Oregon State
Illinois-Chicago
Beavers Continue Hot Start With 95-53 Win Over UIC
December 13, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2011
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Roberto Nelson scored a season-high 21 points, Jared Cunningham added 16 and Eric Moreland had 14 rebounds and five blocked shots as Oregon State cruised past Illinois-Chicago, 95-53, Tuesday night at Gill Coliseum.
Nelson dazzled the 3,477 fans by making five three-point field goals, including on back-to-back-to-back possessions in the second half, while Cunningham laced the Flames' defense with three dunks and Moreland played his best game of his career to lead a spirited effort from the Beavers.
"We are really happy with that win," Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. "What I told the guys in there, before anyone starts talking like 'well you're back', we all want to pick it up like that. Friday was an anomaly, and that is how these guys approached the game. They came out like Friday had never happened, and I was really pleased to see that. We had a great team defensive effort and a great effort from the guys off the bench. If we can get that kind of production off the bench and have that kind of depth that is going to help us win a lot of games this season."
The 42-point margin of victory is the largest for Oregon State since it defeated Seattle University by 43 points (81-38) on Nov. 26, 2002. The Beavers are now 5-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points and are 14-1 all-time under Robinson, who won his 50th game as Oregon State's head coach.
Cunningham had five steals in the game and moved into 10th on Oregon State's career steals list with 155 in his career to pass Darryl Flowers who had 154 from 1983-86.
Illinois-Chicago (3-6) scored the game's first two points, but OSU then went on a 22-4 run to open a 16-point lead at 12:47 of the opening half on a jumper from Nelson. The Beavers then extended the lead to 25 points twice in the first 20 minutes before taking a 45-21 halftime lead into the locker room.
"It was great to see them out there having fun," Robinson said of his team. "I probably left them (regulars) in there a little bit longer than I normally would, especially with the guy (UIC head coach Howard Moore) in the other locker room being a good friend of mine. But I wanted them to have that fun feeling of playing, and it meant a lot to me and to them to see them having some success."
The Flames did not have a player score in double figures as Daniel Barnes and Greg Travis scored eight points each. UIC shot a season-low 29.8 percent while OSU rebounded from subpar performance last Friday against Idaho to shoot a season-high 57.9 percent. OSU also held a 45-26 advantage in rebounds, the highest margin since a plus-19 effort Nov. 22, 2005 against Prairie View.
Oregon State looks for its first 8-2 start since 1997-98 when it hosts the Howard Bison on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Gill Coliseum.
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