Oregon State University Review

Final Score: UW-103 OSU-72

If you had told me we would win by 31 at half time, I probably wouldn't have believed you. The Huskies played solid enough the first half, but Oregon State couldn't miss from range, going 6-9 in the first half. They even managed to bank in 2 shots from deep. UW did manage to take the lead right before half off a crazy circus shot from about 8 feet out at the buzzer, 40-39 at half. UW went on to outscore the Beavers by 30 in the second half, led by Matthew Bryan-Amaning (24) and Isaiah Thomas (19). Ross also picked up some late game points, ending with 14.

MBA was a BEAST tonight, you might not have seen it happening so obviously, but he had arguably his best game as a Husky. 24 points, 15 rebound (10 defensive), 2 blocks, 1 assist, and 0 turnovers. He shot 11-14 from the field, but a sad 2-5 from the FT line. More on him later.

The Huskies struggled early to solve the defense OSU threw at them. OSU changed things up from their usual 1-3-1 and used some 2-3 zone and, what at times, looked like a 2-1-2 zone with a 3 man collapse that the top of the arc. The Huskies were down 9 at one point and eventually took the lead with a 3 point shot by Scott Suggs. They came out of the half on fire and rolling. The Huskies were able to find MBA inside and got him going. Aziz ended with 7 points and 5 boards in 19 minutes. Isaiah led the team with 8 assists followed by Venoy Overton with 7. The duo combined for only 3 turnovers.

Isaiah hit some early 3 pointers and ended 4-9 from range. Scott Suggs was 4-6 from range and Terrence Ross was 2-3. Justin Holiday ended 0-4 from range, but added 7 points, 4 boards, 3 blocks, 1 steal, 1 assists, and 3 turnovers.

Gant was a perfect 6-6 from the FT line today and I.T. was close behind at 5-6. Aziz had an off day, going 1-5 and Holiday split his at 1-2.

After half time, it was all UW. They defended extremely well, they shot well, and played very tough. UW had another great sequence of plays in a row. It all started with some fast, crisp passes from the corner to the wing to I.T. at the top of the arc and then inside to MBA for a nice lay-in. MBA then comes down and swats Joe Burton as he goes up for a fast break dunk. Darnell Gant recovers the ball as MBA falls into the crowd. He passes to I.T. who drives and dishes back to Gant for the lay-in finish. Overton signals to the fans to get up. Jared Cunningham drives and has the ball smashed away by none other than Gant. Just brilliant. Two assists by I.T., a lay-in and block for our most senior bigs. Hec-Ed was roaring, the players were smiling, and good times were had.

At the end of the game, Terrence Ross sunk a pair of back to back threes to bump up his scoring. Along side Scott Suggs, who had 12 points, the bench added 38 points.

UW also had 20 assists on 39 makes and continues to have an assist rate above 50%. They also picked up 9 steals and 10 blocks, holding OSU to 9 assists.

UW won the battle of the boards once more, despite going into half down 20 to 18. UW finished with 45 while OSU had 32. What do you know? The Huskies out rebounded OSU by 15 in the second half and went on to outscore OSU by 30. UW had, I believe, 2 second chance points in the first half and 23 in the second half. More rebounds equals more opportunities, simple as that.

What Was Good

Rebounding

For starting so slow, The Huskies sure finished strong. MBA had 5 boards going into half, but powered it out in the second to finished with a team high 15. Ross added 7 and Aziz and Gant grabbed 5 a piece. It was great to get such production off the bench from Ross and great to see Gant getting a little more physical on the boards and pick up 5.

Passing

UW did a wonderful job working the ball around the zone, especially in the second half. I.T. and Overton did an exceptional job at the point, finding the open man and driving the ball inside to dish. Overton had a great pass to Aziz who turned and jammed it home over a pair of OSU defenders.

Second Half Shooting

In the first half the Huskies struggled to find rhythm from range, but Scott Suggs jump started the shooting at the end of the first and the momentum continued into and through the second half, making 25 of 39. Suggs and Ross highlighted the range game in the second half.

Toughness

After getting down 9 early, the Huskies showed a lot of resolve and kept their first half lead perfect for the season. They started to figure out the OSU defense and adjusted, allowing them to battle back and take the lead. They came out the second half with intensity and put the Beavers down quickly and efficiently.

What Was OK

Perimeter Defense

Sure OSU was hitting improbable shots and shooting much better than usual, but the Huskies gave the Beavers a few more open shots then I would have liked. In the first half the Huskies had trouble rotating around and getting a hand the their opponents face. They started in a 2-3 zone, but quickly moved to a man defense once OSU started to hit shots.


Free Throws


Darnell Gant and Isaiah Thomas were great. Justin Holiday was OK, and MBA and Aziz were bad. The two bigs combined for 3-10. Not good at all. I don't expect them to hit 80 or 90 percent, but 70 percent is more than reasonable. In a close game those 4 points could be the difference between a win and a loss.


Things to Note

This is the 11th straight win against Pac-10 opponents. The longest streak since the '53 and '54 seasons, 23 straight conference wins.


This is the fifth 100+ point game, tying a record set by the '04-05' team.

This is also ties the best start by a team since '84 when the team opened 6-0.

This is the Dawgs 10th straight home win.

6th straight win, including 2 non-conference wins.

The Dawgs have won 8 straight against OSU.

Scott Suggs played point guard the final 4 minutes of the game, something Romar indicated could happen periodically throughout the year when both I.T. and Overton are out. Suggs plays some PG in practice and has experience with it in high school.

Player by Player Reviews

Justin Holiday

He had a quieter day than most. He finished with 7 points and 3 turnovers, but his defense was stellar. He picked up 3 blocks and a steal. Holiday also picked up 1 assist. He only played 21 minutes tonight. Holiday's limited minutes were likely due to a combination of his poor outside shooting, 0-4, and Scott Suggs hot hand, 4-6 from range. He didn't rebound quite at his normal level, only getting 4, but none the less his efforts on the boards help the team a lot.
Grade: B

Venoy Overton

Nice, efficient job tonight by the senior guard. 8 points, 7 assists, and only 2 turnovers. Overton also had 2 steals and 1 very important block in the first half. He had a beautiful alley oop to a soaring Justin Holiday and another great assist to Aziz who is really starting to learn how to assert himself in the post. Overton had a great shot at the end of the first half to put the Dawgs up 40-39, which whipped the place into a fury. Great job tonight, Overton.
Grade: A

Matthew Bryan-Amaning

MVP of the game. He went into half with 10 points and 5 boards and finished with a game high 24 points and a career high 15 boards. He played with an intensity and resolve the likes of which fans have been clamoring for since the season opener. He finished shots, 11-14, picked up and1's, blocked, defended, and did everything short of shooting his free throws well. Fantastic job over 30 minutes of play. Personally, I thought it was his best game of the year if not career. He was a force to be reckoned with.
Grade: A+

Brendan Sherrer

Logged just under 4 minutes of game play. Didn't shoot, didn't rebound. He was empty in the stat sheet this game.
Grade: A for effort


Darnell Gant

Gant was all over tonight and looked great. He gave us some great production off the bench, scoring 10 on the night as well as grabbing 5 rebounds. He was perfect from the FT line, he had 0 turnovers and only 1 foul. He defended well and shot well. One of his better games for sure. His block was very impressive as it went sailing across the court into the stands.
Grade: A

Scott Suggs

Suggs was a beast in the game. He had a great shooting night, sinking 4 of his 6 attempts and finishing with 12. His lone score in the first half came at the best possible time, a 3 pointer to give the Dawgs their first lead since the opening minute. He demolished the zone in the second half, knocking down 3 triples. Suggs also had 3 assists, 1 steal, and only 2 turnovers. He played some PG tonight and looked comfortable. It was only for 4 minutes, but that is probably the maximum amount of time he will see the PG role in any normal game.
Grade: A

Isaiah Thomas

Another fantastic outing for Thomas. This marks his third game with 17+ points,  8+ assists, and 3 or less turnovers. I believe he could win Pac-10 player of the week as he averaged 19.5 points and 8.5 assists this week. He had an assist to turnover ratio of 17/4 or 4.25, amazing. You can't ask for a better point guard. Both Thomas and Overton have done a fantastic job of picking up their games to make up for the loss of Gaddy. I.T. court vision has really improved and he is doing a fantastic job of finding open guys and dishing out on drives. He forces the defense to collapse or else he will drive and score with ease. This opens things up for our bigs and perimeter shooters. A close second in the MVP category for the game.
Grade: A


Aziz N'Diaye


One of his more solid performances. He went 3-4 from the field, but only 1-5 from the free throw line. He grabbed 5 boards and had 2 blocks. No turnovers, which is great to see as it means his handling is getting better. He usually struggles against the zone, but did a much better job tonight. I was hoping to see 7 boards from him, but I'll take 5 when MBA grabs 15. He is still improving and his senior season should be absolutely impressive.
Grade: B+

Antoine Hosley


Two minutes tonight. Like Sherrer, he had an empty stat line.
Grade: A for effort

C.J. Wilcox


 Still playing slowed and in a slump. He went 1-4 from the field and 0-2 from range. He did get 2 steals and a board. Hopefully he starts connecting again. Until then Suggs and Ross will see a majority of the minutes.
Grade: C

Terrence Ross

He didn't score much until garbage time, but what he did do is rebound and defend. He looked good out there and went 6-11 from the field, including 2-3 from range. Those 2 three pointers came in the last 5 or so minutes. He finished with 14.
Grade: B+

Final Thoughts

The Huskies took 15 minutes to figure out how to beat the OSU defense. Once they did that the Dawgs rolled and the Beavers could do nothing to stop us. Isaiah and MBA have really stepped up in conference play. Ross is looking great as well. Next up are the Bay area schools, Stanford and California. Both should be easy games for the Dawgs, but they cannot be overlooked. This is probably the easiest road trip for the Huskies outside the Oregon schools later in the season. If they play like they did in the second half, the Huskies should have no problem handling Stanford and Cal.

Oh, that was also some of the worst officiating I have ever seen. One ref in particular was completely terrible. He missed several blatantly obvious calls. I am fairly sure if we hadn't been winning, the ref may have been rushed at some point. From an out of bounds possession call to a missed hold that gave OSU the ball and everything in between, this guy was complete nonsense.

Dawg Pack is looking and sounding much better. The UO game was better than the OSU game, but both had full student sections and forced others to sit in overflow. Great to see.

 Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQL9r4p9Pjk&feature=player_embedded#! 
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2013885855_raise_the_roof.html 
http://www.montlakemadness.com/huskies-stuff-beavers-103-72/ 
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=519&sid=410382