers finished Pac-12 play with a 9-9 record, their best conference mark since 1993 ... Oregon State is 6-0 (4-0 Pac-12) in games decided by five points or less this season; 9-2 (7-1 Pac-12) in two seasons under Wayne Tinkle ... Gary Payton II led the Pac-12 in assists (5.4) and steals (2.3) in conference games ... Stephen Thompson Jr. got his first career starts on the Los Angeles trip and averaged 19.5 points, including a career-high 23 in the win over UCLA ... Olaf Schaftenaar is 13-for-25 (52.0 percent) from beyond the arc the past five games; he knocked down a career-best five triples at UCLA ... Tres Tinkle missed the past two games with an injury to his right foot; he's questionable for Wednesday's game against Arizona State ... Oregon State has at least 17 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1989 (22-8) and 1990 (22-7).
Pac-12 Tournament Notes: Oregon State is the No. 6 seed and opens the tournament against No. 11-seed Arizona State at 8:40 p.m. on Wednesday:
- The Beavers are the No. 6 seed, their highest since being the No. 6 seed in 2010 when that tournament included nine teams.
- Oregon State is 8-16 all-time in the Pac-12 Tournament. Arizona State is 6-17.
- The No. 6 seed is 4-0 all-time against the No. 11 seed.
- Oregon State and Arizona State have met twice in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Sun Devils won 83-75 on March 9, 1990 in the quarterfinals in Tempe. Gary Payton was a senior and scored 31 points in the loss. The Beavers won 71-68 on March 8, 2006 in the first round in Los Angeles.
- Oregon State's last five wins in the Pac-12 Tournament have come as the lower seed. The Beavers last win in the tournament came against No. 1-seed Washington, 86-84, in the quarterfinals on March 8, 2012.
- The Beavers are 1-5 all-time (0-3 Pac-12 Tournament) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The win came on Dec. 22, 2012 in the first-ever basketball game played at the Grand Garden Arena when they defeated San Diego, 86-79. Oregon State's three Pac-12 Tournament losses came against Colorado (74-68 on March 13, 2013), Oregon (88-74 on March 12, 2014) and Colorado (78-71 on March 11, 2015). The Beavers lost to Oklahoma State (66-53 on Nov. 24) and Auburn (71-69 on Nov. 25) in the MGM Grand Main Event last season.
- In the lone meeting between the teams this season, Arizona State defeated Oregon State, 86-68, on Jan. 28 in Tempe.
- The Oregon State-Arizona State winner will play No. 3-seed California at 8:45 p.m. on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Click on the PDF in the Related Links box above for the full game notes.
