Washington State-Oregon State: Game Preview

With just seven conference games left on the regular season schedule, the Washington State Cougars take their show on the road to Corvallis, where they’ll challenge the hapless Beavers of Oregon State.

Hapless?

Yes, that’s a little harsh. Sadly, it’s a fair adjective applied to a once proud college basketball program that has fallen on hard times.

For those of you who have recently found a seat on the Cougar bandwagon, it’s familiar territory. Ask any of the starting seniors for the Cougs and they will tell you bluntly, “Been there, done that.”

WSU vs OSU

Site: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, OR

Tipoff: 5:30pm

Television: FSN Northwest

Online: Gametracker

Oregon State comes into the game Thursday night having lost all 11 conference games. Oh. They lost their coach a couple of weeks back, too.

Coach Kevin Mouton has taken over as Interim Head Coach for the Beavs. Thusfar, Coach Mouton’s enthusiasm hasn’t changed the play of OSU. He has been echoing the latest slogan for Oregon State basketball, “Rally the Legend” loudly and proudly. His call seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

OK. Before Cougar Nation reflexively adds the game Thursday to the “W” column, keep in mind that there are plenty of talented players on the OSU squad. Coach Mouton sure hasn’t been working overtime to simply have his team play out the string and head for a nearby campus pub to wash away the memories of this disastrous season. No way. The Beavers are stocked with kids who know how to play at this level and want to play at this level.

What better way for them to turn their season around than to jump up and surprise a Top 25 team? Do you think they will remember how the Cougs embarrassed them in Pullman last month with a 69-46 drubbing?

Since Coach Mouton took over, the Beavers were making some strides in improving their offense before slipping backward a little last Saturday against No. 7 Stanford.

Washington State doesn’t present a great opportunity for the Beavs to return to scoring 60+ points. However, it’s not that much of a stretch to suggest that OSU can jump up and surprise WSU in front of dozens of their loyal fans at home. Dozens? Ouch. Yes, OSU fans have deserted ship by the thousands.

Washington State came out better than usual against USC last Saturday. To be successful the rest of the way, that’s a habit they are going to need to form. Three of their five losses stemmed from getting off to a slow start on the offensive end of the court. It’s rather unlikely that the Cougs will get off to a sluggish start. They have their swagger back. They know that. USC knows that. Probably the rest of PAC-10 knows that.

What sort of a pregame speech will be delivered by Coach Tony Bennett? Who knows? You can count on one thing. Coach Bennett knows his players like a father knows a son. He’ll know what buttons to push that will have his guys playing up to their potential.

Just as the Beavers have been wounded this season, the three game losing streak the Cougs suffered through hurt them enough to be a constant reminder of what can happen even when you play well. If you don’t bring your best game to any PAC-10 contest, look out! Ask the Beavs. They have yet to be able to remain focused for 40 consecutive minutes in conference play. Yet.

With plenty of time to rest and prepare for Oregon State, the Cougars should earn their seventh conference win.

Then it will be time to travel south to Eugene, a completely different story…to be told later.

GO COUGS!!!