Oregon St. @ Texas-San Antonio preview
Toyota Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 13, 2016 ) Texas-San Antonio 64, Oregon St. 72
Oregon State is on a roll, having won six straight entering its final three non-conference games of the season. That stretch begins Wednesday night as the Beavers take on Texas-San Antonio and national scoring leader Jhivvan Jackson in the Battleground 2k19 event at the Toyota Center in Houston.
The most recent victory came Saturday as Oregon State came off a 13-day finals-week layoff to rout visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff 80-46 behind 58.5-percent shooting and a game-high 26 points from senior forward Tres Tinkle. The Beavers’ play on the defensive end of the court also was sharp as the Golden Lions committed 21 turnovers and shot 36.2 percent, thanks in large part to 10 Oregon State blocks, including seven by Division I-leader Kylor Kelley, a 7-foot senior. With a seventh straight win Wednesday, the Beavers would match the program’s longest streak in 30 years. UTSA, of Conference USA, dropped its opening five games as part of a 1-6 start but has since won three straight.
TV: 5:30 p.m. ET, No TV
ABOUT OREGON STATE (8-1): Tinkle’s outing Saturday was his fifth 20-point-plus game of the season and he leads the Pac-12 and ranks 13th nationally with 21.9 points per game while averaging a team-leading 8.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Guard Ethan Thompson, who scored a season-high 21 Saturday, is averaging 15.3 points, 4.9 boards and 4.3 assists while Kelley is contributing 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.8 blocks. Overall, the Beavers rank ninth nationally with a 50.3 team field-goal percentage and are 11th with a 1.47 assist/turnover ratio.
ABOUT UTSA (4-6): Jackson, a 6-foot guard, is averaging 25.2 points, and has scored at least 30 in four games this season. After leading CUSA in scoring last season with a 22.9 average as a sophomore, Jackson is shooting 40.5 percent from the field and 83.3 percent at the free-throw line while also pulling down a team-best 5.7 rebounds. Point guard Keaton Wallace (15.6 points, team-best 4.1 assists) is the only other player averaging double figures for the Roadrunners, who have posted half of their wins over non-Division I foes this season.
TIP-INS
1. This will be the second meeting between the programs with Oregon State winning the first, 72-64, at home on Nov. 13, 2016. Tinkle, then a sophomore playing in what would become an injury-shortened redshirt season, had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
2. Oregon State is 20-0 over the last three seasons when scoring at least 80 points, including a 7-0 mark so far this season.
3. Jackson ranks second nationally with 107 3-point attempts, but has made only 32 for a 29.9 long-range percentage.
PREDICTION: Oregon State 84, UTSA 72