Oregon State, #12 LSU Clash Sunday in Corvallis

In a short but remarkable series, OSU is 1-3 all-time against Louisiana State

Salem-News.com SPORTS

CORVALLIS - The Oregon State men’s basketball team (6-4) has its most anticipated non-conference game of the season this weekend, as the Beavers host #12 LSU, a 2006 Final Four participant, on Sunday evening in a national FSN telecast.

It’s the first of three games in five days — Howard and Mercer are the other opponents — before the Beavers take a brief break for Christmas.

These are games four through six of a nine-game homestand. OSU doesn’t leave home during the month of December, and the streak of nine consecutive home games equals the longest in school history (1949-50).

GAME #11 — Sunday (Dec. 17th) at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. LSU (5-2, #12 AP poll, #15 coaches’ poll) at 5:00 PM.

GAME #12 — Tuesday (Dec. 19th) at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. Howard (5-5) at 7:00 PM.

GAME #13 — Thursday (Dec. 21st) at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. Mercer (5-4) at 9:00 PM. It’s the second game of a doubleheader with the OSU women’s basketball team, which faces Washington State at 6:30 PM.

TICKETS:

Tickets for the LSU game cost $20 for chair seats and $12 for bench seats.

Tickets for the Howard game are $15 and $9 and all tickets for the Mercer game are $8.

They can be purchased at either the Gill Coliseum Ticket Office, by calling (800) GOBEAVS or by going on-line to www.osubeavers.com.

ON TELEVISION:

The Oregon State-LSU game will be televised nationally by FSN. Steve Physioc and Marques Johnson are the announcers.

ON THE RADIO:

Oregon State’s games can be heard live on the radio on the Beaver Sports Network (which includes 18 stations throughout the Northwest, including KEX 1190 in Portland and KEJO 1240 in Corvallis/Albany). Mike Parker, a three-time state sportscaster of the year, calls the action.

LSU:

In a short but remarkable series, OSU is 1-3 all-time against Louisiana State.

In December 1963, the Beavers beat the Tigers in the first round of the Far West Classic in Portland, 87-57.

Mel Counts scored 48 points in that game, which at the time set the OSU single-game scoring record.

The schools played a home-and-home series in December 1969, with the Tigers winning both meetings (94-72 in Baton Rouge, 76-68 in Corvallis).

Pete Maravich scored 43 and 46 points, respectively, which at the time held the top two spots on OSU’s all-time opponent scoring list.

In the game in Corvallis, he hit 30 of 31 free throws. The last meeting, in December 2000, was a 78-68 LSU victory in the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.

There wasn’t quite the firepower in that one, as OSU’s Deaundra Tanner led all scorers with 25 points.

RANKED OPPONENTS:

When #24 Nevada visited Corvallis earlier this season, the Wolfpack were the first ranked non-conference opponent to visit Gill Coliseum since #14 Texas in December 1996.

With LSU ranked #12, the Tigers are the highest-ranked non-conference opponent to come to Corvallis since #5 Iowa in December 1983.

The last time OSU hosted two ranked non-conference opponents in one season was 1957-58.

The Beavers have beaten a ranked opponent at home in each of the last three years.

HOWARD:

This is the first meeting between Howard and OSU.

The Beavers are slated to make a return trip to Howard, which is located in Washington, D.C., during a future season in order to give Calvin Hampton a “home” game.

Howard is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference along with previous OSU opponent Bethune-Cookman.

MERCER:

This is the first meeting between Mercer and OSU. Mercer is located in Macon, Ga., and is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

LAST TWO GAMES:

The Beavers posted an easy 72-49 home win over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, Dec. 9th. OSU got off to a 20-6 lead and never trailed in the game.

OSU gave up a season-low 23 points in the first half and led 34-23 at halftime.

The Beavers’ biggest lead was 32 points, last at 70-38 with less than three minutes to play.

Marcel Jones had his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds and Wesley Washington scored a career-high 15 points.

OSU then posted a 71-58 victory over visiting Western Oregon, an NCAA Division II school located about 20 miles up the road in Monmouth, on Monday, Dec. 11th.

The Beavers led nearly the entire game but couldn’t ever pull away due to 38.1% shooting from the floor.

Turnovers were the key, as the Beavers forced 25 miscues and had a 35-10 edge on points off turnovers.

Sasa Cuic scored a team-high 17 points and Jack McGillis added a career-high 15.

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