Oregon St. @ California preview
Haas Pavilion
Last Meeting ( Feb 25, 2021 ) Oregon St. 59, California 57
Oregon State could go from reaching the Elite Eight last season to having an eight-game losing streak if the Beavers lose to Cal and Arizona to start the Pac-12 season.
Oregon State (1-6) will play at Cal (3-4) on Thursday in the Pac-12 opener for both schools and then host No. 11 Arizona on Sunday.
The Beavers lost their sixth consecutive game last week with a 60-45 setback against Penn State in the third-place game of the Emerald Coast Classic at Niceville, Fla.
"I've done a bad job obviously," Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. "I'm not bringing this group together quick enough.
"Until we come together as a team, until we start to be our brother's keeper, it's not going to be pretty."
Oregon State has more turnovers (79) than assists (75) and the Beavers have made only 28.8 percent of their 3-pointers.
Warith Alatishe leads Oregon State with 10.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He tops the team's starters with a 52.4 percent shooting performance from the field but has made only 42.1 percent of his free throw attempts (8 of 19).
Cal lost consecutive games last week in the Fort Myers (Fla.) Tip-Off Classic against Florida and Seton Hall before returning home to beat previously unbeaten Fresno State 65-57 on Sunday.
Jordan Shepherd had a team-high 17 points and added a season-best seven rebounds while Andre Kelly (14 points) and Grant Anticevich (13 points) also scored in double figures.
The Golden Bears committed only 13 fouls and Fresno State attempted just 10 free throws and made six.
"Playing defense without our hands -- we need to work on defending without fouling," Shepherd said. "We learned from Florida and we learned from Seton Hall how we have to play defense (after) reaching in there, trying to get steals. We have to play solid D, keep our hands up, and make sure the refs see it."
Kelly is averaging 16.1 points and 9.1 rebounds a game to lead Cal.
The Golden Bears are also having trouble taking care of the ball with 87 turnovers compared to only 66 assists.
--Field Level Media