Beavers Head To Montana To Face The Grizzlies
Dec. 13, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format
THE GAME: Oregon State (4-4) travels to Missoula, Mont., to play the Montana Grizzlies (5-4) from the Big Sky Conference on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 6 p.m. PT (7 p.m. MT) at Dahlberg Arena. RADIO: The game will air live on the Beaver Sports Network and Beaver Nation Online (www.osubeavers.com) with Mike Parker calling the action. TELEVISION: The game will not be televised. ONLINE: Live video is available at www.BigSkyTV.org and live stats will be available at www.montanagrizzlies.com. SOCIAL MEDIA: Live updates will be available on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/oregonstatembb and Twitter at http://twitter.com/oregonstatembb. THE SERIES: Oregon State and Montana meet for the 18th time in history, but just the first time since 1972. The Beavers lead the all-time series 14-3 with all three losses on the road. The first 12 games of the series were played when both teams were members of the Pacific Coast Conference. Oregon State is 1-1 at Dahlberg Arena, which opened in 1953. QUICKLY: Oregon State leads the nation in steals with 13.9 per game ... The Beavers scored 89 points against Texas-Pan American, their most points since defeating Howard, 90-54, on Dec. 20, 2008, at Gill Coliseum ... Sophomore Jared Cunningham is fourth in the nation in steals with 3.75 per game and is on pace to break Jason Kidd's Pac-10 single-season record of 110 steals ... Two sophomores, two freshmen and one senior have started the past two games ... Seniors Omari Johnson (18) and Lathen Wallace (15) scored season-highs against Texas-Pan American ... All 15 players on the roster have played this season and 14 of them have scored. SCOUTING MONTANA: Montana enters the game with a 5-4 record with wins over Montana Tech, Idaho, Cal State Fullerton, UCLA and Great Falls. The win over the Bruins was at fabled Pauley Pavilion and the Grizzlies first-ever win in five tries against UCLA. The Grizzlies went 22-10 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Sky Conference tournament. Montana battled No. 3 seed New Mexico throughout the first round game before falling 62-57. Sophomore guard Will Cherry leads the team in scoring (15.3) and assists (3.7) and is first in the nation in steals (4.1). Senior center Brian Qvale is averaging 13.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while junior forward Derek Selvig is a 7-footer who can shoot from three-point range and is averaging 10.2 points per game. Junior guard Jordan Wood and freshman forward Kareem Jamar round out the starting five. OFFENSIVELY: Oregon State is averaging 74.0 points per game this season after averaging 60.3 points per game last season. The Beavers have scored 80 or more points in four of their eight games after scoring 80 or more in only one of their 32 games last season. They have also scored more first-half points (44 vs. Charlotte) and second-half points (52 at Howard) than they did in any game last season. DEFENSIVELY: Oregon State leads the nation in steals with 13.9 per game and has more steals than their opponent in all eight games. The Beavers have committed fewer turnovers than their opponent in seven of their eight games and have forced 20 or more turnovers in five of their eight games. Oregon State's single-season team record for steals is 10.7 per game, which was set in 1988-89. The Beavers have forced 25 turnovers in three games this season (at Seattle, at Howard, Texas-Pan American). NCAA Steals Per Game
SPREADING THE SCORING AROUND: Four players have scored in double-figures in five games this season and the Beavers are 4-1 in those contests. Oregon State had four players score in double-figures in four of its 32 games last season. The Beavers were 3-1 in those games. Five players scored in double figures in the loss to Utah Valley. ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Oregon State plays more non-conference road games than any team in the Pac-10 this season with four (at Seattle, at Howard, at Colorado, at Montana). Arizona State and USC play three non-conference road games, while Arizona, Stanford and Washington State play two. California, Oregon, UCLA and Washington all play one. HOME vs. ROAD: The Beavers are scoring about the same no matter where they play this season, averaging 74.2 points at home and 73.7 points on the road per game. The big difference is the scoring of their opponents, which are averaging 66.2 points at Gill Coliseum and 80.0 points per game on their respective home courts. HAYNES SCORING WATCH: Senior Calvin Haynes has moved into 27th on Oregon State's career scoring list with 1,051 points. At his current scoring average through 30 games this season, he would finish his career in 13th place all-time. Career Scoring List
OMARI ROLLING: Senior forward Omari Johnson has led the Beavers in scoring in four games and rebounding in six of the eight games. He has two double-doubles this season after posting only one previously during his sophomore campaign. He's currently 12th in the Pac-10 in scoring (13.1), seventh in rebounding (7.7) and second in steals (2.6). Omari Career Double-Doubles
CUNNINGHAM STEALING: Sophomore guard Jared Cunningham leads the Pac-10 in steals with 3.8 per game, which is fourth best in the nation. He's on pace for 112 steals in 30 games this season, which would break the Pac-10 single-season record of 110 steals set by Jason Kidd of California in 1993. The Oregon State sophomore single-season steals record is 72 set by Gary Payton in 1987-88. NCAA Steals Per Game
BURTON SHOOTING WELL: Sophomore Joe Burton has made 50 percent of his shots or better in seven consecutive games and is shooting 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field. He has set career-highs in points (15), assists (7), steals (3) and minutes played (33) this season. BEHIND THE ARC: Seniors Calvin Haynes and Lathen Wallace continue to move up Oregon State's career three-point field goals made and attempted lists. 3-Point Field Goals Made
3-Point Field Goals Attempted
FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTING: There are seven freshmen on the roster, including two redshirt freshmen and one walk-on ... Roberto Nelson saw his first career action against Texas-Pan American and finished with four points ... Devon Collier has started five consecutive games ... Ahmad Starks has started two consecutive games and has scored in double-figures four times and made a three-pointer in seven games ... Chris Brown has eight rebounds in 11 minutes of play the past two games ... Walk-on Daniel Jones scored his first career points on a layup against Texas-Pan American ... Rhys Murphy had his first rebound and steal against Texas-Pan American ... Eric Moreland had five rebounds and three blocks in just eight minutes against Utah Valley and Colorado before leaving the CU game with a dislocated shoulder. LOOKING AHEAD TO THE PAC-12: Colorado and Utah will join the conference next season and the Beavers will face both teams at home and on the road. Here is a look at the Pac-12 schedule for Oregon State in 2011-12: Thursday, Dec. 29 - at Washington
A LOOK AHEAD: Oregon State will host George Washington on Saturday, Dec. 18, in the third meeting between the two schools. Oregon State won last year, 64-57, at George Washington. Oregon State concludes its non-conference schedule against Illinois-Chicago on Wednesday, Dec. 22, at Gill Coliseum in the second game between the two schools. The Beavers lost to the Flames last season, 63-61, at UIC Pavilion. The Beavers open Pac-10 play at home against Arizona State on Thursday, Dec. 30, and Arizona on Sunday, Jan. 2. Oregon State dropped both games to the Sun Devils last season, but swept the Wildcats and had its first win in Tucson since 1983. Oregon State will play its first Pac-10 road games of the season on Jan. 6 at Washington State and Jan. 8 at Washington. Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information, and to purchase tickets, follow this link or call 541-737-2370. You can make an "Everyday Champion". Follow Beaver Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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