Oregon State Continues Homestand Saturday and Monday

OSU doesn’t leave home during the month of December, and nine consecutive home games equals the longest streak in school history (1949-50).

Wesley Washington and the Beavers face Bethune-Cookman on Saturday. Photo: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - The Oregon State men’s basketball team (4-4) has the second and third contests of its nine-game homestand coming up, as the Beavers face Bethune-Cookman on Saturday and Western Oregon on Monday.

GAME #9 — Saturday at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. Bethune-Cookman (2-2) at 2:00 PM.

GAME #10 — Monday at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. Western Oregon (1-2) at 7:00 PM.

TICKETS:

Tickets for the Bethune-Cookman game cost $15 for chair seats and $9 for bench seats. Tickets for the Western Oregon game cost $10 for chair seats and $6 for bench seats. They can be purchased at either the Gill Coliseum Ticket Office, by calling 1-800-GOBEAVS or by going on-line to www.osubeavers.com.

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.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN:

The Beavers and the Wildcats have met once previously, a 69-56 OSU victory at Gill Coliseum in December 2004. OSU’s starting frontline in that game was Marcel Jones, Sasa Cuic and Kyle Jeffers (the three combined for 16 points and 15 rebounds). The Wildcats have alternated wins and losses thus far in 2006-07 and are coming off an 83-73 loss at Florida A&M in their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener.

WESTERN OREGON:

Back when Western Oregon was known as Oregon Normal, the two schools met twice in basketball in the 1930s. Both games (in 1932-33 and 1936-37) were won by the Beavers. Western Oregon is an NCAA Division II school located about 20 miles north in Monmouth. The Wolves opened 2006-07 with a pair of losses but then beat Corban in overtime, 97-96, on Tuesday.

LAST GAME:

Things were going extremely well for OSU against an unbeaten Fresno State team on Saturday at Gill Coliseum, as the Beavers held a 67-60 lead after Jack McGillis hit a three-pointer with 7:54 to go.

Unfortunately, the rest of the game was a struggle and the Bulldogs came back for a 74-69 win.

On its final 15 possessions, OSU went 1-for-11 from the field with five turnovers.

The problems began when Josh Tarver went to the bench with his fourth foul with 7:26 left, and even once he returned, the momentum stayed in Fresno State’s favor. The lone OSU basket down the stretch came with 8.7 seconds left.

Four Beavers were in double-figures: Sasa Cuic with 17, Marcel Jones with 16, Tarver with 14 and Kyle Jeffers with 10.

CUIC:

Sasa Cuic missed two games after being suspended indefinitely for team-related reasons. He returned vs. Fresno State to play one of his best games of the season, scoring a team-high 17 points while pulling down six rebounds and making a career-high four three-pointers in 28 minutes.

JONES:

Marcel Jones leads the team in scoring (18.0 ppg) and is averaging 25.0 ppg over the last three games. He has four games with 20 points or more, tied for most in the Pac-10. With 35 points against Northern Colorado, Jones ended a long drought in the Beaver record book as he became the first OSU player to score at least 30 points since Brian Jackson put in 32 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Jan. 4th, 2000. The last Beaver to score more points in a game was Corey Benjamin with 36 points against Oregon on Jan. 31, 1998.

PAC-10 STATS:

As of Dec. 4th: OSU is third in the Pac-10 in steals (7.6) and fourth in turnover margin (+3.0). Marcel Jones is fifth in scoring (18.0 ppg) and tied for 19th in rebounding (5.6). Kyle Jeffers is eighth in blocked shots (1.1) and 12th in rebounding (6.9). Wesley Washington is tied for 10th in steals (1.4). Josh Tarver is seventh in minutes (32.4). Sasa Cuic is tied for eighth in three-point percentage (.421).

SHOOTING:

OSU is shooting 45.6% from the field in its victories and 36.7% in its losses. The Beavers are 3-1 when they have a better field goal percentage than their opponent. OSU is also 4-1 when holding the opponent under 70 points.

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