Oregon State will look to remain undefeated at home and build momentum for the upcoming Pac-12 schedule when it hosts enigmatic UTSA on Sunday afternoon in Corvallis, Ore.
The Beavers (6-3) had to fight back from an 11-point first-half deficit to beat Utah Valley 74-71 at home on Dec. 9 in its most recent outing. Tyler Bilodeau led Oregon State with 19 points in the victory and canned two free throws with 6 seconds remaining to help the Beavers fend off a late comeback from the Wolverines.
“It just shows that our team battles and I think we get through it,” Bilodeau said of the win over Utah Valley. “We were down to a good team and we just fought our way back.”
Michael Rataj added 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for Oregon State and Jordan Pope tallied 11 points. Pope has scored in double figures in all nine games this season and averages 15.8 per game.
Oregon State has captured nine consecutive nonconference home games. Its current six-game home winning streak is the team’s longest since the 2019-20 campaign.
The Roadrunners (5-5) travel west after a 93-84 loss at Little Rock on Wednesday that snapped a three-game winning streak for UTSA. Christian Tucker led UTSA with 23 points in the setback while Isaiah Wyatt added 16 points and nine rebounds, Dre Fuller Jr. scored 12 and Carlton Linguard Jr. had 10 points.
The Roadrunners led most of the first half before settling for a 43-42 advantage at the break. Ultimately a six-minute stretch in the middle of the second half in which UTSA went without a field goal proved to be the difference.
“We’re still learning about each other on the court, even though we’ve been together for several months now,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “The chemistry of this group was very good from the start.”
Oregon State has won all three previous games in the all-time series with the Roadrunners, including a 73-61 victory at home in 2020.
–Field Level Media