Pac-10 Tournament Berth on the Line This Week
March 2, 2004
Corvallis, Ore. -
Complete Release/Statistics in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
THEME: Oregon State enters the week needing at least one victory to have an opportunity to extend its season -- at next week's Pacific Life Pac-10 Conference Tournament at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (top-8 qualify). Washington State remains one game in front of the Beavers in eighth place, however OSU would win the tiebreaker with the Cougars in the event the two teams end in a tie in the standings by virtue of the Beavers winning both games this season in head-to-head competition. WSU hosts No. 1 Stanford Thursday and California Saturday. Meanwhile, UCLA enters the week looking to snap a three-game losing streak and in the process solidify a seeding for the tournament. According to the Pac-10 Tournament handbook, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head, with the second being each team's record vs. the highest placed team or "when arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team's record against the collective tied teams as a group (prior to that group's own tie-breaking procedure), rather than the performance against individual tied teams."
SERIES: UCLA owns a 73-30 advantage in the series, which dates back to the 1924-25 season in Los Angeles. The Bruins enter Thursday's contest with a four-game win streak at Gill Coliseum. UCLA erased a 10-point second half deficit (36-26) with a 30-10 run from the 18:54 mark to 11:01 (56-46) and hung on for a 77-66 victory in the conference opener (Jan. 2). OSU cut the lead back to just one on a David Lucas layin at 8:25, making the score 56-55. UCLA hit 23 of 34 (.676) from the field in the second half. Trevor Ariza led the Bruins with 24 points, while Chris Stephens paced the Beavers with 16.
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE DOWN: Oregon State has shot 60 percent or less from the free throw line five times in 26 games, including the last three. The Beavers have hit just .536 (30-56) from the charity stripe over the last three contests after making .722 (65-90) over the previous four.
TURNOVER TALK: Oregon State has turned the ball over less than 10 times in three conference games this season, all victories (vs. UO, @ WSU, vs. UA). On the other side of the court, the Beavers have forced 18-plus in each of its last four games, well above their opponents' season averages. OSU entered the week leading the conference with a plus-2.65 turnover margin.
DOUBLE THREAT: OSU's David Lucas (17.5) and Chris Stephens (15.5) have become the top double scoring threat at the school in many seasons. The last time two Beavers averaged 15-plus points in the same season was in 1995 -- Brent Barry (21.0) and Mustapha Hoff (18.6).
SECOND CHANCE OPPORTUNITIES: Of late, OSU has been a force on the offensive boards, highlighted by its conference team-high 19 at Washington. The Beavers have 101 (14.4) offensive boards over the last seven games, compared to 68 (9.7) for their opponents. The Beavers are second in the league averaging 13.4 offensive boards per game,
GEOGRAPHY LESSON: Junior forward Jim Hanchett would likely do pretty well in a geography class. Hanchett has resided in Brazil, Germany, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Georgia.
YOUTHFUL LOOK: Three true-freshmen have played this season, with the trio combining for 23 starts. Oregon State is one of only six schools in the nation without a senior on its roster, joining Pepperdine, Wake Forest, Tennessee, UNC-Asheville, and Harvard.
THE "START" OF SOMETHING: Entering Thursday's contest, Oregon State's eligible players have combined for 183 career Division I starts -- the lowest number in the Pac-10 Conference. Counting games through Feb. 28, the rest of the league shapes up with California (228), UCLA (232), Oregon (233), Arizona State (242), Arizona (260), Washington (266), Stanford (281), Washington State (306), and USC (328).
WELL WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION: Seven overtime periods in 25 regular season games, plus another during the exhibition slate. The Beavers have played two single overtime games (at Hawaii/vs. Washington), double overtime (vs. Portland), and triple overtime (vs. Kansas State). The four games that have gone to extra periods are the most since the 1985-86 season. The last time OSU played five overtime games in one season was the 1966-67 campaign (4-1). The total of seven overtime periods is a school record, eclipsing the five played by the 1982-83 club.
10TH NO MORE: Oregon State entered the week seventh in the Pac-10 for scoring, currently at 72.8. Seventh would be a significant improvement from recent years. A closer look.
Year Avg. Rank 2003 68.0 10th 2002 64.3 10th 2001 61.9 10th 2000 69.6 8th
10TH NO MORE, PART II: Further evidence of head coach Jay John's belief in "pushing the ball," Oregon State has scored 80-plus points 15 times in the 54-game John era. The program hit the 80-point plateau just six times in 59 games during the two-year reign of Ritchie McKay, and 16 times during the Eddie Payne 130-game tenure.
SHOOTER! SHOOTER! A common exclamation coming from coaches during games when a known shooting threat has the ball; maybe that should be the cry every time a Beaver has possession. Nine of OSU's 12 eligible players have attempted at least one three-point field goal, only Kyle Jeffers, Michael Johnson, and Derek Potter have failed to attempt a three, and only Potter is not a realistic threat from that range.
HOME TEAM: Oregon State's 17 regular season home dates are the most in the program's modern history. The team made only two non-conference road trips this season, Dec. 1 at Colorado and Dec. 15 at Hawai'i.
TEAM CAPTAINS: Junior guard J.S. Nash and sophomore guard Lamar Hurd have been elected team captains for this season.
MAJOR MINUTES: Oregon State players haven't had too much to complain about regarding "their" minutes. Eight players are averaging in double figures, with three averaging 32.5-plus. Point guard Lamar Hurd, who led the team last year for minutes played at 33.7, is playing 34.4 per game -- that does include a 45-minute double-overtime stint vs. Portland and a 43-minute effort vs. Kansas State. Guard J.S. Nash, who entered the year averaging 21.6 minutes for his 55-game career, is up to 32.6 for the season, which includes 46 vs. KSU. Chris Stephens is averaging 32.0.
HUGHES TO REDSHIRT: Freshman center Liam Hughes will redshirt this season. The 7-2, 306-pound center from Hullbridge, England is in his third year of organized basketball. Junior guard Jason Fontenet is redshirting after transferring from New Mexico State, and junior forward Nick DeWitz is redshirting after transferring from Iowa during the year -- DeWitz will be eligible for competition at the conclusion of fall term 2004 (Dec. 11).
THE MURAL OF THE STORY: A quick peek to the south rafters in Gill Coliseum will present you a look at a mural of some of the Oregon State University men's basketball greats. The recently completed mural includes the 1980-81 team, plus individuals Ralph Miller, Paul Valenti, Slats Gill, Steve Johnson, Charlie Sitton, Gary Payton, Lester Conner, Brent Barry, Scott Haskin, Wally Palmberg, Ed Lewis, Cliff Crandall, Mel Counts, Dave Gambee, Jose Ortiz, Jim Jarvis, A.C. Green, Charlie White, and Red Rocha. The mural was painted by Art FX Murals of Portland.
SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED: The OSU coaching staff signed one prospect to a national letter of intent during the November period. Joining the Beavers next season will be Marcel Jones from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif. The 6-7 guard averaged 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds last season for the CIF champions.
BEAVERS IN THE NBA: Currently three former Beavers are residing in the National Basketball Association. NBA all-star Gary Payton is in his 14th year in the league and first with the Los Angeles Lakers. Brent Barry is in his ninth year in the league and fifth with the Seattle Sonics. Lester Conner is in his fifth year as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, after a lengthy pro career. A total of 26 former Beavers have played in the NBA.
