http://ignoregon.com/rss/Sherwood Aggregated Blog Posts From Sherwood Tue, 7 Feb 2012 07:31:46 +0000 en http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/6/2780755/pac-12-extends-larry-scotts-contract http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/6/2780755/pac-12-extends-larry-scotts-contract Mon, 6 Feb 2012 23:22:00 +0000 The Pac-12 Conference today extended Commissioner Larry Scott's contract through the year 2016, and added options for further years. "My fellow board members and I are delighted to have reached a long term agreement with the commissioner to continue his excellent work on behalf of the Pac-12," said Ed Ray, President of Oregon State University, and the Chairman of the Pac-12 Board. "We are on the brink of a period of extraordinary accomplishment and excellence throughout the Pac-12 and Larry's continued leadership and vision for the conference are critical elements in realizing that potential." Since Scott, 47, took over as Commissioner in July, 2009, he has guided the conference through their first expansion since 1978, which added Colorado and Utah, which facilitated the lucrative addition of a football conference championship game. Scott has also orchestrated the rebranding of the Conference with messages of innovation, excellence, and the advantages of West Coast location at its core. He got equal revenue sharing of television revenue implemented, a first in Conference history, and secured the landmark media rights agreement with FOX and ESPN. Scott also created the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Digital Network, and is developing a globalization strategy that will allow the Conference to pursue new frontiers for athletic, academic and cultural exchanges in China, and eventually elsewhere in the Pacific Rim. The move will at least ensure that when other corporate media entities come calling, they will have to be prepared to pay a larger price to pry Scott away from the conference. Scott's moves have put all members of the conference in position to be more competitive in both revenue and non-revenue sports. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2772414/oregon-st-women-sweep-weekend http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2772414/oregon-st-women-sweep-weekend Sun, 5 Feb 2012 02:33:00 +0000 The Oregon St. women's basketball team has now won 4 games in a row, after sweeping the weekend series with Colorado and Utah. The Beavers went wire to wire in both wins, defeating Colorado 65-45 Thursday night, and backed it up by beating Utah 62-49 Saturday afternoon. It's the first time in 11 years Oregon St. has won 4 consecutive conference games. Earlysia Marchbanks had a huge hand in the wins, posting a game high 13 points to lead a balanced Oregon St. effort against Colorado, and then had her career best effort, posting a career high 22 points as part of a game leading double double, where her 10 rebounds led the Beavers, and co-led the game. "Before the (Utah) game, Coach Rueck came up to me and said ‘let the game come to you,'" Marchbanks said. "The first basket went in, and then I was able to get some steals. The baskets just came easy after that. All week long coach said that if I get the rebound I can go, and that's what I did. Easy buckets came, and I got my teammates involved." Marchbanks had 5 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals against the Buffs, and upped those numbers to 4 assists and 5 steals against the Utes. The Beavers got off to solid defensive starts in both games, holding Colorado in single digits scoring for 14 1/2 minutes, which staked them to a double digit lead that would never shrink back to single digits, and limiting Utah to 11 points for almost 13 minutes. The Buffs never recovered, trailing by as many as 27 points before Beavers' coach Scott Rueck began to experiment in the final 5 minutes. Which is the time to try things, up by more than 20 points with only a few minutes left. The Utes were more persistent, rallying within 4 points by halftime, and again early in the second half. The Beavers responded with a 13-1 run, only to see Utah scratch back to within 5 points, down only 50-45 with nearly 4 minutes still to go. Oregon St. slammed the door on Utah with a 12-4 run to the finish. Sage Indendi, above, had a solid weekend, with 10 points against Colorado, and 13 against Utah, while freshman Ali Gibson had 10 points against the Buffs, and 9 against the Utes. Oregon St. shot 45% for the game while holding Colorado under 29%, and allowed only one player, Julie Seabrook to score in double digits, and she only posted 10 points. Utah got 17 from Michelle Plouffe, and 16 from Taryn Wicijowski, but Oregon St. held the Utes to 31% shooting, while hitting 52% of their shots, and 60% on 3 pointers. The sweep was by no means anything anyone should have taken for granted, as Colorado carried a 15-5 record into the valley, and Utah was a .500 team. The double sweep on the "Oregon Trail" has happened to traveling partners in various sports before though, and now the mountain area additions have been officially welcomed to the Pac-12. Alyssa Martin had 15 rebounds, 13 points, and 7 assists for the Beavers in the 2 games against Colorado and Utah. Oregon St. (15-7, 6-5) will have a tough go of it the rest of the way, with 5 of their remaining 7 games before the Pac-12 tournament on the road, and the 2 best teams in the Conference, Stanford and California, the opponents in the only remaining home stand. Realistically, getting to 20 wins will probably take at least one win in the tournament, and unless the Beavers can upset either the Cardinal or the Golden Bears, an NCAA Tournament berth may be a tall order, though not impossible. An NIT bid is a very realistic possibility, because while the schedule is challenging to say the least, it's certainly not impossible. Though Stanford is the #4 team in the nation, Oregon St. had the lead midway in the second half on the Cardinal's floor, and only lost by 7 points. Of the 5 teams the Beavers will face on the road, all are below them in the standings, and Oregon St. has already beaten 4 of them, and it took double overtime for Washington St. to pull out the win. The progress made by the women's team has been below the radar of many, as reflected by the small turnouts of only 1,159 for Colorado, and 1,429 for Utah. And this with Oregon products on both rosters. The low attendance was a bit of a surprise, given the largest attendance of the Rueck era was on hand a week previously for the Oregon game. And there weren't that many Quacker Backers in that crowd. The usually solid "Beaver Dam" student section can be given a pass for being a little light this week, afterall, it is mid-term time. And Buildingthedam hasn't been as helpful as we would like either, due to time constraints. But a quick refresher reveals just how far Rueck and company have come in a very short amount of time. Most Beaver fans recall that just 2 years ago, the collapse of the LaVonda Wagner era left Oregon St. with almost no program, after a nearly complete exodus of players. Rueck was essentially starting up an expansion program in the powerful Pac-10. Taking one of the local community college programs up to Division I would have been easier, and even those looking through orange colored glasses thought it would be unlikely if Rueck could win a game, never mind a conference game, in that first year. A 9-21 campaign, and a 2-16 Pac-10 season, more than exceeded expectations. However, it actually could have been much better, as Oregon St. lost 6 games by 3 points or less, where one shot could have changed the outcome. Another 4 games were lost by 4, 5 (twice), and 6 points, where flipping 2 possessions could have resulted in a win. And 4 more games were lost by single digits. Oregon St. was in position to have a chance to win 3/4 of the time. But those close losses also meant Rueck and his team didn't get the job done 14 times when they could, and at least some of the time, should have. It was a good start, but more needed to be done, and Rueck knew it. Too many of those close losses were the result of needing a player with tired arms and worn out legs to make a play they would have executed easily earlier in the game, but couldn't come up with after too many minutes. Freshman Ali Gibson leads Oregon St. in both scoring and steals. A second recruiting class has brought more quality as well as depth, and a bigger and better front court. And as a result, a team that can and does go 8 or 9 deep, and some wins that has taught the team how to win, something Rueck admitted would be the biggest hurdle they would have to get over. "Four wins in a row in conference is a great thing," Rueck said. "It is nice to have all our efforts rewarded on the scoreboard. Sometimes in the past it hasn't happened that way. But I think it demonstrates the growth of our program and team. I think we are putting 40 minute games together now, and I think we have the talent this year to be able to compete like that. I'm really happy for this group, and what they are accomplishing, and their growth in every way." It's off to the state of Washington this coming week, for games in Pullman Thursday, and Seattle Saturday. And the Beavers, currently tied for 5th. in the conference, will be facing another new situation in the Rueck era, that of being favored to win both ends of a Pac-12 series, never mind one on the road. With both basketball teams standing with 15 wins, and almost assured of winning seasons, something that seemed unthinkable a very short time ago, Benny is looking forward to making a run at the post season! (Photos by Andy Wooldridge) Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2772052/beavers-bounce-back-blast-utes http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2772052/beavers-bounce-back-blast-utes Sat, 4 Feb 2012 22:05:00 +0000 Final Score: Oregon St. 76 Utah 58 In case you missed it, and given the absence of tv coverage, chances are you did, Oregon St. bounced back from a bad outing Thursday at Colorado to take a wire to wire 76-58 win over Utah Saturday afternoon at the Huntsman Center in Sale Lake City. It took 2/3s of the first half for the Beavers to open their first double digit lead, a 25-15 advantage off a Devon Collier dunk, and they had to withstand a bit of an uprising after halftime, when the persistent Utes cut the deficit to single digits on 4 different occasions. But back to back baskets by Jared Cunningham put Oregon St. ahead 50-37 with just over 13 minutes left, and Utah never threatened again. Cunningham led all scorers, with 20 points, but the story was that Oregon St. won with their front-court, not their guard play. Collier had 14 points, and Joe Burton and Angus Brandt combined for another 14, and Kevin McShane chipped in 7 points, his career best. The front court production was a particularly good thing for the Beavers, given that Ahmad Starks struggled somewhat again at altitude, and Roberto Nelson wasn't particularly productive either. Starks scored 6 points, better than in Boulder, and Nelson 5, but neither figured nearly as prominently in the outcome as is usually the case for Oregon St. Even more notable was the outcome in light of the lack of outside shooting. Oregon St. missed every one of their 8 first half shots from 3 point range, and unlike so many games this season, only took one more shot from long range, which was also missed. The Beavers finished 0 for 9 on 3 pointers. Instead, they pounded the ball inside, and the result was a 50-24 advantage in points in the paint. The Beavers also got to the free throw line 25 times, and made 18 of them, and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, which was a large component in their 39-30 edge on the boards. "I was really proud of the discipline the guys showed," Oregon St. coach Craig Robinson said. "Ordinarily, when we have struggled with our 3 point shots, they have felt like they needed to keep taking them to try to catch up. Today, they resisted that temptation, and went inside. It doesn't matter what's happening on the perimeter when you have that 50-24 edge in the paint." Burton, below scoring 2 of his 8 points, played more than anyone but Cunningham, and had another all-around game, with a career high 6 steals to go along with 5 assists, and a game high 11 rebounds. "As well as Jared played, Joe was the most valuable player for this game," Robinson felt. "He had a couple of miscues right at the beginning of the game, and I pulled him aside and told him to just settle down, but after that, it was like he was trying to make up for that for the rest of the game, and just carried us in all aspects of the game - rebounding, scoring, defense, assists." Cunningham moved into 29th on Oregon St's career scoring list, with 1,040 points, passing Jose Ortiz's 1,029, Rocky Smith's 1,034, and Sasa Cuic's 1,037. Cedric Martin led Utah, with 19 points, and Jason Washburn added 15. Oregon St.'s curtailing their outside shooting resulted in their out-shooting Utah from the floor in both halves, but especially after the break, when the Beavers shot 56%, making 14 of 25 shots. The Beavers also got to loose balls better than the Utes, including the one Eric Moreland got to below, and had a 16-7 edge in steals, a large part of their having a +9 advantage in turnovers. Oregon St. (15-8, 5-6) won 2 of 3 games in their recent road stretch, and has won 4 of their last 5, though it still leaves them in 8th place in the Pac-12. The Beavers return home for a weekend series against Washington St. next Thursday evening, and Washington on Sunday. Oregon St. finishes the regular season with 5 of their last 7 games at Gill Coliseum. Utah (5-18, 2-9) has now lost 4 in a row. Despite Oregon St.'s disappointing loss at Colorado, their fortunate reality is that they could have played quite well and still lost to the Buffs, and getting 2 wins out of 3 games on the road in 7 days has to be considered a success. Playing anything above .500 ball the rest of the way will guarantee a 20 win season, and a postseason bid, though it will take more than that to make that post-season bid be in the NCAA tournament. (AP photos by Steve Wilson) Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2762708/oregon-st-at-utah-game-thread http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2762708/oregon-st-at-utah-game-thread Sat, 4 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Oregon St. (14-8, 4-6) at Utah (5-17, 2-8) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at 3:00 PM MST (2 PM PST) / No TV / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed) Oregon St. concludes their trip to the Rocky Mountains with a stop off in Salt Lake City to take on Utah. The Beavers saw Colorado get away from them in the latter stages of the first half, and the Buffs led by double digits the rest of the game, eventually winning 82-60. Oregon St. shot poorly from the perimeter against the best defensive team in the conference, but also got out run by the Buffs offensively. Jared Cunningham and Devon Collier co-led Oregon St., with 12 points apiece, and Roberto Nelson came off the bench to add 10, mostly from the free throw line. But the balanced Buffs had 5 players who scored from 10 to 16 points. Further, Colorado dominated on the boards, getting a dozen more than Oregon St. did. As a result, the Beavers had their 3 game winning streak snapped, and dropped into a tie with Washington St. for 8th. place in the conference. The Utes saw an upset opportunity get away when Oregon went on an 11-0 run over 5 minutes that erased Utah's last lead, and turned it into a double digit 69-59 Duck advantage with a minute to go. Nothing really changed after that except the stats, and Oregon claimed a 79-68 win. It was the third consecutive loss for Utah, which lowered them into 11th. place in the Pac-12. Chris Hines had a co-game high 20 point effort for Utah, tied with Oregon's Devoe Joseph, and Cedric Martin contributed 15. The telling stat for the game was Utah's shooting percentage from the field falling way off after halftime, while Oregon was improving their accuracy. The trip to Rice Ecles Stadium during football season didn't end well on the field, but there's hope for a better outcome next door at the Huntsman Center. Utah was not only picked to finish last in the Pac-12 in their initial campaign, there was serious doubt after the Utes lost 8 straight after a season opening win over San Diego Christian as to whether they would even win again. That proved to be an overly pessimistic view of the state of Utah basketball, but not terribly so. Pending the advent of the Pac-12 Network next season, there's remarkably once again no television for this game. Here's the place to imagine what's going on, and theorize as to what happened in Boulder. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2770391/oregon-state-mens-basketball-preview-against-utah http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/4/2770391/oregon-state-mens-basketball-preview-against-utah Sat, 4 Feb 2012 04:42:00 +0000 Whether you are talking about the transfers, injuries and suspensions of important players, and just the overall lack of talent to begin with, there is virtually no doubt in anyone's mind that Utah is one of the worst high major teams in the country, at least for this season. Most Utah fans are OK with giving a grace period for new coach Larry Krystkowiak, considering the roster turmoil that started well before the season, but it doesn't make their brand of basketball any easier to watch. Ladies and gentlemen and les autres, your Utah Utes after the jump. Where do I begin with this team? Well, let's start with the offensive end of the floor. The Utes have trouble, scoring, shooting 41% from the floor. They don't help themselves as they took the 5th most amount of 3s in the Pac despite shooting 31% there. Considering that they play a slow tempo, and that each possession is even more important as they don't have a lot of them, they are simply put not an efficient offensive team. Not shooting the ball is already an issue, but they have more; their FT percentage is subpar (60%). Not that they get to the line often in the first place. They are also the worst team in terms of assist to turnover ratio. One more weakness: They don't crash the glass that well, which can only help OSU on the battle of the boards. Now we get to the defensive end, where the picture is a tad bit rosier. The Utes are a good defensive rebounding team. But that's where the positives end (see what I mean when I said that Utah is not that good?) Opponents shoot 49% from the floor and 44% from 3. They don't block a ton of shots or force that many turnovers. Oh, and they foul a lot, too, even though opponents don't shoot well from there for some unknown reason... There is already a Q and A session with a Utah basketball expert from BlockU about how thin this roster is. Their best option aka their lone double digit scorer in the Pac 12 so far, Jason Washburn, is tall guy who converts from inside but has struggled with inconsistency. Complementing him are Chris Hines and Cedric Martin, the team's designated shooters, converting over 35% of their 3s. They average around 6-8 points per contest. Dijon Farr is their resident slasher while Kareem Storey is the fill-in point guard after Josh Watkins was dismissed from the team. Storey is doing a good job dishing out the assists but like most freshman point guards struggle with turnovers. Beyond them there are 3 point a game contributors off the bench like Anthony Odunsi and Javon Dawson. This is a game where OSU has a great chance of winning; the talent and momentum is there, so now begs the question: Will the Beavers take care of business and route a bad team on their home floor? More importantly, can we get closer to .500? We shall see... Poll Which of the following is more likely? The Beavers score a 120 points in this game The Beavers hold the Utes to under 30% shooting Coach Robinson makes an Obama reference in the post game An announcer makes a crazy "Cunningham kisses the sky" comment (doesn't have to be about Cunningham There's going to be at least 1 technical foul   0 votes | Results http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/3/2767540/q-a-with-blocku http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/3/2767540/q-a-with-blocku Fri, 3 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000 Like Colorado, Utah is a new and relative unknown quantity in the Pac-12. Beaver Nation at least got to know the Utes, Salt Lake City, and even Sean "JazzyUte" over at BlockU.com during football season, but we thought we would get an update from Sean before the Beavers' visit to the Huntsman Center (its that domed building that's next to Rice-Ecles Stadium). Utah is struggling this year, and everyone expected that to some degree, given the player turnover and the coaching change. But the Utes do already have more wins, 5, than many thought they would get, including a pair of Pac-12 wins. When they win, they have been able to really hold opponets' scoring in check. What's made the difference? Can it be duplicated against an athletic team like Oregon St. that wants to push the tempo? I really don't know what's been the difference. I think if that was known, they'd apply it more in other games. I guess you could say the common factor in all those wins is that they came at home and I guess, even if we have no fans showing up to games, there is some home court advantage there. I'm sure it's also a bit of luck, or bad luck, if you will, from the opposing team. Arizona State was without its best player and Utah shot phenomenally - while in other wins, the free throw shooting by the opposition has been down right awful. Ultimately, I think it just takes the perfect storm for the Utes to win: a home game against a team that shoots poorly, might be without its star player and can't hit from the free throw line. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's glorious! Of course, it doesn't hurt when your players actually, you know, play. "Jiggy" Watkins was the Utes' leading scorer, and seemed to be their best offensive option by a large margin. What's the story around his dismissal? Was it ultimately a good thing, or did it finish off the season for the Utes? No one knows the whole story and I don't know if we ever will. He was suspended earlier in the season for showing up to practice late and I can only assume it has something to do with that. Krystkowiak runs a tight ship and it doesn't seem like he's too keen on giving players a third chance. If you mess up twice, you're done - even if you are the best player. Who "runs the team" now, especially on the offensive end? That's yet to be determined, unfortunately. 7 foot Jason Washburn looks like he should be a matchup problem for a lot of teams. Assess his play for us. He's soft at times and his play is inconsistent. You'd expect more out of a tall player like Washburn, and he certainly has delivered in some games, but overall, he's too inconsistent and it's cost the Utes. In their ugly loss to USC Saturday, he was a non-factor, especially on the glass. But if he does well, Utah generally plays better (no science there). Ultimately, its going to take talent to turn Utah basketball around. Is there young hope on the bench, or will it take more recruiting cycles to even get started on rebuilding the program to what it once was? Utah has signed Jordan Loveridge, who's the best recruit out of Utah and a McDonald's All-American nominee - though, who knows how impressive that really is. Regardless, he's a great player and hopefully the savior of our program. Can coach Larry Krystkowiak fix this? Is there a bigger problem that has to be addressed before he or anyone else could succeed? I hope. But that remains to be seen. He gutted the team and now has to live with the results. He seems to be bringing in talent and I think he's a good coach, but five wins a season just won't cut it here. He'll have time, no doubt, but at some point, he's going to have to show progress and who knows how long until that happens. Maybe it's next year, but if it isn't by year three, it's hard to imagine he'll be back for a year four. What went wrong at the Huntsman Center? Utah basketball, and really all the schools in the valley, typically have seemed to do pretty well overall (for their levels), especially given the relatively small population base that 4 DI programs are all trying to compete for both players and fan support from. So it comes as a surprise to many of us watching from afar to see the Utes so down. I wrote about it here. It's a lengthy article on the downfall of the Utah program. To sum it up, though: Rick Majerus was in and out as coach here, abruptly resigned and the program could never regain its footing. They replaced him with Ray Giacoletti, who had one great season and then collapsed and Jim Boylen, who just couldn't get it done. Essentially, the way the Majerus-era ended and the subsequent hires did in the program. Shifting to football, where Utah had some frustrations, but ultimately had a year that still exceeded most people's expectations, at least after losing their quarterback, it looks like you have landed a real good recruiting class. Grade the class, both for what they got, and more importantly how it fits with what they needed for us. Well the class appears to be the best in school history. It could have been better (a few potential recruits signed with other schools), though. Overall, I'd give it an A-minus because it's talented, but also shores up some problem areas (offensive line, quarterback). The Utes really won the instate battle against BYU, which was unthinkable even ten years ago, and have now improved on each class the last five or so seasons (if not longer). How much did being in the Pac-12 now play into that successful recruiting class? Will the momentum transfer to basketball, baseball, and such? I think playing in the Pac-12 helps immensely. Utah is winning recruiting wars they wouldn't have won three years ago. This is only the second class with Pac-12 affiliation, though, so I'm sure the impact will be even greater - especially when the new Pac-12 TV deal kicks in, and, hopefully, the Utes start really contending for the conference championship. As for basketball, I think playing in the Pac-12 played a huge role in why Loveridge picked the Utes, so there is some momentum there. Still, until the results bear out on the hardwood, it's hard to say for sure. And baseball? Well, I'll have to defer to someone who knows baseball...I follow it in passing. Thanks Sean! Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/2/2767994/buffs-trample-beavers http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/2/2767994/buffs-trample-beavers Fri, 3 Feb 2012 02:15:00 +0000 Final Score: Colorado 82 Oregon St. 60 It might be just as well for Beaver Nation that there was no tv and there were Internet issues that kept the game thread unavailable much of the night, as there was little good from the Oregon St. point of view about the game. Colorado pushed the pace all night, and they made shots. Oregon St. couldn't stop the Buffs, and the Beavers couldn't make a shot for long periods of time. After a little while, that became the recipe for a blowout. It took almost 2 minutes for Oregon St. to score, but Colorado didn't open much of a lead. The Beavers took their first lead on a Jared Cunningham 3 pointer 2 and a half minutes into the game, and held the lead for the next 3 and a half minutes. Even after the Buffs regained the lead, a result of a 3 minute Beaver scoring drought, Oregon St. stayed close for the next 10 minutes. But the next of what would be a series of scoring droughts allowed Colorado to begin to pull away. Oregon St. went over 6 minutes with only a pair of baskets, by Joe Burton and Eric Moreland, and found themselves down 13 points. Another drought going into the half saw Colorado move ahead to a 46-31 advantage at the break. Oregon St.'s scoring slumps continued in the second half, with droughts of 3 and a half minutes and 2 minutes, and another stretch of nearly 8 minutes with only 1 basket and 3 free throws. Colorado led by as many as 28 points, and by double digits from the 3:42 point in the first half on. Oregon St. collectively shot atrociously, making only 50% of their free throws, 36% of their shots from the field (21 of 58), and only 20% on 3 pointers, connecting on only 4 of 20. The problem lied with the backcourt, as Burton, Devon Collier, Angus Brandt, and Eric Moreland shot a combined 13 of 20, but Cunningham, Ahmad Starks, and Roberto Nelson were a combined 7 of 29. Cunningham co-led Oregon St. along with Collier, with 12 points each, and Nelson added 10, largely due to his hitting 7 of 11 free throws. But Starks made only 1 shot all night. Andre Roberson ran wild, with a game high 16 points for Colorado, on 60% shooting, which even included a 3 pointer. He completed a double double, with a game high 15 rebounds. Roberson had a lot of help, however, as Askia Booker, above splitting the defense of Moreland and Cunningham, came off the Buff's bench to add 15 points. Austin Dufault made 6 of 7 shots, including the one below over Kevin McShane and Moreland, and finished with 14 points, while Carlon Brown contributed 12, and Spencer Dinwiddie 10. The Buffs had more assists, steals, and blocked shots than the Beavers, and had a 16 rebound advantage as well. It was by far the worst outing of the season for Oregon St. "We just weren't ready to play," Oregon St. coach Craig Robinson said. "The beginning of the game looked good. I don't know if it was the altitude or complacency, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that they (Colorado) played really well. We didn't get back on defense and that was a big part of it. There were so many points from the paint in transition that you just can't win that way. Even when we are playing defense poorly, we don't give up numbers like this. I have to really look at tape and see what exactly went wrong. You have to learn how to manage a game when you're on the road. We are still learning on how to do that, and I'll take the blame for that. I still have to be better on teaching these guys how to manage a game on the road like this, especially against a team who's at or near the top of the league." Colorado (15-7, 7-3) isn't at the top of the Pac-12, but the Buffs are tied with Oregon and California just one game behind conference leading Washington (15-7, 8-2). The Huskies came from behind to beat UCLA (12-10, 5-5) tonight by a 71-69 score. Arizona (15-8, 6-4) upset the Golden Bears (17-6, 7-3) in Berkeley by a 78-74 score, while the Ducks (16-6, 7-3) bounced back from losing the Civil War by downing Utah (5-17, 2-8) 79-68 tonight in Salt Lake City, using an 11-0 run in the late going to close out Utah. The Utes are Oregon St.'s next opponent Saturday afternoon. Oregon St. (14-8, 4-6) dropped into a tie with Washington St. for 8th. place in the Pac-12 as a result of the defeat. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/2/2758715/oregon-st-at-colorado-game-thread http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/2/2758715/oregon-st-at-colorado-game-thread Thu, 2 Feb 2012 22:03:00 +0000 Oregon St. (14-7, 4-5) at Colorado (14-7, 6-3) at the Coors Event Center at 7:00 PM MST (6 PM PST) / No TV / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed) Oregon St. makes their first visit to Boulder for a Pac-12 event. The Beavers and the Buffs did meet the last 2 seasons in non-conference games as a part of the Pac-10-Big XII Hardwood Challenge. The Beavers are rolling, having followed up a sweep of the LA schools with a come from behind 76-71 win at Matt Court over Oregon Sunday afternoon in the season's first Civil War battle. Jared Cunningham earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors after scoring 24 of his game high 27 points in the second half. Ahmad Starks added 15 points for the Beavers, as he and Cunningham combined to hit 7 of 14 3 pointers. The Buffs, who are a smallish team that uses a 3 guard attack, and start 6'9" senior Austin Dufault and 6'7" soph. Andre Roberson as their front court, ran into the 6'10" Wear twins their last time out, and as a result lost 77-60 to the Bruins. Before that, Colorado had run off 3 straight wins, and are 11-1 at the Coors Event Center. It's worth remembering that Boulder is a mile above sea level, something Oregon St., like most of the former Pac-10 low-landers, isn't experienced with. Both Joe Burton and Starks, who got sick on last year's trip, noted the noticeable affects they experienced last year during the pre-trip press conference. "Just walking up the steps from the bus was hard," Burton observed. Beavers head coach Craig Robinson also acknowledged he would probably substitute more frequently than usual. Oregon St. has 7 players that average over 10 minutes per game, but usually uses 9 players. The distribution of minutes and breaks will be a factor. Over the years, the Buffs have won all 5 of the 8 games the teams have played that were held in Boulder. Given that Colorado likes to play with pace, and are used to doing so in thin air, the Beavers' preferred up-tempo type of game won't be the last thing their opponents want to see. Oregon St. will also run into a tough defense, as the Buffs are the only Pac-12 team holding opponents under 40% shooting from the field. Dufault is the only starter left from the Colorado team that trampled Oregon St. 83-57 back on Civil War Saturday 2010, a game virtually none of Beaver Nation saw or hear, it coming in the aftermath of the visit by ESPN Gameday that had most Oregon St. (and Oregon) fans up by 4 in the morning, if they went to sleep at all, and then the game itself. Interestingly, 4 Beavers who started that day, Cunningham, Starks, Burton, and Devon Collier, will start again. Cunningham had 16 points in Boulder, and Burton 10, but Starks and Collier were not only hled scoreless, they had no assists or steals, and only 1 rebound, by Starks, in a combined 34 minutes. The game against Colorado was also the game in which Eric Moreland suffered a season ending left shoulder injury against, forcing him into a red-shirt season before fall term finals had even been taken. Colorado is tied with Oregon for second place in the Pac-12, a game behind co-leaders California and Washington. Oregon St. enters the game in 8th. place, but only a game behind a 3 way tie for 5th., and just 2 games out of 2nd. place. There's no TV for this game, unless you buy a subscription to Buffs TV Online, which is a bit of a surprise, given that ROOT Sports has a Rocky Mountain affiliate, and Colorado is playing well, especially at home. Here's the place to comment while listening to Mike Parker on the radio or the stream from KPAM, something you'll need to get used to, since the Utah game will be out of sight as well. Better write your satellite provider (since the odds are your house is outside the Comcast service area) to remind them how important it will be that they sign a deal to carry the Pac-12 Network. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/1/2765737/q-a-with-colorados-ralphie-report http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/1/2765737/q-a-with-colorados-ralphie-report Thu, 2 Feb 2012 01:15:00 +0000 Between not playing each other in football, and the odd scheduling quirk that didn't bring Colorado and Oregon St. together until the second half of the hoops season, the fan bases aren't very familiar with each other. Limited coverage of Colorado games by ROOT Sports hasn't helped matters either, and the teams' recent history has hardly garnered much attention. So we got together with the guys over at the "Ralphie Report", a very well written SB Nation brother blog, to get some insight into the Colorado hoops team before the Beavers meet them tomorrow night, and how things are going in Boulder for the new guys in the Pac-12.Parker Baruh covers Buffs basketball better than anyone, and knows them inside and out. Colorado has changed a lot since Oregon St. saw them last year in the pre-season, and given there's been next to no TV coverage of the Buffs in the northwest market, can you give Beaver Nation a scouting report on what kind of game Colorado typically plays? Colorado plays an up-tempo game and they try to push the ball on offense as much as they can. When they run their set offense, they do a lot of cutting and screening to try and get isolation play for their superior guards. Colorado plays good man defense, but at times doesn't help, and sometimes is overaggressive when guarding. Overall, Colorado likes to get out and push the ball and force the opponent to take ill-advised shots. Austin Dufault's point production has really spiked upward in his senior season. What caused/prompted/allowed him to elevate his game so? Austin Dufault worked very hard in the offseason and his game over conference play has shown that. He has really stepped up and hasn't been outmatched like he was sometimes in previous years. One of the more successful moves that he has added to his repertoire is a running fade away in the middle of the lane. It is similar to a jump hook; however, it can be blocked. Ultimately, Dufualt has become a better player due to his improved outside shot and patient post play. Carlon Brown seems to have come out of nowhere after transferring, ironically from Utah, to Colorado, to really play well for the Buffs. What is the back-story on him? Carlon Brown is one of the more interesting players on this year's squad. He plays at such a high level in some games and then he will be invisible in others. He has a very good elbow pull up shot and can get the basket easily if he chooses. If Brown shoots efficiently and does not make careless turnovers, the Buffaloes do not usually lose. Despite being only 6'7", Andre Roberson seems to be a force on the boards for the Buffs, who play essentially without a post presence, 6'11" sub Shane Harris-Tunks notwithstanding. How does he do it? And is the 3 guard, 2 smallish forward approach something coach Tad Boyle favors, or was it more a matter of the talent available? Andre Roberson is so efficient and great on the boards because of his timing and jumping ability. No one seems to rebound over him and whenever he can't grab a rebound with both hands he keeps tipping it up until he can get it. As far as the 3 guard, 2 smallish forward approach, that is more a matter of talent available. Boyle will play the best players he has and can only incorporate size so much because of this. There just aren't a lot of big players on the Buffaloes that can play a lot of minutes and contribute. The Buffs have been really tough at home. How much of that is the effect of altitude, especially against a bunch of former Pac-10 mostly low-landers, and how much is the atmosphere at the Coors Event Center? Is Buff basketball a happening for conference games? The home-court advantage for the Buffaloes is a combination of the altitude and the fans. The Coors Event Center is one of the smaller arenas in the Pac-12 so it is easy to fill up and the fans really do influence the play of the Buffaloes. Furthermore, the Buffaloes continue to have a huge home-court advantage and Boulder will be a hard place for all of their new Pac-12 opponents. Colorado's conference losses have all been on the road, and surprisingly, a couple of them have been pretty lopsided. Why the big difference away from Boulder? Was it just a coincidence of where the Buffs ran into some difficult matchups? Or somethng else? Winning on the road is a difficult thing to do and the Buffaloes haven't been able to accomplish this consistently. They get outmatched easily and make too many careless turnovers. Along with the turnovers, the poor shot selection prevents the Buffaloes from winning. Clearly it is more difficult to win on the road than home, however, the Buffaloes play so much differently on the road that the mental aspect is a factor as well. Speaking of poor TV coverage, what's the relationship between Colorado sports and ROOT Sports Rocky Mtn.? ROOT Sports' northwest channel has been pretty good to the northwest teams, and fans in this region are surprised to see such limited coverage of Colorado? ROOT Sports more covers the Pac-12 rather than just Colorado. As a result, they'll cover the more premier games and Colorado hasn't played that many premier games yet. Let's just say the new TV deal can't get here soon enough. Recognizing that football was rough, but basketball is going pretty well, how do Buff fans feel at this point about being in the Pac-12 vs. the Big XII? Are you still happy with the move? If the "Texas problem" didn't exist, would Colorado have still made the jump? And what have you run into in the Pac that surprised you? Colorado Buffalo fans are definitely happy with the move to the Pac-12. Colorado has a lot of alumni in California, home to many Pac-12 schools, and being a part of this conference has already helped out recruiting. Additionally, Colorado would have made the jump regardless of the "Texas Problem". As far as surprises in the Pac-12, there really has not been anything that stands out. It seems like a very well run league with strong alumni. Thanks, Parker for the great insights! Beaver Nation is looking forward to developing a good competitive relationship with the Buffs, a program that we think will be a good fit for the conference. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/1/2764916/analyzing-oregon-st-s-signing-day http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/1/2764916/analyzing-oregon-st-s-signing-day Wed, 1 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000 Rather than recap the specifics of the players who filed their National Letter of Intent today with Oregon St., I thought I'd link to a lengthy rundown the Gazette-Times' Cliff Kirkpatrick compiled, and move on to some analysis of what happened, and what didn't. The offensive line was a problem the last couple of years for the Beavers, and consequently a primary area of emphasis this season for coach Mike Riley and company, and they brought in 7 recruits, several of whom could push to play right away. One thing that jumps off the screen is the absence of any defensive linemen, but after bringing in some in 2010, and several more in 2011, Riley felt the number of returning players has them in good shape there. It will need to become a priority next year, given that some of the depth brought in in 2011 were JCs, especially after DT Calvin Tonga was lost late in the process to Colorado St., in what was probably a move for more immediate playing time. Though at 6'4", and 340 lbs., it seems likely he would have come in handy as a run stopper right away for Oregon St. Generally, Oregon St. got who they were targeting except in one major area, the defensive backfield. The Beavers lost 5 verbal recruits, and 4 were defensive backs. All the defections came after DB coach Keith Heyward headed up I5 to Seattle, taking the same job with the Huskies, as well as a pay raise Oregon St. didn't match. Heyward also took 3 star prospect Cleveland Wallace with him to Washington. Wallace was the only defensive back whose' defection can be clearly tied to Heyward's departure, as the other 3 all had other factors in their decisions, though Heyward leaving certainly did nothing to not make it easy to head elsewhere. Especially since Riley has not named a replacement, probably because one or more preferred target did not want to leave his current position, and impact his current recruiting group. The big loss was 4 star Safety Devian Shelton, whom USC swooped in and snagged this week. When USC comes calling, most places are going to lost that recruit, but with multiple current DBs entering their final year, getting an impact player in the secondary, one which was routinely torched last year, needed to be one of Riley's priorities. The Beavers also lost CB Kentrel Bryce, who decided late in the process he wanted to stay home in Rushton, LA, and Louisiana Tech benefited. The other disappearing DB was Chris Young, a Washington kid who decided he liked the warm, sunny weather he experienced as a JC, and went to Arizona St. instead of settling for rainy days at either of the northwest schools he had interest from. A late in the day mild disappointment was the decision by 4 star WR prospect Kenny Lawler to go to California. Oregon St. held out some hope for the home run receiver recruit, but its only a mild disappointment because there wasn't that much chance. Despite the notoriety of the likes of James Rodgers and Marcus Wheaton, Oregon St. lacks in both the star power and the offensive schemes to land the top level talent at WR in many cases. The surprises included one of the offensive linemen, Stan Hasiak, a JC whom Oregon St. originally went after when he came out of college in Hawaii. Riley said in his press conference that he was comfortable with the progress Hasiak has made on the academic side, and never did lose interest in him, as far as the football side of things went. Garrett Owens, the nation's third best kicker, was another surprise, especially with a freshman scholarship kicker and another young kicker already on the roster. Riley saw Owens while recruiting 2 other signees from the same Arroyo Grande High, QB Brent VanderVeen and offensive lineman Garrett Weinreich, and decided Owens was too good to pass up. Riley said in his press conference that he anticipates Owens grey-shirting and then red-shirting, and only going head to head with Trevor Romaine and Max Johnson for one season. Riley will announce some of the signees, and talk about all of them tonight at the signing day dinner in Portland, which will have former players Joe Newton and Matt Moore, and Fox Sports radio show host and Pac-12 football specialist Petros Papadakius as the hosts. Despite the misses, the class is still one of the best in Oregon St. history, and was initially rated 8th in the Pac-12 and 37th in the nation by Rivals, though that #8 turned into a #10 after some late landings elsewhere. Which is at least a step up in the right direction, though there's a lot of work to do starting with spring practice, and lasting for several years before the final grade on the day or the program can be assigned. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/1/2763837/sagarin-conference-predictions-2-2 http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/2/1/2763837/sagarin-conference-predictions-2-2 Wed, 1 Feb 2012 11:56:00 +0000 Should I eat crow or was it just a reverse jinx? The big suprise last week was Washington. UW helped to drop AZ's predicted record and of course helped their own cause. So with the Civil War win you would think that the same thing would happen for OSU and UO, but no. Remember, OSU was predicted to win the civil war. The trouble is with Thursdays game. The Colorado game has flopped from a win to a loss due to CU's blowout at USC. The spread is still by half of a half of a point. But because of this Colorado is now predicted to finish in a three way tie with OSU and Washington. Oregon reaps the benefit of this by moving into a two way tie with AZ. So, what needs to happen to change the Sagarin future? Here is what I am hoping for in the games this week. None of this is a stretch of the Sagarin imagination. 1. Oregon State needs to upset CU tommorrow and beat Utah Saturday. 2. UCLA needs to upset UW tommorrow. 3. CAL is predicted to beat UA and they better do it tommorrow. 4. Stanford is predicted to beat UA and they better do it too. 5. The Ducks need to lose to CU on Saturday. Here are the Sagarin predictor spreads for the week's games. Home team favorites are negative spreads and home team underdogs are positive spreads. Home Team Point Spread Thursday Oregon State @ Colorado -0.21 Oregon @ Utah 13.38 UCLA @ Washington -2.36 Southern California @ Washington State -7.31 Arizona @ California -7.6 Arizona State @ Stanford -15.06 Saturday Oregon State @ Utah 17.5 Oregon @ Colorado -4.33 Southern California @ Washington -11.13 UCLA @ Washington State 1.46 Arizona @ Stanford -3.58 Arizona State @ California -19.08 The predicted standings at the end of the season if the favorites win all their games. Conference Overall Rank Predictor Team W - L W - L 20 86.29 1 California 16 - 2 26 - 5 45 82.27 2 Stanford 12 - 6 22 - 8 47 82.05 3 Arizona 11 - 7 20 - 11 101 77.6 4 Oregon 11 - 7 20 - 10 53 81.72 5 Oregon State 10 - 8 20 - 10 73 80.22 6 Washington 10 - 8 20 - 10 92 78.57 7 Colorado 10 - 8 18 - 12 60 81.22 8 UCLA 6 - 12 19 - 12 116 76.4 9 Washington State 6 - 12 14 - 16 202 70.57 10 Arizona State 5 - 13 9 - 21 306 60.86 11 Utah 2 - 16 5 - 25 170 72.45 12 Southern California 1 - 17 6 - 25 And finally, here is the Pac-12 tournament with seedings if the season plays out as Sagarin predicts. I still think it sets up well for OSU. 86.29 California 1 76.4 Washington State 9 -5.07 86.29 California 1 -4.82 81.22 UCLA 8 -4.57 81.22 UCLA 8 86.29 California 1 77.6 Oregon 4 -4.02 72.45 Southern California 12 4.12 81.72 Oregon State 5 -9.27 81.72 Oregon State 5 81.72 Oregon State 5 82.27 Stanford 2 70.57 Arizona State 10 -3.7 82.27 Stanford 2 -8 78.57 Colorado 7 -0.22 78.57 Colorado 7 82.27 Stanford 2 82.05 Arizona 3 60.86 Utah 11 -1.83 82.05 Arizona 3 -19.36 80.22 Washington 6 80.22 Washington 6 http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/30/2759670/beavers-losing-db-recruits http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/30/2759670/beavers-losing-db-recruits Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:30:00 +0000 With National Letter of Intent Day now just 2 days away, Oregon St. is seeing what was looking like a deep class at DB thinning out. Chris Young, a JC from Arizona Western Community College in Yuma, AZ, but originally from Auburn, WA, who originally verbally committed to the Beavers last week, apparently decided he likes the dryer weather of the southwest better. After visiting Arizona St. last week, Young announced he's changed his plans, and will become a Sun Devil. This is a significant loss for Oregon St., as Young is a Junior College All-American and was the National Junior College Athletic Association's Defensive Player of the Year. The news comes on the heels of the defection of cornerback Kentrel Bryce, who verbally committed to the Beavers over the holidays, but has now decided to stay home in Rushton, LA, and attend Louisiana Tech. Brice and safety Cyril Noland played together in high school, and had indicated they would stay together, and both attend Oregon St. Noland hasn't given any indication of changing his mind, but since the pair are close, it will bear watching. 4 star DB Devian Shelton announced he's still leaning toward Oregon St., but also said he won't make a final decision until signing day. Nebraska, where Shelton just visited, and Washington are still in the running for Shelton, from Inglewood, CA, as well. With Washington having lost out on some other big name recruits this year, despite hiring respected recruiter Tosh Lupoi away from California, expect Husky coach Steve Sarkisian to make a major push for Shelton, as he tries to salvage a recruiting season that hasn't been up to par with his previous classes. Don't be surprised to see Shelton select purple instead of orange come Wednesday. The departure of DB coach Keith Heyward to Washington has coincided with the Oregon St. defensive back recruits becoming considerably less committed than they had been. Oregon St. coach Mike Riley hasn't announced a replacement for Heyward yet, though he did say one could be determined with in "two days or so". Which means Riley is probably talking to someone currently on another staff, and doesn't want to tip his hand until after signing day. That's not unheard of in the recruiting game, but it also doesn't do Oregon St. any good regarding this year's class. Riley has said he is after a veteran coach first, and then a strong recruiter second. He plans to have that coach help WR coach Brent Brennan with in the LA and Orange county areas. While its become evident of late that strategic coaching needs to be re-inserted into the defensive plan, its also become pretty plain that recruiting is becoming even more important, and hotly contested, in the Pac-12 than before. Riley's hire is going to have to be solid on both the field and in living rooms. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/30/2759518/jared-cunningham-pac-12-player-of-the-week http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/30/2759518/jared-cunningham-pac-12-player-of-the-week Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:45:00 +0000 Oregon St.'s Jared Cunningham was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week, after scoring 24 of his game high 27 points in the second half Sunday to lead the Beavers to a come from behind 76-71 win over Oregon in the 336th Civil War. It was the second time this season Cunningham has been the Pac-12 Player of the Week, after also receiving the honor back on November 21. "It's a great honor to be named the Pac-12 Player of the Week," Cunningham said. "It was important for us to get a conference road win, and it was extra special to do it in the Civil War against our rival. Our team has been working hard all season, and we just keep fighting." Cunningham also had 7 rebounds and 3 assists in the win, and became the first player this season to be honored by the conference a second time. It's the first time an Oregon St. player has been named the conference Player of the Week twice in the same season since David Lucas did it in 2005. http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/29/2757408/cunningham-out-duels-joseph-as-oregon-st-bounces-back-for-civil-war http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/29/2757408/cunningham-out-duels-joseph-as-oregon-st-bounces-back-for-civil-war Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:50:00 +0000 Final Score: Oregon St. 76 Oregon 71 Oregon St.'s Jared Cunningham out-dueled Oregon's Devoe Joseph as the Beavers battled back from multiple double digit first half deficits to down the Ducks 76-71 in the 336th. basketball Civil War. After an awful first half, Cunningham came up with 24 of his game high 27 points in the second half to out-score Joseph, who hit 8 of 16 shots, and 5 of 9 3 pointers, and led Oregon with 26 points, 22 of which were after the break. Most importantly, Cunningham connected on 12 of 15 free throws, a big part of the edge Oregon St. had at the line, where the Beavers made 21 of 30, compared to 16 of 24 by the Ducks. A difference equal to the difference in the final score. "I told Jared that our best player would have to help us win games on the road," Oregon St. coach Craig Robinson said. "So not only did he have the pressure he was putting on himself, but I put that added pressure on him." Both teams started very cold, and though both teams' zone defenses were effective early, especially Oregon's contracting zone defense, both teams also suffered a lot of badly missed shots. It wasn't a matter of balls rimming out after going halfway down for either team. Oregon St. made only 4 of their first 18 shots in the games' first 12 minutes, and Oregon took a 20-10 lead 5:50 before the break. It would be the worst half of the season scoring wise for the Beavers, who needed a 9-2 run capped by an Ahmad Starks 3 pointer to be down only 28-23 at halftime. The previous low point was the start to the Idaho game, where Oregon St. scored only 24 points. Joe Burton almost single handedly kept Oregon St. in the game, with all of his 10 points in the first half. Burton's shooting brought the Beavers up to 29% for the first half. Cunningham hit only 1 of 7 shots, and 1 of 3 3s, while Starks sank only 1 of 6 shots, and just 1 of 4 from long range, as Oregon St. shot only 22% on their first half 3 pointers. Oregon wasn't setting the nets on fire either, shooting only 36% from the field, though they were 38% on 3 pointers, making 3 of 8. E.J. Singler, below driving against Angus Brandt, had 2 of the 3s, and had 10 of his 16 points in the early going. Eric Moreland, the conference's leading shot blocker, is always involved in one of the key story lines of the game, but usually he's the one doing the blocking. But in the first half, he had a couple of his shots blocked, and Oregon had an 8-0 edge in blocks at the break. The surprising stat of the game would grow to a 10-0 edge for the game, 4 by Tony Woods. But Moreland more than made up for it in the second half, with a game and career high 4 steals, and several serious disruptions of the Oregon offense while working at the front of the Oregon St. zone defense. Overall, the Beavers were +5 on steals, and the Ducks were +6 on turnovers. It was as essential to the turnaround as the improvement in shooting, where Oregon St. shot 57% from the field, and 71% on 3 pointers in the second half, while holding Oregon to 41%, and just 27%, 6 of 22, on 3 pointers after the break. It's hard to say if Oregon St.'s shooting struggles can be partially attributed to the extreme contrast in lighting inside Matthew Knight Arena between the center of the building and even the basket areas, never mind the background, but the Beavers also struggled last year in their first visit, shooting only 37%, and 19% for the game on 3 pointers. Fortunately for the Beavers, they finally figured out the range in the second half, and made some defensive adjustments as well. "In the first half they had 15 second chance points," Robinson noted. "We said, `we're the team who's tall and athletic'. That was our thing at the half." Oregon St.'s Jared Cunningham scores over Oregon's Garrett Sim. Cunningham served notice his slump was over shortly after the break, with a steal and a give and go basket to cut the deficit to 3 points, but it would take a while before the Beavers would catch up. Garrett Sim answerd Cunningham's highlight play with a basket that started a 6-0 run, and though Starks' 3 pointer pulled the Beavers within 36-30, they were still shooting less than 30% 4 minutes into the second half. Cunningham connected on a 3 pointer and then a layin off one of Moreland's steals coming out of the first media timeout, and the 8-0 run made it a 1 point game. Joseph answered with a 3 pointer, but a pair of Cunningham free throws tied the game at 39-39 at the 13:50 mark, the first tie since it had been 5-5. Joseph buried back to back 3 pointers to give him 18 for the game, and reopen a 6 point lead, but a steal by Burton that led to another Cunningham basket that pulled Oregon St. within 1 point, and made Cunningham the 36th Beaver player ever to reach the 1,000 point mark. It also set the stage for a Starks 3 pointer that put Oregon St. ahead for good, going up 46-45 with 11:49 left. Another Starks 3 pointer capped a 17-3 Oregon St. run that gave them a 56-48 lead with 9 minutes to go, and the Beavers built the lead as large as 12 points on a Devon Collier basket that made it 63-51, but with still over 6 minutes to go. Oregon St.'s Devon Collier was 5 of 7 from the field, and finished with 13 points. But the Ducks were far from finished, responding with a 7-0 run in a minute. A key call came when Carlos Emory reached in for a rebound Burton had both hands on, and elbowed Burton on the nose, yet still drew the foul call on Burton. It was a terrible call, but Emory converted the free throws, and even more importantly, when Singler drew a legitimate call on Burton to get the free throws that made it a 5 point game with 5 minutes left, it was Buurton's 4th. foul. Robinson stayed with Burton however, and the Beavers rebuilt an 8 point lead on a Collier dunk off of a Starks steal with 3 minutes to go. It took Oregon a minute before Joseph scored, and then the fouling commenced. There were 3 fouls in a matter of 4 seconds, but the margin was the same 7 points as it was before the fracas. Oregon's inability to hit from the field then probably cost them the game, as the Ducks missed 3 consecutive 3 pointers, another inside shot, and then another 3 point shot. But after Singler turned the ball over, Starks threw it straight to Sim, and Joseph finally re-located the range, cutting the deficit to 4 points with still over a minute to go. Cunningham connected on a pair of free throws, but Singler answered with another 3 pointer, and it was a 1 possession game with 50 seconds left. Starks turned the ball over again, stepping on the end line, but this time Singler missed a 3, and subsequently fell down, turning the ball back over. Oregon St. hit 1 of 2 free throws 3 times in the last 25 seconds to pull out their first road win of the season in Pac-12 play, and their first ever at Matt Court. Oregon had won 29 of the last 36 games in the Civil War series since the 1994-95 season. The win also snapped a 13 game conference road losing streak. Singler, a 90% free throw maker, missed 1 of 2 with 11 seconds left, which prevented Oregon from making it a 1 possession game again. In addition to Cunningham and Burton, Starks and Collier also finished in double figures, with 15 and 13 points respectively. "We came out slow, but we were only down by five at halftime," Cunningham said, "so we picked up our intensity in the second half. I knew I needed to attack, and be more vocal in the second half. We were more aggressive after the half. We played hard to the end. It was good that we were knocking down our free throws at the end." Emory was the only Oregon player in double figures besides Joseph, below battling Cunningham for one of his baskets, and Singler, finishing with 11 points, including 7 of 8 at the line. Emory also was the game leader on the boards, with 10 rebounds. Oregon (15-6, 6-3) saw their 4 game winning streak snapped, disappointing the majority of the near capacity crowd of 11,219, and fell out of an opportunity for a first place tie with Washington (14-7, 7-2), after the Huskies' sweep of the Arizona schools this weekend, and California (17-5, 7-2), who downed Stanford 69-59 immediately following the Civil War game. It left the Ducks tied with Colorado (14-7, 6-3) for third place in the Pac-12, after the Buffalos lost 77-60 to UCLA Saturday in Los Angeles. The Oregon "Pit Crew" posterized Oregon St. fans, including BTD's own Connor. But Connor and the rest of Beaver Nation had the last laugh, celebrating a Civil War weekend sweep of the Ducks, after the men followed up yesterday's 67-60 comeback win by the women with another come from behind win of their own. Oregon St. (14-7, 4-5) extended their winning streak to 3 games, and though they remain in 8th place in the conference race, are only a game behind the 3 way tie for fifth between Stanford, Arizona, and UCLA, who are all 5-4 half way through the Pac-12 season. The Oregon schools visit the mountain area this week, with Oregon St. visiting Boulder to face Colorado Thursday, and Oregon visiting Utah (5-16, 2-7) in Salt Lake City. The teams switch opponents Saturday. (AP Photos) Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/29/2731052/oregon-st-vs-oregon-civil-war-game-thread http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/29/2731052/oregon-st-vs-oregon-civil-war-game-thread Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000 Oregon St. (13-7, 3-5) at Oregon (15-5, 6-2) at Matthew Knight Arena 3:30 PM PST / Fox Sports Net & ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed) It's the season's first basketball installment of the Civil War, and if that wasn't enough, this time around, its a pretty big game as we reach the midway point in the Pac-12 season, and both teams are playing well right now, having both swept the LA schools last week. The Ducks swept the Arizona schools the week before as well, and ended last week tied with California for first place in the Pac-12. The Beavers first weekend sweep of the LA schools since 2005 left them only 3 games out of first place, as they bounced back from their disappointing 1-5 start to the conference season. Oregon got a 26 point, 7 rebound effort from Medford, OR, native E.J. Singler, which included a 16 of 17 performance at the free throw line, in their win over UCLA. It's usually a question of figuring out whether it will be Singler, Garrett Sim, or Devoe Joseph that has the hottest hand, or the most favorable matchup, in any given game, and then riding that hot hand. Against the Bruins, all 3 were in double figures. All 3 have taken their turns at almost single-handedly shooting down an opponent. Oregon St. got an 18 point, 5 assist show from Jared Cunningham in their win over USC. Devon Collier added a dozen points, and Eric Moreland grabbed 11 rebounds for the Beavers. Coupled with their Thursday night victory over UCLA, it gave coach Craig Robinson his first ever career sweep of the LA schools. Against Oregon, the more Oregon St. can get done thru Collier, Moreland, Angus Brandt, and Joe Burton, the better their chances are. The challenges the Beavers have had at picking up perimeter shooters will need to be tightened up, or the possibility exists of Singler, Sim, and Joseph all going wild at the same time with outside shooting. This is the 336th time the Beavers and the Ducks have got together for some hoops, and Oregon St. has a 31 win advantage overall, having won 183 times, and also the advantage in Eugene, where they have won 86 against 70 losses. Oregon cut into both of those deficits last season though, sweeping the season series. Oregon pulled out a 63-59 win in Corvallis, in front of a near sellout of Beaver fans, and backed it up by blowing Oregon St. out of Matt Court by an 82-63 score in their first visit to the then new home of the Ducks. The Civil War wins started and ended a run in which Oregon won 6 of 8 games, and Oregon St. lost 7 of 8. The Ducks salvaged a season that appeared headed for disaster, after losing 7 of 8 games before the first meeting, but ended with Oregon winning the CBI tournament in coach Dana Altman's first year in Eugene, while the Beavers saw a promising start to the season go completely off the tracks. In 2009, it was the Beavers who got a sweep, starting with a win in their last ever appearance in Mac Court. Getting their first win at "The Matt" would be a good step for the Beavers in their efforts to finish the season strong, and hopefully reach the post-season. A road win anywhere in the conference has been particularly elusive for Oregon St., as they have lost 13 conference games in a row in other Pac-12 buildings, and 14 straight in those buildings, including last year's loss at Colorado. Oregon needs the win to keep pace with Washington in the Pac-12 race, after the Huskies completed a weekend sweep in the desert with a 69-67 win over Arizona in Tucson Saturday evening. Oregon St. can not move up from 8th, place with a win, but would remain ahead of Arizona St. and Washington St., after the Sun Devils downed the Cougars 71-67 Saturday. More importantly, the Beavers would remain only 3 games out of first place with half the conference season ahead, as the top 7 teams are bunched within 2 games of each other. Here's the place to share CIvil (and uncivil) War stories, critique the half-court stripe on Kilkenny Court (they colored in the area inside the almost invisible out-line lines), and speculate on how the second half of the Pac-12 season will go. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/29/2756436/joe-burton-on-opportunity http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/29/2756436/joe-burton-on-opportunity Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:10:00 +0000 Joe Burton On Opportunity Kevin Hampton has an interesting feature in today's Gazette-Times on Oregon St.'s Joe Burton, and his perspective on the opportunity that the combination of education and basketball afforded him. http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2755656/oregon-state-womens-basketball-rally-to-win-their-first-civil-war http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2755656/oregon-state-womens-basketball-rally-to-win-their-first-civil-war Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000 It was a hard fought back and forth Civil War game today in Corvallis. OSU freshman Ali Gibson had a huge second half to lead the Beavs from an eight point deficit to win the first 2011-12 installment of the Civil War series. In a live televised game the Beavs overcame some poor first half shooting, poorly executed inside the post offense, and Oregon's so-called high octane offense to rally from eight points down late in the second half, at the 7:36 mark, with a 22-7 run to the finish to beat the Ducks 67 to 60. Gibson had a career high 23 points that included some very timely 3-pointers and a wonderful alley-oop basket late into the game. The highlight was her 3-pointer, right, to put the Beavs up five with just under two minutes left in the game. "They weren't recruited (by Oregon)," Oregon St. coach Scott Rueck said of his squad. "They believed they had something to say about that." Gibson wasn't alone though and Patricia Bright had some strong defense down the stretch including more blocks, none more key than a late block when the Ducks were trying to close the final couple minutes gap. Bright also put in a double double with 12 rebounds and 11 points to go along with her continued above record pace four blocks. And Alyssa Martin hit two key three-pointers in the final few minutes that were instrumental in closing the eight point gap Oregon built including the 3-pointer that gave the Beavs a 59 to 57 lead at the 2:47 mark, a lead that the Beavs then did not relinquish, and she also made some important last minute free-throws. Patricia Bright put up an 11 point, 12 rebound double double to help the Beavers beat the Ducks. It was a game where the 3,719 crowd (largest crowd to see a women's game in five years) and the television audience, including myself, were wondering if the Beavs would ever find that second gear after some sloppy ball control play and having some major issues cracking Oregon's strong interior zone offense. That said Oregon State played some solid overall defense and held the high scoring Oregon offense to only 25 points at half and 60 total. They also held off a strong return performance from Oregon's star player Amanda Johnson who scored a team leading 16 points for her first game coming back from a broken thumb injury. I was impressed that the team did not give up when the Ducks made a very strong run that looked to be one of those where the game gets away from a team. Additionally I thought the way Gibson took over the game was a very encouraging sign for this team's future. The Beavs shot 44% from the field in the game and overall it wasn't the most spectacular of shooting performances (both teams played some tough defense though I thought) but they hit the key shots at the key times. It was just one of those rivalry games where things become very tense and hard fought and the just the right shots at the right time ended up all that was needed. The Beavs ended up the team making those shots. Plus the offense was methodical with taking the clock down on every position to help the defense keep the pace of the game in the Beavs favor. As noted the OSU defense was very good I thought holding the Ducks to 35% from the field, and overall did a wonderful job at slowing down the UO offense such as creating an important momentum building 30 second clock violation on the Oregon side. Sage Indendi sinks a 3 pointer that pulled Oregon St. within 57-56 as the Beavers rallied from 8 down to defeat Oregon. And beyond the excellent Civil War win, and taking it to our rivals, this game was an important one in moving Oregon State up in the Pac-12 standings. OSU is now at 4 and 5 in the conference and has a very respectable 13 and 7 overall record. Additionally this win along with losses by USC and California, and with Colorado and UCLA playing each other tomorrow, places the Beavs up into the second upper tier of the conference (Stanford really being once again in their own tier by themselves). Not bad at all for a team that went 2 and 16 last season in conference play. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of the team in the first half, but it was a first half that saw swings back and forth and the Beavs leading at halftime. I became even more skeptical as the second half seemed to turn in the Ducks favor but in grand tradition of a true Civil War game you can't count one or the other team out and in the end with the help of Ali Gibson I was believing! Congrats to the team for a hard fought and important win and for an excellent turn around season so far. Some challenging games still to come, but with a strong finish this team can possibly see some postseason play as well as put a stamp on a season that the program can build upon for the future. Cue the Fight Song! (Photos by Andy Wooldridge) -RVM http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2755276/beaver-gymnastics-stomps-no-12-stanford http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2755276/beaver-gymnastics-stomps-no-12-stanford Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:16:00 +0000 Beaver Gymnastics stomps No.12 Stanford The No. 10 Oregon State gymnastics team lit up the Cardinal 196.800 to 194.525. The score of 196.800 is one of the highest in the nation so far this season. The win brings the Beavs record to 3-0 on the season and they handed Stanford their first loss of the season. This is also the third straight win for the Beavs over ranked teams (the previous wins came over Oklahoma and Arizona). http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2754523/oregon-st-football-track-team-in-action-again http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2754523/oregon-st-football-track-team-in-action-again Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:40:00 +0000 For the third year in a row, Oregon St. women's track coach Kelly Sullivan has a men's team as well, as several members of the Beaver football team take to the track, starting this weekend in Seattle at the UW Invitational. WRs Markus Wheaton and Brandin Cooks will compete today in the 60 meters, and Obum Gwacham will go in the high jump. Both Wheaton and Gwacham were on last year's team, while Cooks will be making his first start. "Obum is one of the best high jumpers in the country, despite doing it so little," Sullivan said. Preliminary heats will run from 2:45 until 5 PM this afternoon. "I'm excited," Cooks commented. "I can't wait to get to Seattle and see where I'm at in the 60. Markus and I are always racing, now we are going to see who is the fastest." The UW Invitational, contested in the Dempsey Indoor Arena, the Huskies' football indoor practice facility located behind Alaska Airlines / Hec Edmundson Pavillion, and adjacent to the currently being renovated Husky Stadium, is one of the premier indoor track and field events on the west coach. The team will return to Seattle in 2 weeks, along with Keynan Parker and Malcolm Marable, who will also compete in the 60 meters, for the Husky Classic on Feb. 10 & 11. The group will have a third chance to post marks that qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held in Boise, ID, on March 9 & 10, when they compete in the UW Last Chance qualifying meet on March 3. Jordan Bishop, who earned All-American honors in 2010, and became the first Oregon St. track athlete to score points at a national meet since the program was shut down, will not be able to compete this season, while re-habbing his second ankle injury in as many years, but will accompany the team, and assist them with preparations. Past football participants also included James and Jacquizz Rodgers and Rashaad Reynolds, and of course the Beavers have encountered northwest football rivals like LaMichael James and Chris Polk on the track as well. "They all love track," Sullivan said of the footballers. "They love being fast. It's an adrenaline rush for those guys. It's an amazing thing they have, and it doesn't surprise me at all that at this point of the year, they shift their brains into being fast, instead of just playing football." After the indoor season, and spring football, the group will also compete in outdoor meets. Wheaton, Cooks, Marable, and Parker plan to form a 4x100 relay team, as well as competing individually. On a related matter, check out Sullivan's update on progress on Oregon St.'s new track and field facility that Cliff Kirkpatrick ran in the Gazette-Times this week. The opportunity to compete in track and field has become a helpful recruiting tool for Oregon St. since Kelly and football coach Mike Riley have collaborated on the program, placing the Beavers back into an arena the other 3 northwest schools have had success in, both in terms of a productive program, and a recruiting advantage. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2754467/james-rodgers-invited-to-nfl-combine http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/28/2754467/james-rodgers-invited-to-nfl-combine Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:45:00 +0000 Oregon St. WR/KR James Rodgers, was invited Friday to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. The combine, to be held Feb. 22-25, brings together most of the draft prospects in the nation, and it was one of Rodgers' goals after coming back from his season ending knee injury in 2010. Rodgers is the Beavers' all time leader in career catches, with 222, including 45 in 10 games last year, and also in all-purpose yards, with 6,377. http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/26/2750246/amnesty-program-explained http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/26/2750246/amnesty-program-explained Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:26:00 +0000 Last week, Oregon St. Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis referred to something the ticket office is referring to as an "amnesty" program in his periodic report to Beaver Nation, but did not explain what it entailed. Today, the details were explained. The term "amnesty" is totally misleading. It could be of real value to you, however, if you have been partnering with someone on the purchase of season tickets for football, basketball, or baseball. As DeCarolis explains in his statement, season tickets bought as a package are all in the name of one person, and the accrued time in the program, and priority for access to tickets when demand exceeds supply, like some bowl games, can not normally be transferred except to family members, usually in the case of death, and such. Yet many groups like to get their tickets as a single purchase, in order to keep the group together. This can be of considerable significance, as anyone who has been the recipient of randomly distributed tickets to road games can attest. Under the "amnesty" program, which is really just an access to what you have already been paying for program, pre-existing partners in these ticket purchasing programs, with some exceptions, can establish their own accounts, and leap-frog others who came later, but already have their own accounts, in the process. It's a step in the right direction toward modernizing the archaic ticketing process in place at Oregon St., albeit a small one. It's still unclear how buying tickets has somehow been an act of wrong-doing, necessitating "amnesty" though. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/26/2738854/oregon-st-recruiting-into-the-grey-area http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/26/2738854/oregon-st-recruiting-into-the-grey-area Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000 Oregon St. received their 25th. commitment for the 2012 football recruiting season when Rommel Mageo from Pago Pago, American Samoa verbaled to the Beavers this week. Here's his video: Mageo, who is unranked by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, is a 6'2", 225 lb. middle linebacker that Oregon St. is looking at to delay enrollment until winter term 2013. While Oregon St. isn't over the maximum number of players they can sign, they are headed for being well over the 85 scholarship limit if nearly all of the commits come thru next week with a signed LOI. So there will certainly be some number of delayed enrollments, something that is becoming increasingly common, as many players who redshirt at some point complete their degree during fall term of that 5th. year. Grey-shirts that start winter term often therefore actually complete their degree in a subsequent fall term. Towards that end, Oregon St. has also offered a grey-shirt opportunity to Sam McCaskill, after he visited the campus last weekend. McCaskill is a 6'4", 240 lb. DE from Sheldon High School in Eugene, OR. McCaskill, rated a 2 star prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, also has offers from FCS schools Montana and Portland St., where he could enroll in the fall, and is interested in both Harvard and Princeton as well. McCaskill is still deciding on his plans among a variety of options. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/25/2735977/civil-war-oregon-state-mens-basketball-preview-vs-oregon http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/25/2735977/civil-war-oregon-state-mens-basketball-preview-vs-oregon Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:21:00 +0000 The Beavers seemed to have finally hit their stride, sweeping the LA schools. But the Ducks are even hotter, winning 4 straight Pac 12 games to sit atop the standings with Cal. When these two locomotives collide, which team will be left standing? More after the jump. This Ducks team is a very intriguing look. Yes, core guys like EJ Singler, Garrett Sim and Tyrone Nared are back, but they've added some really good pieces to go along with them, namely Tony Woods, Olu Ashaolu and Devoe Joseph. Suddenly, this team turned from an offensively inept team to an outfit that can and will fill it up. They take and make a ton of 3s and FTs in their slow pace but are average overall. They are also a good offensive rebounding team but struggle to take care of the basketball (they average more turnovers than assists). About the only thing the Ducks do well defensively is keep opponents off the foul line. However, they allow foes to shoot 46% from the floor, 38% from the 3! They are also not good at blocking shots and stealing the ball, and only win the rebound battle slightly (50.3 vs. 49.7%). A lot of the firepower for the Oregon Ducks come from the backcourt. Devoe Joseph is a flat out scorer, capable of beating you from outside and driving to the hole. Garrett Sim is also another hot hand the Beavers MUST track at all times on the floor. Also expect EJ Singler to get a lot of action/touches from the perimeter, and Jonathan Lloyd to come off the bench and give some bench minutes speeding around and making plays. The first 3 players are the primary facilitators as well, a mixed results given that they average just as much turnovers as well as assists. What makes Oregon even more dangerous is that the frontcourt is no slouch; they carry their own weight and then some. Olu Ashaolu is primarily a post guy but can also sink a couple of mid range shots. Another key piece here is Tony Woods, an athletic shot blocker who is primarily a defensive dynamo down on the block (lead shot blocker) while chipping in around 6-8 points a game. Helping these two are Tyrone Nared, who's another athletic shot blocker but is not as tall or huge as Woods. This is going to be a great matchup as both the backcourts and frontcourts of both these teams are stacked with good players and contributors. I am looking forward to see what TEMPO the game is going to be played (slow, Oregon's, or fast, OSU's). Again, defense is once again going to a determining factor, as both teams are more on the porous side on their own end of the floor; I think whoever digs in the most will win the game. Finally, should the game is tied or close, I would like to see how Coach Robinson handle the schematics in late game situations, because... no offense to Coach Rob, but it was an issue in some games, and Altman is a very proven veteran coach. Anyhow, that's it for the Civil War Preview. Best of luck to the Beaver men! Bring this one back to Corvallis, dudes! Poll How will this game be won for the Beavers? Backcourt Explosion (offensive) Frontcourt Dominance (offensive) Lockdown defense Outrebounding the Ducks   3 votes | Results http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/25/2735756/sagarin-conference-predictions-1-26 http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/25/2735756/sagarin-conference-predictions-1-26 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:35:00 +0000 Last week was good for what ailed us in Beaver Nation. The biggest surprise was that WSU beat Cal. Sagarin thought they were 5.5 point dogs. It helps to put some perspective on what the Sagarin point spread can tell us. If the spread is within 6 and the underdog is at home then the game is a toss up. With that in mind I give you the OSU-UO spread. OSU is favored by 0.23 pts. That's right, less than one half of one half of one point. It is the closest spread of any game in the Pac this weekend. Good thing they are saving it for Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. My heart is with OSU but my money is on Oregon. That spread is too close for the home dog to really lose. The wins last week helped to push the Beavs back to higher in the standings. Sagarin predicts them to finish 4th again but this time they are tied with the Ducks. That still has them meeting Oregon in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament. Somehow, someway, the Beavs will finish 4th. That is kind of hard to believe. I checked the RPI recently and the Beavs are somewhere around 140 and the Ducks are around 60. Sagarin on the other hand loves the Beavs more and has them around 55 in Predictor and 73 overall while the Ducks hover around 100 in both Sagarin ratings. I have put a lot of time into this Sagarin thing and I hope he turns out to be right. The standings this week include the predictions that OSU will win at Oregon and at Colorado next week. I already talked about the Oregon spread and the Colorado spread is even closer. Sagarin has OSU as a 0.06 point favorite next week. Sorry, but I expect both of those games to be losses. Conference Overall Rank Predictor Team W - L W - L 21 86.2 1 California 16 - 2 26 - 5 45 82.29 2 Stanford 12 - 6 22 - 8 53 81.68 3 Arizona 12 - 6 21 - 10 58 81.46 4 Oregon State 11 - 7 21 - 9 100 77.74 5 Oregon 11 - 7 20 - 10 98 77.91 6 Colorado 9 - 9 17 - 13 111 77.18 7 Washington State 9 - 9 17 - 13 78 79.64 8 Washington 8 - 10 18 - 12 68 80.34 9 UCLA 7 - 11 18 - 13 209 70.01 10 Arizona State 4 - 14 8 - 22 305 60.94 11 Utah 2 - 16 5 - 25 158 73.19 12 Southern California 1 - 17 6 - 25 Here are the other games this weekend. WSU might lose at ASU, CU should get USC and like I said, I dont feel good about the Duck game. The other games will probably play out as Sagarin suggests. Remember a negative number means the home team is favored and a positive means that the road team is favored. Home Team Point Spread Thursday Washington State @ Arizona -7.99 Washington @ Arizona State 6.14 Colorado @ Southern California 1.23 Utah @ UCLA -22.89 Saturday Washington @ Arizona -5.53 Washington State @ Arizona State 3.68 Utah @ Southern California -15.74 Colorado @ UCLA -5.92 Sunday Oregon State @ Oregon 0.23 Stanford @ California -7.4 Tournament layout if the season plays out as suggested by Sagarin. Again, I doubt it right now. 86.2 California 1 80.34 UCLA 9 -5.86 86.2 California 1 0.7 80.34 UCLA 9 -4.74 79.64 Washington 8 86.2 California 1 81.46 Oregon State 4 -3.91 73.19 Southern California 12 -3.72 81.46 Oregon State 4 -4.55 77.74 Oregon 5 77.74 Oregon 5 82.29 Stanford 2 70.01 Arizona State 10 -5.11 82.29 Stanford 2 -7.17 77.18 Washington State 7 -0.61 77.18 Washington State 7 82.29 Stanford 2 81.68 Arizona 3 60.94 Utah 11 -3.77 81.68 Arizona 3 -16.97 77.91 Colorado 6 77.91 Colorado 6 http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/25/2712096/oregon-state-womens-basketball-a-mid-way-update-for-the-2011-2012 http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/25/2712096/oregon-state-womens-basketball-a-mid-way-update-for-the-2011-2012 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:37:00 +0000 With most of the attention being garnered by the men's team (both good and bad so far this season) I wanted to take a moment to update everyone on the women's season so far. Not totally sure it is the mid-way point overall, but the women are also on the final stretch of their 2011-12 season. The women this season are also having their struggles in conference play with a record of 3 and 5. Much like their counterparts the men the team started out well in non-conference play going 9 and 2 and winning their first six games (including a non-record counting exhibition game). Funny enough the women also have paralled the men with some tough conference losses, such as a double OT loss to Washington State and a last second loss to Arizona. At the same time they have had some impressive overall performances such as beating Arizona State and playing the 4th ranked Cardinal tough in a 67 to 60 loss that the Beavs were winning at half time (35 to 31). I was at the Arizona loss and it was interesting in how much it reminded my of watching the men's team this year in that the Beavs and WIldcats played a pretty rough first half, then things got going in the second half and actually looked as if OSU was going to take control, but then some sloppy last minute play and execution on both sides of the ball ended in a heartbreaking loss much like what happened when the men played Arizona! But from my brief observations this season I was impressed with the inside game of the Beavs, especially on defense such as Patricia Bright (featured in the upper right) who has a mind-staggering 66 blocks to date! (But wow is women's basketball officiating the polar opposite of men's in that they actually let them play?!?) Some highlights so far this season for the Beavs include: Patricia Bright's average of 3.5 blocks per game that leads the Pac-12 and is fourth in the country (and is the sixth-most in a single season challenging the record set last season by El Sara Greer). Sage Indendi (right) making her 100th career three-pointer (now is at 102). And the team's leading scorer being Freshman Ali Gibson. Additionally for the most part, except for two games (losses to pretty good St. Marys and California teams), the team has not lost games by large margins and have been in the middle of almost all their games. Of course all these individual accomplishments and team minor victories does not mean they will all end up translating into a winning record, but the signs are there for a possible strong final run this season. Following are some season stats and a few more pics, and just to note that women's Civil War game will be televised live this Saturday on FSN at 4:00 in what looks to be an important game for both teams in terms of conference standings. RECORD ALL GAMES: (12-7 overall) (7-3 home) (5-3 away) (0-1 neutral) CONFERENCE: (3-5 overall) (2-2 home) (1-3 away) NON-CONFERENCE: (9-2 overall) (5-1 home) (4-0 away) (0-1 neutral) TEAM and INDIVIDUAL STATSRetrieved from: http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/w-baskbl/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html Oregon State's Leading Scorer Ali Gibson (Freshman) More in the post play: ShaKiana Edwards-Teasley (Junior) Again it is a bit strange and interesting the ways in which both basketball teams this season started strong, have had issues in conference play, and in general are teams demonstrating inconsistent and frustrating swings of performance. One good example is how the women snapped an 18 game losing streak to ASU this season just as the men snapped their losing streak to UCLA. Overall the women, much like the men, still have a chance to make a run to a postseason berth (NIT being the best bet), but it is going to take a good amount of work and the women's team needs to find some consistency and confidence playing to their strengths that to me look to be their in the post game. And again remember the CW game is coming up this Saturday at 4:00! Go Beavs! http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/24/2730942/baseball-pre-season-ranking http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/24/2730942/baseball-pre-season-ranking Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:15:00 +0000 It's another cold, rainy day in the valley, so of course Benny (and figgi) are thinking about baseball. After all, the season does start in just 44 days, and season tickets are on sale. The first formal practice is Friday. Baseball America has released their pre-season rankings, and Oregon St. is ranked 23rd, which is 5th. highest of the Pac-12 11 (Colorado, remember, doesn't field a baseball team). Florida is atop the rankings, and Stanford is #2. South Carolina and Arkansas come next, with Arizona rounding out the top 5. Other ranked teams from the west include UCLA, at 14th, and Arizona St. at 17th. from the conference, and Cal-State Fullerton, who round out the top 25. Boydsworld.com has also rated the strength of schedules of teams, and again, the Pac-12 is the toughest conference in baseball. The four toughest schedules belong to Stanford, USC, Oregon. and UCLA. In fact, 8 of the toughest 9 are faced by the Pac, with California, Washington St., Arizona St., and Washington in spots 6-9. Oregon St. actually has the softest schedule in the conference, with the Beavers coming in at #35 overall. The other conference teams are Utah at #26 and Arizona at #29. The reason for this is the Beavers' soft non-conference schedule, rated 130th of the 298 "Division I" teams. Stanford, by contrast, plays the #2 non-conference schedule to go along with the brutal Pac-12 schedule. The SEC plays the second toughest schedules, with Florida at #5, while Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and Vanderbilt occupying 5 of the 6 spots from 10-15. Fullerton, who plays the toughest non-conference schedule, Long Beach St., UC-Santa Barbara, and UC-Davis are also in the top 30. http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/23/2728110/oregon-st-adds-another-jc-db http://www.buildingthedam.com/2012/1/23/2728110/oregon-st-adds-another-jc-db Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Oregon St.has received a verbal commitment for the 2012 football recruiting class from Chris Young from Auburn, WA. Young, a 6'2", 220 lb. safety, has played the last 2 years at Arizona Western Community College in Yuma, AZ, the same place DT Calvin Tonga, who previously committed to the Beavers, is coming from. Young is rated a 3 star safety prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, and was named him a Junior College All-American and the National Junior College Athletic Association's Defensive Player of the Year. Here's his video: Young was also considering Washington State, Indiana, New Mexico State, Ohio State, Oregon, USC, and Washington. Young has 3 years in which to play 2 seasons left of his eligibility. Young brings the commit list at the moment to 24 for the Beavers. In other recruiting news, 4 star DB Devian Shelton, who visited Washington over the weekend, told ESPN afterwards that at this point, he's still "soft" committed to Oregon St. Shelton plans to visit Tennessee next weekend. 3 star DB Cleveland Wallace didn't change his mind (at least at this point) after visiting Boise St. this past weekend either. Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com