Beavers Set to Begin NIT Tip-Off Wednesday

THE GAME: The Oregon State men's basketball team heads to Brooklyn this week for the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center. The Beavers will open the event on Wednesday when they face No. 13 Baylor.

TELEVISION: The game will be carried on ESPN2

RADIO: The game will air live on Beaver Sports Radio Network with Jon Warren calling the action.

LIVE STATS: Live stats will be available at this link

QUICKLY: Oregon State suffered its first defeat of the season on Saturday, falling to Nebraska at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Prior to that, the Beavers had opened the season with three-straight wins for the second consecutive year ... Oregon State is 1-1 all-time against Baylor. The teams last met in the 1972-73 season, with the Beavers taking an 88-54 win at the Far West Classic in Portland, Ore. ... Sophomores Jordan Pope and Tyler Bilodeau have been in double-figures in all four of the Beavers' games this season ... Pope has scored 25 points in back-to-back games, the first Beaver to do so since Tres Tinkle went for 26 points against Portland State and Arkasas-Pine Bluff in 2019 ... Pope is first among Pac-12 sophomores in scoring, while Bilodeau is third ... Pope was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team ... Oregon State returns a six-player sophomore classs, which combined for 64 games started and averaged a combined 33 points per game last season ... The Beavers were one of seven teams in the nation last season with three or more freshmen averaging 6.0 points or more per game (Pope, Bilodeau, Rataj) ... Prior to last season, the last Oregon State freshman trio to average over six points per contest was Tres Tinkle, Stephen Thompson Jr. and Drew Eubanks in 2015-16.

THE TEAM: Here are some quick-hitters about the 2023-24 Oregon State men's basketball team:
- Oregon State has scored first in all four games this season
- As of Sunday morning, there have been a total of 22 overtime games in NCAA basketball this season, and the Beavers have competed in two of them
- The Beavers have held opponents to 34.6 percent shooting in the first half of games this season.
- Oregon State returns 62.5 percent of its minutes played from last season, the third highest total in the Pac-12
- Eleven of the Beavers' first 14 games of the season will be at Gill Coliseum, with the other three being neutral site games.
- Oregon State will not play its first true road game of the season until Jan. 4.
- The Beavers welcome four new scholarship players on to this year's squad - freshmen Gavin Marrs, Thomas Ndong and DaJohn Craig, along with junior-college transfer Nate Meithof. Meithof is expected to miss the season due to injury.
- Stephen Thompson is returning to an assistant coaching role this season, after spending last year as Assistant Athletic Director for Player Development. Former Beaver great Roberto Nelson is taking over Thompson's previous position.
- Oregon State will compete in a pair of prestigious neutral-site events during the nonconference season, as the Beavers took on Nebraska at the Sanford Pentagon Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D. before heading to Brooklyn for the NIT Season Tip-Off, which also features Baylor, Florida and Pittsburgh.
- Oregon State has held opponents to 69.2 points per game during the Wayne Tinkle era, and 67.2 points per contest at Gill Coliseum over that span.
- The Beavers are 94-57 at Gill Coliseum under Tinkle's leadership
- The Beavers will not play at Arizona or at home vs. California this season a part of the Pac-12 schedule rotation.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyler Bilodeau

DaJohn Craig

Drew Eubanks

Nate Kingz

Gavin Marrs

Thomas Ndong

Jordan Pope

Stephen Thompson Jr.

Tres Tinkle