Oregon State Meets USC Saturday

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

Photo: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - The nine-game homestand finally comes to an end on Saturday when the Oregon State men’s basketball team (8-7, 0-2), striving for its first Pacific-10 Conference victory, hosts 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 #16 — Saturday at Gill Coliseum: Oregon State vs. USC (12-4, 2-1) 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.

ON TELEVISION:

The USC game will be televised regionally by FSN.

Steve Physioc and Marques Johnson are the announcers.

At least 15 of OSU’s 18 Pac-10 games will be televised.

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 put forth a good effort against UCLA on Thursday night at Gill Coliseum, but the #1-ranked Bruins were just too much in a 71-56 loss.

It was a close game throughout the first half, with OSU last leading 19-17 with 9:10 to play and UCLA eventually taking a 36-30 halftime lead.

The Bruins then took a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

Marcel Jones and Sasa Cuic were the only Beavers in double-figures with 13 points apiece.

UCLA shot 47.9% from the field, OSU shot 38.6%.

In one oddity, OSU shot 16 first-half free throws and none in the second half.

ROTATION:

Oregon State’s rotation has become a lot smaller with the onset of Pac-10 play.

Josh Tarver has played all 80 minutes in the conference.

Marcel Jones, Sasa Cuic and Kyle Jeffers are all averaging more than 32 minutes per game in Pac-10 contests.

The fifth starter, Wesley Washington, is averaging 28.5 minutes per Pac-10 game.

Jack McGillis (17.5) and Michael Johnson (10.5) are the only bench players averaging more than two minutes per game.

JONES:

Junior forward Marcel Jones leads the team in scoring (15.7 ppg, 10th in the Pac-10).

His three-year improvement has been quite dramatic, as he has gone from 3.9 ppg as a freshman to 9.2 ppg as a sophomore to his current mark. He has five games this season with 20 points or more, which is tied for third 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.

TURNOVERS:

OSU has a positive turnover margin at 3.9.

In their 15 games, the Beavers have committed more turnovers than their opponent just once. OSU has gone 10 straight games without committing more turnovers than the opponent.

OSU is forcing 17.9 turnovers per game. Last year, OSU had a final turnover margin of minus-2.5 and forced 13.0 turnovers per game.

REBOUNDS:

OSU won its first six games when outrebounding the opponent before losing to Oregon (OSU had a 32-30 edge on the boards).

Three different Beavers have pulled down 12 rebounds in a game this season: Marcel Jones vs. Portland, Kyle Jeffers twice (at Hawaii and at Northern Colorado) and Michael Johnson vs. Mercer

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