Leon Neuschwander

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By Nick Daschel | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Inspecting Oregon State’s winning week against USC and UCLA, as the Beavers are off to their first 3-0 league start in 26 years, plus where OSU stands statistically:

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Leon Neuschwander

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1. It was only the second game of the league season, during the fifth year of the Wayne Tinkle’s Oregon State tenure. And though Tinkle didn’t agree, it’s worth discussing nonetheless: was the Beavers’ 79-74 overtime win over USC one of the best wins of the Tinkle era? Of course, OSU nailed down nothing other than a win during the second week of January. But it said something. It said the Beavers are deeper than a couple of stars. OSU played without Tres Tinkle, the team’s leader in scoring, rebounds and assists this season, and managed to gut out a win over a 2-0 USC team that had a couple of its better players return to action. The Beavers didn’t wilt when USC put them in a 11-point hole early in the game. They repelled challenging moments during the final minutes of the second half, then won the game in overtime. It was an important win from a confidence standpoint for several of OSU’s young, unproven players.

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Leon Neuschwander

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2. The sweep of USC and UCLA was accomplished without Oregon State playing at its best. The Beavers leaned on their defense in both games, as there were clunky offensive stretches, particularly against UCLA. The Thompson brothers, for example, led OSU with 17 points each against the Bruins, but were a combined 11 of 29 from the floor. They’ll have better days shooting. Obviously, OSU was without Tinkle against USC, which probably would have made for a more comfortable win. This is a good thing, as Oregon State won two games and probably left some meat on the bone.

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OH MY ETHAN THOMPSON. pic.twitter.com/ldiq1kF05v — FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 14, 2019

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3. Highlight of the weekend: Perhaps Ethan Thompson’s fast-break dunk during the first half against UCLA. Thompson tore out of back court with the ball in transition, saw an opening down the right wing, but quickly had to contend with UCLA’s Cody Riley as he neared the paint. Thompson didn’t hesitate, taking on Riley and the rim at full speed, finishing with a magnificent flush that brought the house down in Gill Coliseum.

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Leon Neuschwander

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4. The OSU player who comes out of the weekend probably as high as anyone on the roster is Warren Washington. The freshman post, mostly engaged in action during mop-up situations in non-conference games and didn’t see the floor in the Pac-12 opener against Oregon, suddenly emerged by playing 39 minutes combined against USC and UCLA. While Washington’s offensive numbers don’t fly off the stat page, it was his defensive performance that caught the eye. Washington had some nice moments against USC’s Bennie Boatright and Nick Rakocevic, and made a couple of nice interior defensive plays vs. UCLA. If OSU can count on Washington, it’s enormous as the issue of foul trouble for the Beaver bigs becomes less of a factor.

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Leon Neuschwander

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5. There’s no doubt that Tres Tinkle is the team’s MVP at this stage. But second most important player? You could argue that it’s Kylor Kelley. He’s become a major force at the defensive end, where Kelley leads the country in blocked shots at 4.2 per game. Kelley had 12 blocks in the USC-UCLA sweep. But where he’s beginning to add value is the offensive end. Beaver guards, and particularly Stephen Thompson Jr., have a knack for finding Kelley at the rim, where he finishes with eye-catching dunks. Wayne Tinkle said after Sunday’s game that Kelley is as good as there is in the Pac-12 in finishing at the rim. If Kelley becomes a 14-point scorer, along with the blocks and rebounds – with senior post Gligorije Rakocevic and Washington in the mix – Oregon State might have the Pac-12’s best combination of big men.

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Leon Neuschwander

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6. Oregon State seems to have fixed a one-game problem with backcourt pressure. The Beavers nearly blew the game at Oregon after coming unglued due to the Ducks’ press. USC and, particularly UCLA noticed, challenged Oregon State with various presses. The Beavers didn’t flinch, easily working the ball past midcourt. Now the goal has to be making teams pay for pressing. While OSU didn’t cough up the ball in the backcourt, there appeared to be opportunities to hit the Trojans and Bruins with quick baskets after breaking the press. That’s the next step.

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Leon Neuschwander

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7. Wayne Tinkle made a comment after Sunday’s game that a trademark of this OSU team is at least one double-digit run. It was the sort of throwaway comment coaches sometimes make, so we checked. Turns out, Tinkle was, for the most part, accurate. Looking back at the past 11 games, OSU has had at least one huge run in all but one game.

UCLA: OSU goes on a 21-5 run to break it open during the second half.

USC: Beavers wipe out an early double-digit deficit by tearing off 18 consecutive points.

Oregon: OSU puts together an 18-3 stretch at the end of the first half and into the second half.

CCSU: The Beavers make it an early rout by scoring 24 consecutive points during the first half.

Kent State: OSU starts the game by outscoring KSU 21-7.

Pepperdine: Oregon State extends a 51-39 lead to game over with a 10-0 run.

Texas A&M: The only game of the past 11 where there wasn’t a huge run. OSU had a 12-4 spree late in the first half.

Saint Louis: Trailing 49-37, OSU went on a 16-1 spurt to grab a three-point lead.

Missouri State: The Beavers ran off 14 straight points during the second half to put away the Bears.

Long Beach State: OSU took control of the game with a 17-4 run, erasing a 40-33 deficit.

Penn: The Beavers had runs of 12-2 and 13-0 to cap their stay in the Virgin Islands.

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Leon Neuschwander

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8. Next up is perhaps the toughest road trip of the season, a two-game swing through Arizona where the Beavers play at Arizona State on Thursday, then league-leading Arizona on Saturday. Arizona State (11-5, 2-2) was the Pac-12’s hottest commodity coming out of non-conference play, as the Sun Devils had a win over then-No. 1 Kansas. But ASU split its first four league games, including a 96-86 home loss to Utah. The Beavers have lost nine straight in Tempe, but nearly ended the streak last year, losing 77-75 at ASU. Arizona (13-4, 4-0) appears a bit more formidable at the moment, but this is as common a Wildcat team as there has been in years. Arizona needed overtime to beat Utah in Tucson, and just got past Stanford last week. OSU has dropped six consecutive games in Tucson, last winning in 2010. A win anywhere over Arizona is a positive for the Beavers, as they have lost 12 of their last 13 against the Wildcats.

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Leon Neuschwander

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9. Coming off a nice road win at Oregon, the crowds felt a little underwhelming at Gill Coliseum this weekend. Despite the largest student attendance in three years, there were 5,853 for UCLA and 4,935 for USC. Yeah, we get it. Both were late night games, and one on a Sunday night. The Beavers need to show something. OK, they have. Next up in Gill are the Washington schools, and the Husky game is 1 p.m. Saturday. No excuses this time.

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Leon Neuschwander

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Oregon State by the numbers

NCAA Net ranking: 71

KenPom ranking: 67

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Leon Neuschwander

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Team statistics

Scoring offense: 74.3 points (seventh Pac-12)

Scoring defense: 66.1 points (third)

FG percentage: 46.9 (first)

FG defense percentage: 39.3 (first)

3-point FG percentage: 32.5 (12th)

3-point FG defense percentage: 34.9 (eighth)

FT percentage: 75.3 (third)

Rebound margin: +6.6 (second)

Assist-turnover margin: 1.18 (first)

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Leon Neuschwander

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Individual leaders

Scoring: Tres Tinkle, 20.0/game (second Pac-12)

Rebounds: Tres Tinkle, 8.4/game (fifth)

Assists: Tres Tinkle, 4.3/game (seventh)

Blocked shots: Kylor Kelley, 4.2/game (first)

Steals: Stephen Thompson Jr, 1.7/game (third)

FG percentage: Kylor Kelley, 65.0 (second)

3-point percentage: Ethan Thompson 34.5 (19th)

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Leon Neuschwander