CORVALLIS Following their defeat at Loyola Marymount on Thursday, Oregon State had a rapid turnaround.
For the first time this men’s basketball season, the Beavers never gave themselves a chance to win and handed up a season-high number of points.
After spending the majority of the season among the national leaders, the defense had suddenly gone awry, leaving little time to get back into the gym and correct it.
After taking a day to recover, Oregon State unleashed one of its greatest defensive efforts in the past two years against San Diego on Saturday. At Gill Coliseum, the Beavers defeated San Diego 81-54, holding them to 29% shooting.
Since the Beavers held Duke to 26% shooting in the 2022 Phil Knight Invitational, it was the lowest field goal shooting percentage by a Division I opponent of Oregon State.
More than Xs and Os, inspiration was the driving force behind Saturday’s Toreros lockdown.
Michael Rataj, a forward for OSU, stated that our strategy for the game was all mental.
With a defense that was among the top 10 in the nation in terms of scoring and field goal percentage, Oregon State (12-4, 2-1 WCC) got off to one of its best starts in years. However, it has recently faded.
The combined shooting percentages of Oakland, Nebraska, Portland, and Loyola Marymount during a recent four-game stretch were 50.5%.
The intensity and urgency returned on Saturday, according to Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle. He placed a strong emphasis on following a plan and being mentally and physically robust.
By doing that, we have demonstrated what works and what doesn’t in more than 16 games. According to Tinkle, we should focus more on what works and less on what doesn’t.
This was one of OSU’s most comprehensive efforts of the season, save for a terrible run at the close of the first half, when San Diego scored the final 10 points to cut the halftime margin to 33-28. Oregon State shot 26 of 45 shots overall, better than 50% in both half except from defense. OSU’s three-point shooting percentage was 8 of 16.
Although Tinkle thought he came close to scoring a victory lap, he hailed it a good bounce back. It was difficult to overlook the final five minutes of the first half, during which San Diego grabbed an excessive number of offensive rebounds.
Tonight, we thought we ought to have scored more goals. According to Tinkle, we left a lot of shots at the free throw line and missed a few at the hoop. It is our belief that we could have done even better.
For the second time since 1989–90, Oregon State is 12–4, although there are still obstacles to overcome. The Beavers need to demonstrate that they can travel with their performance. This season, Oregon State is 2-1 at neutral sites and 10-1 at Gill Coliseum. However, including the 82-61 loss at Loyola Marymount, it is 0–2 on the road.
This season won’t be defined by the coming week, but there is a chance to give a squad that appears to be among Tinkle’s best in 11 years at Oregon State another dimension. On Thursday and Saturday, the Beavers will travel to Santa Clara and Pacific, respectively.
Guard Liutauras Lelevicius stated, “We don’t want to feel that loss at Loyola any more.”
The contact information for Nick Daschel is 360-607-4824, [email protected], or @nickdaschel.
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