Men's Basketball at UCLA Sunday
February 5, 1999
Corvallis, Ore. - THE SCHEDULE: Oregon State (11-8, 5-5 in Pac-10) travels to Pauley Pavilion Sun., Feb. 7 to play the No. 13 (USA/ESPN) UCLA Bruins (16-5, 7-3). The game will tip at 12:30 p.m. and will be televised live by ABC, to a regional audience.
TENTATIVE STARTERS: OREGON STATE (11-8, 5-5 in Pac-10) F-11 Clifton Jones, 6-8, Jr., 5.2 pts, 6.4 reb C-54 George von Backstrom, 7-0, Jr., 3.8 pts, 2.7 reb G- 4 Deaundra Tanner, 6-2, So., 14.5 pts, 5.4 reb G-31 Ramunas Petraitis, 6-3, Jr., 7.6 pts, 3.9 reb G- 25 Josh Steinthal, 6-4, So., 10.4 pts, 2.5 rebSTREAKS: Oregon State has lost five straight road games, and six straight Pac-10 road games dating back to last season. OSU is riding a 10-game Gill Coliseum win streak, its second-longest of this decade.UCLA (16-5, 7-3 in Pac-10/stats prior to Oregon) F-00 Jerome Moiso, 6-11, Fr., 13.1 pts, 6.5 reb F-23 Matt Barnes, 6-7, Fr., 3.8 pts, 2.8 reb C-50 Dan Gadzuric, 6-10, Fr., 9.2 pts, 6.1 reb G- 5 Baron Davis, 6-3, So., 13.8 pts, 3.1 reb G-25 Earl Watson, 6-0, So., 13.2 pts, 3.7 reb
STREAKS SNAPPED: By virtue of being undefeated at home this season, the Beavers have ended some lengthy negative streaks. The win over UCLA (Jan. 7) snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Bruins, the victory over Arizona (Jan. 23) ended a 17-game losing streak to the Wildcats and the win over Oregon (Jan. 30) concluded a 10-game losing streak to the Ducks. The Beavers longest current losing streak to any conference opponent is now six games, and that to Washington.
OSU VS. UCLA: UCLA has a 65-30 lead in the series, but had its 11-game win streak snapped in its 65-63 loss to the Beavers Jan. 7. Deaundra Tanner had 19 points and Josh Steinthal added 18 in the win over the then No. 7 Bruins. Baron Davis and Earl Watson each had 15 points for UCLA. The Bruins shot only .284 from the field, the lowest for any team in a Pac-10 games this season. In contrast, UCLA shot .611 in its 90-72 victory at Pauley Pavilion last year. Kris Johnson had a game-high 20 for the Bruins, while John-Blair Bickerstaff had 16 for OSU...Oregon State has lost nine straight at Pauley Pavilion.
RETURN TO SENDER: Oregon State enters the UCLA game averaging 3.9 blocked shots per game. The school record for blocked shots in one game entering this season was nine, but the Beavers have eclipsed that mark twice this year with 10 vs. the College of Notre Dame and Oregon. Junior forward Clifton Jones tied a school record with six rejections vs. Oregon.
BY THE NUMBERS: The following is a statistical comparison for Pac-10 games only for Oregon State and its opponents:
Corvallis at OPP Diff. OSU Points Per Game 64.6 59.6 5.0 Opp. Points Per Game 56.8 73.2 16.4 OSU Reb. Per Game 37.0 33.2 3.8 Opp. Reb. Per Game 40.4 34.6 5.8 Field Goal Pct. .467 .424 4.3% Opp. Field Goal Pct. .341 .441 10.0% 3-PT Field Goal Pct. .392 .293 9.9% Opp. 3-PT FG Pct. .186 .441 25.5%"YOU HAVE TO BLOCK OUT:" Offensive rebounds have been a problem for Oregon State this year, in fact the Beavers opponents have an edge of 249-213 overall in the category and 153-104 in Pac-10 games only. Two teams, UCLA and California actually finished the game with more offensive board than defensive, and Arizona State finished the game with a 19-19 ratio.
THE TREND CONTINUES? At USC Thursday, Oregon State continued its trend of playing poorly in its first away game of a Pacific-10 Conference road trip. Here is a look at the combined statistics of Oregon State and its opponents in games at Stanford, Washington and USC, compared to games at California and Washington State:
1st Rd Game Last Rd Game Diff. OSU Points 55.7 65.5 9.8 Opp. Points 76.0 69.0 7.0 OSU Reb. Per Game 31.7 35.5 3.8 Opp. Reb. Per Game 33.7 36.0 2.3 OSU Field Goal Pct. .394 .471 7.7% Opp. Field Goal Pct. .491 .368 12.3%IMPROVING TEAM: Oregon State continues to show improvement in numerous areas since the start of the conference season. Here is a look at some of the improving numbers:
Pre-Pac-10 Pac-10
Josh Steinthal 8.4 Pts pg 12.1 Pts pg
.318 FG Pct. .407 FG Pct.
Clifton Jones 3.7 Pts pg 6.6 Pts pg
4.6 Reb pg 8.0 Reb pg
Adam Masten .360 FG Pct. .520 FG Pct.
2.9 Pts pg 4.1 Pts pg
Team .414 FG Pct. .445 FG Pct.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB: Four double-doubles have been achieved this season by Oregon State players, two by Clifton Jones. Jones, in fact, had two straight double-doubles - 20 points, 11 rebounds at Washington State/10 points, 12 rebounds vs. Arizona State. Ramunas Petraitis scored a double-double vs. UC Irvine with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jason Heide had a 15-point, 11-rebound performance at California.PAC-10 WINS: Its modest, but Oregon States five Pac-10 Conference wins is its most since the 1994-95 season. Since the six-win 95 season, OSU has gone 2-16, 3-15, and 3-15.
THREE-POINT ACCURACY: Oregon State enters the UCLA game with a .342 (107-313) percentage for three-point shooting. If the season ended today, that would be the best percentage for a Beaver team since 1991-92 (.353). The school record was set in 1987-88 at .406 (97-239). Meanwhile, OSUs opponents have hit .295 from behind the arc, which would be a school record for futility.
INTERESTED FOLKS: For the first time since the 1992-93 season (twice), more than 10,000 fans have witnessed a game at Gill Coliseum more than once in a season. The Civil War was sold out (10,400) and 10,204 attended the OSU-Arizona game.
IRON, THATS ALL: Oregon State has held its opponents to a combined shooting percentage of .371 through 19 games, and entered the week first in the Pac-10 Conference and third nationally for field goal percentage defense. Only Kansas State and Northwestern began the week with a better percentage.
IRON, THATS ALL II: As previously noted, Oregon State is among the nations best for field goal percentage defense. Here is a look at the shooting percentages at Gill Coliseum for OSUs Division I opponents during the actual game and what they are currently shooting for the season:
at OSU Season Idaho State .382 .416 UC Irvine .403 .439 Arkansas-Pine Bluff .266 .350 Chicago State* .370 .349 UCLA .284 .460 USC .383 .441 Arizona State .323 .439 Arizona .426 .475 Oregon .315 .444*The only team to shoot better in Gill than for the season.
IRON, THATS ALL III: The good news is OSUs field goal percentage defense, the bad news is OSUs field goal percentage. The Beavers are at .430 for the season and in the conference cellar in the category, but over the last three games they have combined for .472. However, OSU entered the week fourth in the Pac-10 for three-point shooting at .344.
ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER: Poor shooting leads to fewer points, and that is what OSUs opponents are finding this season. The Beavers entered this week 12th in the nation for scoring defense at 59.2, now at 60.6. Detroit leads the nation at (53.2), followed by Wisconsin (54.8), Utah (55.5), Northwestern (55.7), Wisconsin-Green Bay (56.4), Stanford (56.6), Temple (57.8), Butler (58.0), Oklahoma (58.1), Southern Mississippi (59.0), and Iowa State (59.1). OSU hasnt held its opponents to under 60 points per game for an entire season since 1984-85 (57.7).
ON THE OTHER HAND: In the "there are two sides to every story" category, OSUs entered the week tenth in the Pac-10 for scoring at 63.4 points per game. California is ninth at 73.8.
CLEANING THE WINDOWS: Oregon State enters game 20 of the season with a rebounding margin of plus-1.8. 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. However, in Pac-10 games only the Beavers are -2.4. 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 37-66. He now has an overall record of 196-174. 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 (Kah-KER-A-NAY-Tuh) are engaged. The two juniors plan to wait until their college careers are over before being married.
WALK THIS WAY: Head Coach Eddie Payne has added walk-ons Josiah Lake of Salem, Ore., Jeremiah Dodrill of Bandon, Ore., and Scott Peterson of Corvallis. Lake is a 61" junior guard, Dodrill is a 66" sophomore forward and Peterson is a 510" sophomore guard.
TANNER TALES: Sophomore guard Deaundra Tanner is a postseason honors candidate...he has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games and 20 of the last 26 regular season games...he scored all 10 of OSUs points in overtime vs. USC, and overall hit 5 of 5 three-point field goals...named Pac-10 Player of the Week after OSUs upset wins over UCLA and USC, when he averaged 23.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists...one of two Beavers to start every game, and now has a streak of 33 starts...connected on 16 of 44 (.364) from three-point range over the last seven games...averaging 14 field goal attempts per game...matched his career-high of nine assists vs. Arizona...has 18 steals in the last eight games...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...has played 30 or more minutes in 25 of the last 26 games...has led team in scoring in 12 of 19 games this season...had a career-high 27 points and matched his career-high with 12 rebounds vs. USC - also his first career double-double...scored 23 points vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, registered 22 vs. Tulsa and 21 vs. UC Irvine...has seven 20-plus scoring games for his career...averaging a team-high 14.5 points and 4.1 assists per game...also second for the team in rebounding at 5.4...entered the week tied for 7th in the Pac-10 for scoring, 18th for rebounding, 12th for steals (1.8), and seventh for assists...the only Beaver to average over 30 minutes per game this season...member of the 1998 Pacific-10 Conference All-Freshmen Team.
BIG GEORGE: Junior center George von Backstrom is averaging 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds for the season...has hit 22 of 25 free throw attempts for a percentage of .880...scored a career-high 12 points vs. UC Irvine and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds vs. Idaho State...started 10 consecutive games...shooting .510 (25-49) for the season...although he starts, his playing time has generally decreased during the conference season.
WALKERS WAYS: Junior forward Iyan Walker is averaging 5.2 points and 3.3 rebounds for the season...struggling from the field in Pac-10 games, hitting just .371 (13-35)...he scored a career-high 14 points at California...tallied 13 points vs. UC Irvine and 12 against Alabama and the Coll. of Notre Dame...needs to improve on his consistency...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...playing time has decreased of late.
JOSHS JABS: Sophomore guard Josh Steinthal is averaging 10.4 points for the season, the only player other than Tanner in double figures...averaging 12.1 points in conference games...for the season he is shooting .369 from the field...scored a career-high 20 points at Stanford and vs. USC...has scored in double figures nine times this season...has struggled of late from beyond the arc, hitting just 4 of 27 (.148) in the last five contests...has started the last 11 games...played a career-high 40 minutes vs. USC.
HEIDES HYPE: Sophomore forward/center Jason Heide is third for the team for scoring (9.9) and rebounding (5.1)...over the last four games he has averaged 12.3 points...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 and 16 vs. Arizona State...tied his career-high with three blocked shots vs. the College of Notre Dame...shooting .558 (72-129) from the field overall, including .627 (37-59) over the last nine games...he would rank third in the conference for field goal percentage, but he is four made shots short of qualifying.
PETRAITIS PARTICULARS: Junior guard Ramunas Petraitis scored a double-double vs. UC Irvine (12 pts, 10 reb), and nearly achieved the same feat vs. UCLA (10 pts, 9 reb)...scored a career-high 17 points vs. Chicago State, and posted 15 vs. Arizona State...possibly the strongest and most physical player on the team...has hit 22 of 59 (.373) from three-point range...had a career-high seven assists vs. College of Notre Dame...has started every game this season...shooting .567 (17-30) over the last five games...he and Tanner are the only players to start every game.
CLIFF NOTES: Junior forward Clifton Jones is averaging 5.2 points and 6.4 rebounds for the season...also averaging 1.4 blocked shots, tied for third in the Pac-10 with Arizonas A.J. Bramlett...rejected six shots vs. Oregon, matching a school record...scored his first career double-double when he had 20 points and 11 rebounds at Washington State, and followed with a 10-point, 12-rebound effort vs. Arizona State, and 13 points and eight rebounds vs. Arizona...has started six of the last seven games...averaging a team-high 6.4 rebounds, including 8.0 in conference action...over the last five games he has averaged 11.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and shot .719 (23-32) from the field...the best leaper on the team...has fouled out of three games...had nine rebounds at California...grabbed eight rebounds vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Idaho State, UCLA and the College of Notre Dame...shooting just .356 (21-59) from the free throw line...hit a pair of clutch free throws vs. BYU-Hawaii...knack for keeping the ball alive...blocked three shots in three games.
OSU SINGLE SEASON BLOCKED SHOTS 7. Jose Ortiz (1986) 32 8. Steve Johnson (1980) 30 Will Brantley (1991) 30 10. Chad Scott (1991) 28 Clifton Jones (1999) 26SASAS STATS: Senior forward Sasa Petrovic is averaging 1.8 points...the most experienced player on the team with 83 games played...started the first four games, but has since seen his time dramatically decrease...missed the game at WSU with a mid-foot sprain.
ADAMS ANTICS: Freshman guard Adam Masten has played in every game, and started four...he is one of the most improved players on the roster since the beginning of the season...averaging 3.5 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 12 vs. Arizona State, hitting 3 of 4 from three-point range...had 11 points at Stanford, hitting 3 of 3 from three-point range...scored nine points vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff...hit a clutch free throw at the end of the OSU win over UCLA...matched his career-high with three steals vs. USC...knack for collecting loose balls.
LAKE EFFECTS: Junior walk-on guard Josiah Lake continues to get "spot" minutes for OSU...he has played in double figures for minutes four times...scored a career-high seven points at Washington State and vs. Chicago State...had five rebounds vs. the College of Notre Dame.
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.
