Washington's size and speed too much for Oregon State to handle

By Cliff Kirkpatrick

Corvallis Gazette-Times

CORVALLIS - Size mattered on this occasion.

Combine that size with speed, and it was lethal to the Oregon State men's basketball team.

The Beavers ran into a bigger, quicker, more physical team in Washington on Saturday night and they came up on the short end.

OSU dropped an 85-59 Pacific-10 Conference game in Gill Coliseum before a crowd of 6,648, extending its losing streak to four games.

"We had a bit of regression from our toughness quotient, and it's disappointing," first-year coach Craig Robinson said. "I have to follow my own advice, and as disappointing as this is, I've been telling the guys that this is a process. It's not a straight sloping curve up. It's going to take some ups and downs, but as long as it's trending up. And today was one of those days the market was down."

The Beavers (6-10, 1-5) lost the rebounding battle, which cost them the game. The Huskies (13-4, 4-1) dominated that area 46-19.

Washington grabbed 17 offensive boards to OSU's nine defensive rebounds. That led to a 26-13 advantage in second-chance points for the Huskies.

"We got out rebounded pretty bad," guard Seth Tarver said. "It's tough to win when you get out rebounded that bad. They are just a good rebounding team. In a zone (defense) it's hard to find a man and box them out. That may have contributed to it."

Robinson hopes to rekindle the toughness needed to compete with the athletic teams in the conference during the week. He wants his players to keep their focus, and that comes from going hard in practice for long stretches so it occurs in games.

The Beavers started the game well, leading by seven in the middle of the first half. Then the Huskies slowly took control by halftime.

"This was a game where we were overmatched," Robinson said. "And I'll take part of the fault. We have to work on being a little tougher and being able to execute our offense, even in a very physical situation. When we play teams like this we have to worry about our execution. That's a sign of toughness, with the defensive rebounds."

OSU started strong again in the second half but it didn't last. Washington blew the game open when it went on an unanswered scoring stretch of 12 possessions.

The Huskies started to run the floor, picking apart the Beavers. Five players reached double digits in scoring, led by Jon Brockman with 16 points.

"We don't have those kind of athletes yet," Robinson said. "We couldn't get in a game running up and down with them. We had to try and slow the game down a bit. We accomplished that the first 16 minutes of the game. Then the wheels fell off the wagon in the second half."

Lathen Wallace and Tarver were the only Beavers to have any success. Tarver scored 16 points, while Wallace added 13.

The Beavers have been going with a smaller lineup now that Wallace has been playing so well. He joined Rickey Claitt and Tarver in the backcourt to start the game.

Calvin Haynes and Josh Tarver were also used extensively on the outside. There were times four guards were on the court at the same time, while big guys Daniel Deane and Omari Johnson were used less.

Fouls were a problem for the Beavers, too. Claitt, who leads the team in minutes, only played 16. He picked up two quick fouls and played just four minutes the first half.

"We were trying to get something going," Robinson said. "We hit a point in the second half and it was just blah. I was trying different lineups to jump-start our energy level."

Washington 85, Oregon State 59

WASHINGTON (13-4, 4-1): Pondexter 5-6 5-5 15, Brockman 7-9 2-2 16, Gant 1-1 0-0 2, Thomas 3-7 2-2 10, Dentmon 5-11 1-2 13, Overton 3-5 0-0 6, Bryan-Amaning 6-10 0-0 12, Suggs 2-3 0-0 4, Wallace 1-2 1-2 3, Holiday 0-1 0-0 0, Turner 1-3 0-0 3, Wolfinger 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 34-58 12-15 85.

OREGON STATE (6-10, 1-5): Deane 2-7 2-2 7, Schaftenaar 3-7 0-0 6, Claitt 0-0 1-2 1, S. Tarver 6-9 4-5 16, Wallace 5-14 0-1 13, McShane 0-1 0-0 0, Hampton 0-0 0-0 0, J. Tarver 0-2 0-0 0, Haynes 3-11 0-1 8, Johnson 4-8 0-1 8. Totals 23-59 7-12 59.

Halftime score: Washington 34, Oregon State 27. 3-pointers: UW 5-17 (Thomas 2-5, Dentmon 2-7, Overton 0-1, Suggs 0-1, Turner 1-3). OSU 6-24 (Deane 1-5, Schaftenaar 0-1, S. Tarver 0-2, Wallace 3-6, Haynes 2-8, Johnson 0-2). Rebounds: UW 46 (Brockman 9, Bryan-Amaning 9). OSU 19 (Deane 3, Haynes 3). Assists: UW 16 (Thomas 4). OSU 12 (S. Tarver 3).