Men's Basketball Opens Home Conference Slate
January 6, 1999
Corvallis, Ore. -
THE SCHEDULE: Oregon State (6-5, 0-2 in Pac-10) opens its 1998-99 Pac-10 Conference home slate this week with games vs. the No. 7 UCLA Bruins (10-2, 2-0) and the University of Southern California Trojans (9-2, 1-1). The Beavers and Bruins will tip at 7:07 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 7 and the game will be televised live to Southern California via Fox West 2. OSU-USC will tip at 7:07 p.m. Sat., Jan. 9. Both games will be played at Ralph Miller Court in Gill Coliseum.
TENTATIVE STARTERS: OREGON STATE (6-5, 0-2 in Pac-10) F-34 Iyan Walker, 6-7, Jr., 8.1 pts, 4.5 reb C-40 Jason Heide, 6-10, So., 10.5 pts, 5.9 reb or 54 George von Backstrom, 7-0, 250, Jr., 4.3 pts, 2.9 reb G- 4 Deaundra Tanner, 6-2, So., 13.3 pts, 5.6 reb G-31 Ramunas Petraitis, 6-3, Jr., 6.5 pts, 4.1 reb G- 25 Josh Steinthal, 6-4, So., 9.3 pts, 2.8 rebSTREAKS: Oregon State has dropped two straight, and three consecutive Pac-10 games dating back to last season. The Beavers are a perfect 5-0 in Gill Coliseum this year.UCLA (10-2, 2-0 in Pac-10) F-0 Jerome Moiso, 6-11, Fr., 13.7 pts, 6.7 reb F-22 Rico Hines, 6-4, So., 3.8 pts, 2.4 reb C-50 Dan Gadzuric, 6-10, Fr., 8.5 pts, 5.7 reb G- 5 Baron Davis, 6-3, So., 10.1 pts, 2.5 reb G-25 Earl Watson, 6-0, So., 13.0 pts, 4.3 reb
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (9-2, 1-1 in Pac-10) F-50 Sam Clancy, 6-7, Fr., 5.2 pts, 5.0 reb F/C-24 Brian Scalabrine, 6-9, So., 16.2 pts, 7.6 reb G- 5 Brandon Granville, 5-9, Fr., 8.4 pts, 2.4 reb G-12 Jeff Trepagnier, 6-4, So., 13.2 pts, 4.8 reb G-20 Elias Ayuso, 6-2, Sr., 9.6 pts, 1.6 reb
OSU VS. UCLA: This will be the 95th meeting in the series. UCLA has a 65-29 advantage and has won 11 straight games in the series. Oregon State has won only three of 18 meetings this decade, the last victory coming Jan. 16, 1993 over the then No. 15 Bruins, 79-73. The last four meetings in Corvallis have been decided by 10 points or less. Toby Bailey scored 21 points, and J.R. Henderson and Kris Johnson added 20 in UCLAs 84-75 victory in Corvallis last season. Corey Benjamin had a game-high 34 for OSU. UCLA won at Pauley last season 90-72.
OSU VS. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Oregon State leads this competitive series, 49-48. The games in Gill Coliseum have been particularly exciting of late, with two of the last four being decided in overtime. The Beavers snapped a three-game USC win streak in the series, with its 83-74 overtime victory on Ralph Miller Court last season. Corey Benjamin sparked OSU with 33 points in the win, while Adam Spanich led USC with 14 points. The Trojans won the first encounter last season when they came from a 12-point deficit in the second half to win 71-67 at the Sports Arena.
PAC-10 HOME OPENERS: Oregon State has lost its last two home Pac-10 Conference openers, and they havent been pretty. The Beavers lost to Stanford by 20 points last season and Oregon by 22 points in 1997.
IRON, THATS ALL: Oregon State has held its opponents to a combined shooting percentage of .357 through 11 games, first in the Pac-10 Conference and fifth in the nation. Only Minnesota (.344), Missouri (.352), Northwestern (.352) and Kansas State (.355) rank higher. California and Arkansas-Pine Bluff failed to hit 30 percent against OSU this season.
IRON, THATS ALL II: The good news is OSUs field goal percentage defense, the bad news is OSUs field goal percentage. The Beavers are at .412 for the season, a distant 10th in the league.
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: Oregon State is averaging 14.1 turnovers per game, the second lowest figure in the Pac-10 (Stanford/12.5). The Beavers have had 20 or more turnovers just twice this season, and a season-low nine at BYU-Hawaii. If OSU were to finish the year with that 14.1 average, it would be its lowest since 1990-91 (14.0).
CHARITY STRIPE TROUBLES: Oregon State continues to be inconsistent at the free throw line. The Beavers hit just 8 of 16 (.500) at California in a two-point loss, after nailing 10 of 13 at Stanford two nights earlier. For the season OSU is 153-for-244, a percentage of .627. In four of the past five seasons, the Beavers have finished the year under 63 percent. OSUs opponents are struggling as well, hitting just .593.
CLEANING THE WINDOWS: Oregon State enters game 12 of the season with a rebounding margin of plus-5.6. The Beavers are averaging 40.1 boards per game, which if the season ended today, would be the third best mark in school history. Last season OSU finished the year on the plus side for rebounding (+1.6/35.7 pg) for the first time since the 1984-85 season.
FIRST HALF SCORING DROUGHT: Oregon State has struggled scoring in the first half of games of late - in three of the last five contests the team has had 21 or fewer points at the break.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1:" You hear a lot of those countdowns from the Beaver bench, as Oregon State uses or would prefer to use a majority of the shot clock on its offensive possessions. To further illustrate, OSU is averaging 14 fewer points per game this season, as compared to a year ago.
IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING: Oregon State has lost 11 consecutive games to ranked teams. The last time OSU defeated a top-25 club was Jan. 18, 1997 over then No. 15 Stanford in Corvallis, 86-77.
GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK: Longtime radio play-by-play man Darrell Aune returns to the microphone this week after missing six games due to eye surgery.
BEAVERS PICKED 10TH? Media from around the West Coast have selected Oregon State 10th in the preseason Pac-10 media poll. Stanford received 36 of the possible 37 first place votes, followed by Arizona, Washington, UCLA, California (1 vote), Arizona State and Oregon tied for 6th; USC, Washington State, and Oregon State.
EDDIE PAYNE: Head Coach Eddie Payne is in his fourth year at Oregon State and has a record of 32-64. He now has an overall record of 191-172. Payne has previously been the Head Coach at Truett-McConnell Junior College in Cleveland, Georgia; Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., and at East Carolina University. His teams at Belmont Abbey posted a mark of 103-51 in five seasons; and in four seasons at ECU he was 70-72. Payne has also been an assistant coach at South Carolina, East Carolina and Clemson. His four-year institution season-by-season record follows: 1982 at B.A. (17-10); 1983 at B.A. (15-14); 1984 at B.A. (26-11); 1985 at B.A. (21-10); 1986 at B.A. (24-6); 1992 at ECU (10-18); 1993 at ECU (13-17); 1994 at ECU (15-12); 1995 at ECU (18-11); 1996 at OSU (6-21); 1997 at OSU (7-20); 1998 at OSU (13-17).
"I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU:" Beaver mens player Ramunas Petraitis and womens player Reda Kakernaite are engaged. The two juniors plan to wait until their college careers are over before being married.
WALK THIS WAY: Head Coach Eddie Payne added walk-ons Josiah Lake of Salem, Ore., and Jeremiah Dodrill of Bandon, Ore., shortly after the first official day of practice. Lake is a 61" junior guard and Dodrill is a 66" sophomore forward. Dodrill is out indefinitely with a broken hand.
TANNER TALES: Sophomore guard Deaundra Tanner is a postseason honors candidate...he has scored in double figures in 13 of his last 18 regular season games...has nearly a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio (40/23)...has struggled from the field the last three games, hitting just 7 of 37 (.189)...one of three Beavers to start every game, and now has a streak of 25 starts...averaging 14 field goal attempts per game - no other Beaver is in double figures for attempts...he tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the exhibition game vs. Costa Rica, although unofficial, it was the first triple-double by a Beaver since Gary Payton Nov. 26, 1988...had a streak of 16 consecutive regular season games of 30 or more minutes broken against the College of Notre Dame, when he played 26...has led team in scoring in six of 11 games this season...scored a season-high 23 points vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, registered 22 vs. Tulsa and 21 vs. UC Irvine...has six 20-plus scoring games for his career...averaging a team-high 13.3 points and 3.6 assists per game...the only Beaver to average over 30 minutes per game this season...had a season-high eight assists vs. Chicago State...member of the 1998 Pacific-10 Conference All-Freshmen Team.
BIG GEORGE: Junior center George von Backstrom is averaging 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds for the season...has hit 17 of 19 free throw attempts for a percentage of .895...scored a career-high 12 points vs. UC Irvine and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds vs. Idaho State.
WALKERS WAYS: Junior forward Iyan Walker is playing his best basketball of his college career, after struggling with injuries over the last three years...Walker is averaging 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds for the season...he scored a career-high 14 points at California last Monday...tallied 13 points vs. UC Irvine and 12 against Alabama and the Coll. of Notre Dame...needs to improve on his consistency - in the last eight games he has hit double figures for scoring in every other game...blocked a career-high four shots vs. College of Notre Dame...he pulled down a career-best seven rebounds vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff...tied his career high with four steals vs. BYU-Hawaii...shooting .557 (34-61) from the field for the season.
JOSHS JABS: Sophomore guard Josh Steinthal is averaging 9.3 points..for the season he is at .356 from the field, but over the last three games has hit .520 (13-25)...scored a career-high 20 points at Stanford...has scored in double figures four times this season...leads the team for three-point field goals made (18) and attempted (58)...has started the last three games.
HEIDES HYPE: Sophomore forward/center Jason Heide is second for the team for scoring (10.5) and the team leader for rebounding (5.9)...scored a career-high 20 points vs. Chicago State...had his second career double-double when he scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds at California...also tallied 18 points to go with his nine rebounds vs. Colorado State...had 18 points vs. the College of Notre Dame as well...tied his career-high with three blocked shots vs. the College of Notre Dame...shooting .525 (42-80) from the field.
PETRAITIS PARTICULARS: Junior guard Ramunas Petraitis scored a double-double vs. UC Irvine (12 pts, 10 reb)...scored a career-high 17 points vs. Chicago State, after missing the AIA and second half of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff game with a sprained left ankle...possibly the strongest and most physical player on the team...has hit 13 of 35 (.371) from three-point range...had a career-high seven assists vs. College of Notre Dame...has started every game this season...has only averaged three field goal attempts over the last three games, after averaging nearly six per game in the first eight contests.
CLIFF NOTES: Junior forward Clifton Jones is averaging 3.5 points and 4.9 rebounds for the season...the best leaper on the team...good around the glass...has fouled out of three of the last five games...had nine rebounds at California, his OSU career-high...grabbed eight rebounds vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Idaho State and the College of Notre Dame...hit a pair of clutch free throws vs. BYU-Hawaii, but is only .357 (10-28) from the line for the season...knack for keeping the ball alive...blocked three shots in three games...averaging 7.0 rebounds over the last three games.
SASAS STATS: Senior forward Sasa Petrovic is averaging 2.0 points...the most experienced player on the team with 79 games played...started the first four games, but has since seen his time dramatically decrease.
ADAMS ANTICS: Freshman guard Adam Masten has played in every game, and started four...he and Clifton Jones are the two most improved players on the roster since the beginning of the season...averaging 3.6 points and 2.6 rebounds...started his first collegiate game vs. Chicago State and responded with six assists in 25 minutes...scored his collegiate career-high of 11 points at Stanford, hitting 3 of 3 from three-point range...scored nine points vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff...has connected on his last four three-point field goal attempts.
SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE: The Beavers received three national letters of intent during the week-long fall signing period, which ended Nov. 18. Brian Jackson and Mike Cokley, both of Knappa High School in Knappa, Ore., and Jimmy Haywood of Franklin High School in Seattle will join the club next fall. Jackson is a 610 forward who has a 21.2 career scoring average and is a member of the Orange County Registers "Fab 15." Cokley is a 510 guard who averaged 15 points, seven assists and five steals last season. Haywood is a 62" guard who averaged 14.5 points last season and is a member of the "Fab 15" second team. The Beavers have two scholarships to award, during the late signing period runs from April 7 to May 15.
STARTING LINEUPS: The following is a look at the starting lineups used by Oregon State this season:
vs. Idaho State: Petrovic, Walker, von Backstrom, Tanner, Petraitis vs. UC Irvine: Petrovic, Walker, von Backstrom, Tanner, Petraitis vs. Colorado State: Petrovic, Walker, von Backstrom, Tanner, Petraitis vs. Ark-Pine Bluff: Petrovic, Walker, von Backstrom, Tanner, Petraitis vs. Chicago State: Masten, Walker, Heide, Tanner, Petraitis vs. BYU-Hawaii: Masten, Walker, Heide, Tanner, Petraitis vs. Alabama Masten, Walker, Heide, Tanner, Petraitis vs. Tulsa Masten, Walker, Heide, Tanner, Petraitis vs. Coll. Notre Dame Walker, Petraitis, von Backstrom, Tanner, Steinthal vs. Stanford Walker, Petraitis, von Backstrom, Tanner, Steinthal vs. California Walker, Petraitis, von Backstrom, Tanner, Steinthal
