Long Beach St. @ Oregon St. preview
Gill Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Dec 16, 2016 ) Long Beach St. 71, Oregon St. 67
Tres Tinkle is back and playing better than ever for Oregon State. The 6-foot-8 redshirt sophomore forward missed the 2016 NCAA Tournament and all but six games last season due to two separate injuries, but he brings a double-double average into Saturday night’s home date with Long Beach State.
Tinkle, the son of Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle, missed the 2016 NCAA tourney with a broken foot and then was sidelined for the team’s final 26 games a year ago after breaking his wrist last November. He averaged 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a freshman, then 20.2 and 8.3, respectively, last season and now is up to an even 22 and 10 through two games this season. Tinkle also has six assists, three steals and a team-most three 3-pointers while connecting on 9-of-10 free throw attempts. In other words, he’ll be the matchup key for the visiting 49ers, who are coming to Corvallis off wins over San Francisco (83-71) and Division II San Francisco State (95-70).
TV: 11 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE (2-0): Saturday’s game tips off a six-game road trek for the 49ers, who are looking for the program’s first 3-0 start since 1993 when current ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg was on the bench. Senior forward Barry Ogalue (17.5 points) and junior guard Bryan Alberts (13.5) are Long Beach’s leading scorers so far while senior forward Gabe Levin is pulling down a team-best 10 rebounds per contest. Forward Temidayo Yussuf, a preseason All-Big West Conference selection who averaged 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds as a starter last season, has yet to play this year after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in early October and his status remains uncertain.
ABOUT OREGON STATE (1-1): Aside from Tinkle, forward Drew Eubanks (16.5) and guards Stephen Thompson Jr. (12.0) and Ethan Thompson (11.5) also own double-figure scoring averages. Ethan Thompson, the freshman younger brother of junior Stephen, had a dynamic debut with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the Beavers’ 99-82 season-opening win over Southern Utah but hit only 1-of-6 shots and finished with 3 points before fouling out of Monday’s 75-66 loss to visiting Wyoming. Tinkle has connected on 3-of-6 3-pointers so far, but his teammates are a combined 6-of-34 (17.6 percent) from long range.
TIP-INS
1. Long Beach State leads the series 3-2 after rallying late for a 71-67 win last Dec. 16 in the Dam City Classic in Portland.
2. The 49ers’ victory over the Beavers last season marked their first win over a Pac-12 foe since 1995.
3. Oregon State owns the early Pac-12 lead in steals (8.0) with Stephen Thompson averaging a team-best 2.5.
PREDICTION: Oregon State 78, Long Beach State 76