Mouton, Beavers take to the court for the first time since John’s firing

By Brooks Hatch
Gazette-Times reporter

Kevin Mouton says he doesn’t have time to have any jitters or butterflies about today’s 5:30 p.m. contest with Southern California, his second go-round as an interim coach of the Oregon State men’s basketball program.

“I’ve got 13 guys who want to win,” Mouton said after Tuesday’s practice, his second since his promotion from associate head coach to the first chair with Sunday’s dismissal of ex-head coach Jay John. “If I’m sitting here, nervous, they can see it on my face.”

Mouton said he won’t reinvent the wheel, that the team’s foundation has already been formed through the the first four months of a season that started in October. But he’s hopeful a higher energy level and a more aggressive style will correspond with what is basically a fresh start for the final 13 games of the year.

“With everything we’ve gone through over the past week-and-a-half, (the team) has stuck together,” Mouton said.

He said it was “very hard” to stay focused with so much controversy and speculation concerning John’s job status swirling around the program.

The attitude brightened considerably after the coaching situation was finally resolved on Sunday.

“It was like a dark cloud over us broke, and guys got after it” in subsequent practices leading into this weekend’s series, Mouton said. “We’ll try to push the ball up the floor really hard.

“I think everyone is responding well, there are no character or ego issues. They want to win, Beaver Nation wants to see them win, and we’ll work hard and try to get in position to win.”

Mouton said sophomore center Calvin Hampton will take dismissed junior C.J. Giles’ lineup spot and make just his fifth start, and first since the Dec. 16 loss to Tennessee Tech. He had a career-best 16 points in the 83-74 loss at Washington this past Sunday. He may make another change, but he hasn’t decided just yet.

Hampton has always had the ability to score and get up and down the floor, Mouton said.

“We’re very pleased what happened last Saturday but we have to get him consistent, no peaks and valleys,” Mouton said.

Hampton said one performance doesn’t prove anything.

“I need to follow that with another (strong) game,” he said. “That game won’t mean anything if I don’t come back and bring it (to USC) the same way I did against UDub. That’s what I’m looking to do, just be a big impact out there.”

Hampton said he vividly recalls the Trojans embarrassing the Beavers 91-46 at Gill Coliseum last season, OSU’s worst-ever home loss. He played nine minutes, but missed both shots, had two fouls and a turnover.

“That was definitely a low point for me,” he said. “I got to play some significant minutes at the end and I didn’t play well.

“I told myself the next time when we went to SC that I was going to take it to them, and I had my previous career high (nine) in points” in a 73-56 loss. “So I’m looking to take it to them again.”

Coincidentally, USC coach Tim Floyd has been in Mouton’s shoes at Gill Coliseum. He was UTEP’s interim coach, filling in for a temporarily sidelined Don Haskins on Feb. 4, 1986, when the 19th-ranked Miners blasted OSU 64-49.

“I’m disappointed Jay is gone,” Floyd said Tuesday on the Pac-10 coaches teleconference call. “I hate to see coaches lose their jobs. I’ve been through it twice myself and as a member of the fraternity of coaching I feel for anybody who is going through it.”

He had no opinion on the accompanying dismissal of Giles, other than how it impacts the Trojans’ preparations.

“I know we’ll be seeing a team that will be different in some regards,” he said. “I don’t know what regards and that’s the problem we have. We’re not going to spend a great deal of time regarding their actions.

“We’re going to stay with the basics we hope can carry over into a game like this.”

The Beavers averaged only 3,625 fans in eight home games. Mouton is hopeful that number will increase substantially this weekend and OSU can enjoy a true home-court advantage for the first time this winter.

“I’ve played in the Pac-10, I’ve played in this arena,” Mouton said. “When you have fans in the stands it helps you get energized. If we come out and play well, it will start to snowball.”