After another player scores career high against them, the Beavers are left shrugging their shoulders once again
CORVALLIS, Ore. (BVM) — Following the Beavers’ 90-65 loss to the still-undefeated Arizona Wildcats, there weren’t many positive things to say about the Oregon State men’s basketball team’s performance. The team got blown out at the highest margin all season that day in Gill Coliseum, and there was every reason for the team to let their heads hang and drown in the failure that they had experienced all season long so far.
The Beavers wanted another chance as soon as possible, and they were going to have it on Saturday, December 11 against Sacramento State. However, that opportunity was cut short due to COVID-19 issues within the Oregon State basketball program. According to an anonymous source, Maurice Calloo was the only player known to test positive for the virus, however multiple other players were forced into the contact tracing program, along with a few other members of the coaching staff. This forced the Beavers to postpone until later in the month, but they still had a game to play just a few days later, this one against the Aggies of UC Davis.
UC Davis came into Tuesday night’s game with a 4-3 record on the year, as they have had their ups and downs throughout the young season. The Aggies beat Utah State, fellow Mountain West conference foe, in their season-opening game, putting thoughts in the minds of the program that they can deal some serious damage this season. That was followed by a three-game losing streak, and they have since righted the ship to get above the .500 mark.
Surely, this was the matchup that the Beavers needed to right their own ship and end their own losing streak which has since grown to eight, right?
Well, no. You would be wrong if you thought this.
The Aggies walked out of Corvallis with a 71-64 victory over the defending Pac-12 tournament champs, extending that dreadful losing streak to nine games. Sophomore Ezra Manjon entered this contest averaging just over 11 points per game (11.1), so naturally this was his time to drop a career-high 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the floor.
So, was there any light at the end of the tunnel for Oregon State coming out of this game?
“If we come together, we have the talent to run with anyone in the country,” junior guard Tre’ Williams said during their postgame press conference. “We’ve seen flashes of it, but at this point it’s just about getting it done, no excuses.”
Williams had six points on 2-of-8 shooting from the floor on Tuesday night.
“We just have to man up, lock arms and roll as one,” junior guard Dexter Akanno said.
Akanno logged 18 minutes in Tuesday night’s loss, netting three points on 1-of-3 shooting.
Surely, there can be some blame placed on the fact that Oregon State did not have their full complement of players, as well as being a little bit disorganized due to the fact that some of their practices were cancelled with positive tests coming up. However, head coach Wayne Tinkle doesn’t want to put all of the blame on that one factor.
“I’ll be honest, I saw a little mental and physical fatigue from some guys, we missed a couple point blank shots that we usually hit,” Tinkle said.
The Beavers did get outscored 40-26 in the paint area, which has become a theme of this season so far.
“We’re looking for something to bring us together, but we thought being short-handed would be the thing to really bring us together, bring us to end this losing streak. I thought in the first half, that would be the case. These guys (Williams and Akanno) really battled and stayed positive, and showed out with their leadership, and unfortunately we couldn’t get the job done,” Tinkle said.
At this point in the season, teams are not fearing the Oregon State Beavers, which is not what was expected going into the season. The Beavers knew there would be a bigger target on their back, and that teams would play a step up against them.
“We need to get back to the pride, whether it be personal or for our University, that we actually give a damn about the way we play,” Tinkle said.
Tinkle is running out of things to say to the media. He knows that they are at a breaking point and to this point, he has never had to face the adversity that he faces now. The Beavers have lost nine games in a row now, and Tinkle is stuck talking about personal pride and getting motivated for a game. You know it is bad when the coach steers away from the court.
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