Oregon State looks to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month when the Beavers host Green Bay on Sunday at Corvallis, Oregon.
The Beavers (5-6) are coming off a 73-58 win over visiting Seattle on Thursday, just Oregon State’s second victory since Nov. 15. Green Bay (2-10) came away with its third loss in four games in a 85-40 rout at Stanford on Friday.
Oregon State had dropped six of its past seven games before knocking off Seattle. The Beavers trailed 28-25 at halftime before outscoring Seattle 48-30 in the second half.
The Beavers were led by their freshmen. Jordan Pope, who averages a team-high 14.4 points per game, scored a game-high 15 on Thursday, marking the 10th time in 11 games this season he’s scored in double figures.
Fellow freshmen Tyler Bilodeau added 11 points, with Michael Rataj adding nine points. Sophomore Glenn Taylor Jr. finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior Dzmitry Ryuny grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
“I thought our guys did a great job defensively, and then our second half, a little back spurt at the start before they dug in defensively, rebounded with a little more passion,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. “Then we finally trusted our motion and our sets and low and behold we scored some points. A great lesson for the guys and a big win for the program.”
The Phoenix were dominated Friday by the Cardinal, who led 42-19 at halftime en route to Green Bay’s most lopsided loss of the season.
Randy Tucker had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds for Green Bay. Cade Meyer, who scores a team-high 12.0 points per game, was the only other Phoenix player to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds.
The Phoenix finished 5-25 last season and are rebuilding again this year with nine new players, including six transfers, who are replacing nine players who graduated or left the team.
“I feel like it’s all perseverance,” guard Gerren Davis, a transfer from Clarendon College, said. “If you just stay strong through the process, God will handle the rest. If everybody stays confident and willing to work every day, I feel like we will be in good position. It’s still early. We have time to fight through mistakes.”
–Field Level Media
