Bone discusses Oregon State, Oregon
Ken Bone held his weekly teleconference on Tuesday afternoon to discuss
Washington State's upcoming homestand against the Oregon schools.
Advertisement
style="font-weight: bold;">
style="font-weight: bold;">
OREGON STATE at WASHINGTON
STATE: Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
Riding a season-long four-game losing streak, Washington State (11-13,
2-9) will look for some homecourt healing against Oregon State (12-12,
2-9) and an opportunity to sweep the Beavers in the regular season for
the second straight season.
The Cougars lost to the Beavers in the Pac-12 tournament last year
after taking the first two meetings of the 2011-12 season.
Meeting for a fourth time int he CBI, the Cougars ousted the Beavers in
dominating fashion, advancing to the finals with a 72-55 victory on the
road.
Also at stake for the Cougars on Wednesday night is the chance to climb
themselves out of the Pac-12 cellar with just seven Pac-12 games left
on the schedule. Both Oregon State and Washington State are tied
for 12th place in the conference and the winner of that game could have
the inside track towards eluding the dismal No. 12 seed in the
conference tournament next month.
In their first meeting this year, the Cougars held off a late second
half push from the Beavers to escape Corvallis with a 71-68
victory. Mike Ladd continued his mid-season scoring tear during
the game, scoring 23 points on an efficient 10-of-11 from the
field. In the game, Ladd scored 17 of the Cougars' first 21
points during the game before being phased out during the latter half
of the contest. Brock Motum was his usual self, recording a
double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The Beavers currently have five players averaging at least 10
ppg. Oregon State's leading scorer is Roberto Nelson, a 6-3 guard
averaging 17.1 ppg this season, which ranks fifth in the Pac-12.
Nelson scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting in 26 minutes of action
against the Cougars during their first meeting. Joe Burton, who
is averaging 11.6 ppg and 6.5 rpg couples with Ahmad Starks to create a
formidable trio. Starks is a serious deep threat, averaging 12.2
ppg and hitting 41% of his three-point attempts, and could create havoc
for the Cougars if he becomes unaccounted for.
Wednesday marks the 288th all-time meeting between WSU and Oregon
State, and the Beavers hold a 163-124 advantage in the series.
The Cougars, however, have won six of the last seven meetings between
the schools.
(23) OREGON at WASHINGTON STATE:
Saturday, Feb. 16, 4 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
The Cougars will be looking to earn their first victory over the Ducks
(19-5, 8-3) since Jan. 8, 2011 in Pullman. Oregon has beat the
Cougars in their last four meetings and has won seven of their last
eight over Washington State.
In their last meeting, the Cougars took a 10 point lead heading into
the halftime break before being stifled in the second half behind a
fiery comback led by Ducks guard E.J. Singler en route to a 68-61 loss
in Eugene. Ladd led the Cougars with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5
assists, while Brock Motum struggled throughout, scoring just 14 points.
The Ducks come into the game ranked 23rd in the Associated Press Top-25
Poll. The Cougars have not fared well against top-25 opponents so
far this season, going 0-4 including losses to No. 12 Kansas, No. 10
Gonzaga, No. 16 Oregon, and No. 8 Arizona. The Cougars last
victory over a ranked opponent came against No. 18 Washington on Jan.
18, 2011.
Much like their Oregon counterpart, the Ducks distribute their scoring
pretty evenly among their starting five with five players averaging at
least 10 ppg. Leading the charge for the green and yellow is
Singler who is averaging 11.3 ppg to go along with just under 5
rpg. A player to watch out for due to the Cougars' lack of depth
in the post is Arsalan Kazemi, a 6-7, 220-pound senior averaging 8.7
ppg and 9.4 rpg. Kazemi controlled the interior for the Ducks in
their first meeting with the Cougars, scoring 16 points and adding 7
rebounds in the victory.
Saturday will be the 285th all-time meeting between WSU and Oregon, and
the Ducks hold a 161-123 advantage in the series. Ken Bone is
just 1-7 against the Ducks at Washington State and 2-8 in his career.
NOTES:
Brock Motum is just 7 rebounds away from becoming the 12th
Washington State men's basketball student-athlete to score 1,000 ponts
and grab 500 rebounds during his career. The last Cougar to
accomplish the feat was Aron Baynes (2006-09) who scored 1,064 points
and hauled in 653 rebounds.