Beavers have been close, then blitzed after intermission

By Brooks Hatch
Gazette-Times reporter

The search for the missing second half will continue in practice this week as the Oregon State men’s basketball team prepares for the 328th Civil War.

“We’re not going to sit here and say, ‘Oh, we played two great halves, that’s it,’ ” OSU coach Kevin Mouton said on Saturday, after watching No. 8 UCLA bury the Beavers 42-23 in the final 20 minutes of an 85-62 victory at Gill Coliseum.

“No. We’re gonna put two halves together and try to get us a W,” and thus snap a 10-game losing streak that has now tied the 87-year-old school record.

The Beavers (6-14, 0-8) and Oregon (12-8, 3-5) meet at 3 p.m. Saturday at McArthur Court, where the Beavers are 0-14 since a 54-48 victory on March 6, 1993. Oregon has lost four games in a row.

Saturday’s second-half collapse was similar to the one experienced two days earlier in a 68-44 loss to USC. The Beavers closed the first half on a 15-2 run to draw within 27-25, but then were blitzed 17-2 in the first 7:15 when play resumed. On Saturday, they were within 43-39 but UCLA came out with a 17-1 run to put the game away.

OSU missed its first eight second-half shots against the Trojans and its first 10 against the Bruins. It was a collective 14 of 64 (.219) from the field after shooting .426 (26-for-61) in the first half.

“Basketball is a game of chemistry and rhythm,” Mouton said. “For the first half on Thursday and (Saturday), we had a good rhythm going. We made some shots, we did some things defensively and got some stops.

“We felt we had a game plan for the second half (Saturday) after watching what we did in the second half against USC. I’m not taking anything away from UCLA, they’re a great team and they did pick up their pace, but we have to find the right rhythm, the right combinations.

“It will get better.”

Sophomore guard Seth Tarver said OSU was more aggressive early and took the ball to the basket and into the teeth of 6-foot-10 center Kevin Love, the heart of UCLA’s defense. OSU’s 39 first-half points were the most the Bruins had allowed in a half this winter.

“We haven’t been shooting well and anytime you don’t shoot well you might as well go to the basket and get a closer shot or get fouled in the process,” Tarver said. “That’s what we were trying to do, and it was working. So we just kept going with what was working.”

Tarver rediscovered his absent shooting touch and was 5 of 7 overall and 3 of 4 on 3-pointers, and scored 16 points. He’d had just 10 points in his previous two games.

However, senior forward Marcel Jones continued to founder. He was 0-for-6 on Saturday, 1-for-17 for the series and his season percentage dipped to .339 overall and .240 in Pac-10 action. He shot. 471 as a sophomore and .451 last season.

“I have to sit down with Marcel, chit-chat with him, give him a little love,” said Mouton, who is mystified by the falloff. “Guys go through some tough times in every sport. Right now he’s having a tough time but when we sit down and talk and love him up, I think he’ll be fine.

“He really, really wants to win. He wants to win so bad that he may press a little bit at certain times and that’s not him. It’s something we need to address. The bottom line is, he really wants to win and that’s one of the major things that’s going on right now.”

Foul-line imbalance

The Bruins were 19 of 24 on free throws in the first half to OSU’s 3 of 4. Things eventually evened out in the second half and OSU had more shots (14-12), but Mouton got his first career technical foul and that led to a five-point UCLA possession.

“I think they did their job, and we did our job, that’s all I can say really,” without earning a reprimand from the conference, Mouton said, chucking. “I told the guys there are things you can control and things you cannot control.

“We couldn’t control how (officials Michael Reed, Don McAllister and Randy Burkhart) were calling the game. Obviously, we wanted more free throws, but it’s just one of those things.”

Better crowds

The Beavers drew season-best crowds of 5,063 and 8,235 on successive nights and Gill Coliseum was alive for one of the few times this season, especially when OSU made runs at the lead to end the first half of each game.

“The crowd was great. When you execute things and shots go in and you get you’re crowd going, it’s a lot of fun. The guys were enjoying it,” Mouton said. “The atmosphere was great and I think the guys really fed off the energy.

“Hopefully, we can keep the fans interested and keep them coming out and give them better results.”

Coach search update

Athlete director Bob De Carolis said the Beavers will talk with several search firms this week, mostly by phone. Otherwise, the quest for a successor to Jay John will continue in private.