Oregon State Faces #1 UCLA Thursday, USC Saturday

You can hear both games on News Radio 1190 KEX AM in Portland/Salem and KEJO 1240 AM in Corvallis/Albany.

Wesley Washington, a Southern California native, will be looking to beat #1 UCLA on Thursday. Photo: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - For the first time in nearly 19 years, the nation’s top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll will visit Gill Coliseum when the Oregon State men’s basketball team (8-6, 0-1) battles #1 UCLA on Thursday night.

In a span of six days, the Beavers will have faced two of the nation’s three remaining unbeaten teams.

OSU’s nine-game homestand then comes to an end on Saturday with a televised game against USC.

The Beavers didn’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 #15 — Thursday at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. UCLA (13-0, 2-0, #1 AP poll, #1 coaches’ poll) at 7:00 PM.

GAME #16 — Saturday at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. USC (11-4, 1-1, plays at Oregon on Thursday) at 3:00 PM.

Tickets:

Tickets for all remaining Pac-10 games cost $20 for chair seats and $12 for bench seats.

They can be purchased by calling (800) GOBEAVS, by going on-line to www.osubeavers.com or by visiting the ticket office in Gill Coliseum.

UCLA:

The Beavers are 34-78 all-time against the Bruins.

UCLA won all three meetings last year, but OSU has been victorious in four of the last 10 games.

The schools met in both the 2005 and 2006 Pac-10 Tournaments (OSU won the former, UCLA won the latter).

OSU is 20-30 all-time in Gill Coliseum against UCLA.

Facing #1:

In 27 games all-time against the #1-ranked team in the AP poll, Oregon State has won twice: in 1973-74 at home against UCLA and in 1953-54 at a neutral site against Indiana.

The win over the Bruins was a historic one, as it ended UCLA’s record 50-game Pac-8 winning streak.

This is the 17th time that OSU has faced a top-ranked UCLA team. The last time OSU hosted an AP #1 team was in 1987-88 against Arizona.

Ranked Opponents:

UCLA is the fourth ranked opponent that the Beavers have faced this season.

OSU squared off against three in November and December, the first time since 1977-78 that’s happened before the end of December.

OSU has lost this season at home to #24 Nevada, #12 LSU (the last time OSU hosted two ranked non-conference opponents in one season was 1957-58) and #20 Oregon.

The Beavers will be trying to beat a ranked opponent at home for the fourth consecutive year.

USC Series:

The Beavers are 55-60 all-time against the Trojans.

USC won both games last year and has won three straight in the series.

OSU has won three of the last eight meetings.

The Beavers are 29-24 in Gill Coliseum all-time against the Trojans.

Last Game:

The Beavers got off to a strong start against #20 Oregon on Saturday in Gill Coliseum, but couldn’t maintain their advantage and lost to the still-unbeaten Ducks, 76-73.

OSU hit 13 of its first 18 shots (72.2%) en route to a 30-19 lead with 7:28 left in the first half.

But the Ducks closed the half on a 22-4 run to go ahead 41-34 at the break. Oregon built a 12-point second-half lead, and although OSU rallied to get within three points in the final minute, the Beavers never had a chance to tie it up.

The Beavers shot 51.7% for the game, the first time a Duck opponent had made more than half of its shots.

Marcel Jones and Sasa Cuic each scored 16 points to lead five OSU players in double-figures (the first time that’s happened this season).

Free throws (17-for-21, 81.0% for Oregon, 8-for-14, 57.1% for OSU) were the big difference.

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