Oregon State already equaled last season’s victory total, and the Beavers’ first 4-0 start since the 2015-16 season is within reach when they host Portland State on Saturday night.
The Beavers could improve to 17-0 against Portland State (1-2) with a win against one of the three teams Oregon State defeated during the miserable 3-28 campaign last season.
Oregon State has won its past two games by 17 points — 60-43 against Florida A&M on Nov. 11 and 83-66 against NAIA program Bushnell on Tuesday.
Glenn Taylor Jr. led the Beavers with 19 points against Bushnell. Jordan Pope added 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds, Andela Rodrigue contributed 14 points and eight rebounds and Dzmitry Ryuny had 12 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
Ryuny played at San Francisco the past four seasons before transferring to Oregon State. He has started all three games and has a team-best seven blocked shots to go with averages of 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds.
“Dima’s a great leader,” Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said, according to the Corvallis Times-Gazette. “He’s not afraid to say something that might hurt someone’s feelings if it’s in the best interest of the team. But that’s good and that’s true leadership. Step by step, we’re just trying to find ways to get better.”
Pope leads Oregon State with a 16.0 scoring average. Taylor is averaging 13.3 points and Dexter Akanno is chipping in 12.3 per game.
Portland State dropped games against Portland and Seattle to start the season before drubbing NAIA program Evergreen 113-40 on Wednesday.
The Vikings owned a 59-26 rebounding advantage, forced 24 turnovers and had seven players score in double digits.
Isiah Kirby recorded 16 points and seven rebounds, Jorell Saterfield added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Cameron Parker contributed 15 points and seven assists.
“We have a lot of depth and a lot of talent on this team, and guys that can do different things,” Portland State coach Jase Coburn said afterward. “We feel really confident playing anyone on our team.”
The Vikings led last season’s meeting by 11 with 15 minutes remaining before Oregon State rallied for a 73-64 victory.
–Field Level Media
