Tonight, the UCLA Bruins begin another road trip when they take on the Oregon State Beavers in Corvalis at 6 pm PT. The Beavers are one of just two teams in the Pac-12 the Bruins haven’t faced yet. UC Berkeley is the other one.
I’m not going to question why the Pac-12 schedule makers set things up with the Bruins playing the two worst teams in the conference only once while playing everyone else twice, other than to say it doesn’t seem right that UCLA only gets to play OSU and UC Berkeley once each while Arizona gets to play these two cellar dwellers twice. Then again, not playing either doormat a second time could give the Bruins a little boost come tournament time.
Heading into tonight’s game, Wayne Tinkle’s squad is the second-worst team in the conference standings, and the only thing keeping them out of the basement was their win over UC Berkeley. The Beavers only have two other wins in Pac-12 play. Both of those wins happened at home. One came in December when Oregon State opened conference play against Washington. The other came in their final game of January when they topped Colorado, 60-52.
Most recently, the Beavers lost to Arizona, 84-52, in Tucson. So, a 30-point win tonight is possible. While that may not happen because I would expect Oregon State to play better at home, the results of tonight’s game should never be in question. It should be an easy win for UCLA and this game gives the Bruins a chance to put together a second consecutive complete game. That’s a good thing because they really needed to get out of that funk that they seemed to be in where they were allowing teams to come back in the second half. Hopefully, tonight’s game helps the team play a better second half again and be more consistent down the stretch.
Let’s look at Oregon State’s starting five.
Oregon State Starting Five
KenPom lists Oregon State as the second least experienced Power 5 team. That’s likely due to the fact that Tinkle will start three freshman, one sophomore and just one senior.
Freshman Jordan Pope will be the team’s only starting guard. The other four starters will all be forwards. Despite that, Pope is the team leader in points with an average of 12.6 ppg. The fact that the Beavers’ leading scorer is averaging so few points is indicative of how bad the Beavers are.
In fact, Oregon State has just one other player averaging in double figures and that’s sophomore Glenn Taylor, Jr. who is averaging 11.0 ppg. Both Pope and Taylor are tied for the team lead in assists with just 2.5 per game. UCLA will certainly look to attack Taylor defensively because he leads the team in turnovers with 65.
No other starter is averaging more than 6.5 points per game.
OSU does have a pair of 6’9” forwards who are the best starters when it comes to rebounds. Michael Rataj and Tyler Bilodeau are averaging 4.0 and 3.7 rebounds per game, respectively. Rataj is the team’s best three-point shooter with a three-point shooting percentage of 48.4%, but he’s also attempted the fewest treys of all five starters.
Senior Rodrigue Andela is right up there with Rataj and Bilodeau when it comes to rebounding. He’s averaging 3.6 rpg, but he is only averaging 5.0 ppg. Whether that’s indicative of the fact that he will likely play the fewest minutes of the starters or if his offensive output is a casualty of less playing time remains to be seen.
OSU’s sixth man Dexter Akanno will likely see a lot of minutes tonight as Wayne Tinkle tries to generate enough offense to beat the Bruins. Akanno is third on the team in scoring with an average of 8.8 points per game. So, he’s actually averaging more points than anyone except Pope and Taylor. It’s also possible that Tinkle could start Akanno as a second guard and start one of the team’s big men on the bench. Akanno has started 22 of the 24 games OSU has played this season, but he didn’t start last Saturday against Arizona. So, it will be interesting to see who Tinkle actually starts against UCLA.
Earlier, I discussed the Beaver bigs who are Oregon State’s best rebounding starters. Well, there’s one more Beaver worth mentioning. That’s forward Dzmitry Ryuny because the 6’9” senior from Minsk, Belarus leads the team in rebounds with an average of 4.4 per game. Don’t look for too much from Ryuny offensively, though. He’s averaging just 4.8 ppg while playing an average of 20.0 minutes.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Tonight’s game will be on Pac-12 Network with J.B. Long and Fran Fraschilla calling the game. If you prefer, you can listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray. Just be sure to right-click on it so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. Oregon State Beavers game. Here’s how to watch tonight’s game:
#7 UCLA Basketball (19-4, 10-2)
Opponent: Oregon State Beavers (9-15, 3-10)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 101-40
When: 6:00 pm PT, Thursday, February 9, 2023
Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvalis, OR
TV: Pac-12 Networks National, Los Angeles and Oregon with J.B. Long and Fran Fraschilla
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Clark looking good on both offense and defense and Mick is turning to his bench pretty early today. Wonder if we'll see that trend in the 2nd half if the game is still tight.
U Clap Clap
L clap clap!
Hi fellow Bruins!
Hey bruins, the moment is at hand. Put on a clinic for us !!!
Hoping for a full forty minute game tonight
Hi all! Go Bruins!
Let's go, Bruins!!
Tyger!
Tyger with the 3!
We really need to stop these lazy entry passes, and get precise in our passing
Too many turnovers already.
Jaime for two with a foul! Doing his game1 Missed the FT :(
Really enjoy Jaime's high/low post play :-)
They let Jaime into the lane for 2!
clark with the 3!
Jaylen for three!
Bona picked up his first 7 minutes into the game
So far looks like Jaime is continuing where he left off last week
Love it when aJaylen hits.
Bailey's D having an obvious effect on Beaver offense
Jaylen breaks. We're up 12-8.
Clark makes it 14-10
Sweet, Jaylen for 2!
When Clark is on , we are a lot stronger on O
Clark looking good on both offense and defense and Mick is turning to his bench pretty early today. Wonder if we'll see that trend in the 2nd half if the game is still tight.
Throw it down, young man!!
Bona with the jam!
Teams have learned to force us to fight the clock.
Time to put the pressure on and end the half on a run.
Singleton with the 3
Trippleton!
Great eyes and entry pass from jaime to Clark!
Great dish from Jaquez to Clark
Defensively we look okay, but the ball just is not falling on offense
6 point lead, Bruins! Jaylen is winded.
I will say our transition game looks amazing!
Great teamwork and the lay in by Bailey
Amari plays quick but in control.
Nice D and a turnover forced by Nwuba.
Playing with increased energy and intensity
Started run need to keep it up.
Sloppy start, but starting to come together now
Bruins up by 8 now.
They are here to make a statement
Would like to be up by 12 at half.
Another beautiful shot by Bailey
Bailey for 2, Bruins up 26-16 with two minutes in the half.
Bailey should be incredible by tournament time. Really starting to get comfortable. Too bad he e
Was out for 3 weeeks. He’s. Starting to put it in gear.
Ok, we got to 12.
Jaquez with the 3 ball!