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Tonight, the UCLA Bruins will be in Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers at 8 pm PT.
The Beavers come into tonight’s game with a 12-6 record, but that might be deceiving as Oregon State has been one of the worst teams in the Pac-12 to this point. So far, the Beavers are just 2-4 in Pac-12 play which puts them just 1⁄2 a game out of last place in the conference. They are also 1⁄2 game behind UCLA who are tied for seventh place.
That doesn’t mean that tonight’s game won’t be tough because it will be.
Oregon State is that rare team which has had the same starting five for all 18 of their games so far. The Beavers are led by redshirt senior Tres Tinkle who leads the team with an average of 19.7 points per game. Not only does he lead the team in points, he also leads Oregon State in three-point shooting as well. So, he has the potential to torch the Bruins from behind the arc. If UCLA wants to win tonight, they will have to find a way to keep Tinkle from lighting up the scoreboard, in general, and from three-point range, in particular.
If that’s not enough for the Bruins to worry about, junior guard Ethan Thompson averages 16.1 ppg and is shooting 35.3% from behind the arc. So, if UCLA shuts down Tinkle, the Beavers could rely on Thompson for a big night. The third Oregon State threat is senior forward Kylor Kelley who is the Beavers’ third player averaging in double figures with an average of 11.4 ppg. On the plus side, Kelley isn’t a three-point threat. He has missed his one and only three-point attempt this season.
Junior guard Zach Reichle and junior forward Alfred Hollins round out the Beavers’ starting five. Both Reichle and Hollins are less of a threat because neither is a very good three-point shooter nor is either averaging in double figures.
Ultimately, though, this is Tinkle’s team. He’s the Beavers’ star player and he’s the guy that the Bruins will need to figure out a way to stop if UCLA wants to win tonight.
Listen to the Game Here on BN!
This season, we are proud to, again, have today’s audio feed for everyone who opts to use the TuneIn Player link below. For optimum results, start the audio feed then pause your DVR and sync them up together. Tonight’s game is Fox Sports 1 with Aaron Goldsmith and Casey Jacobsen calling the game. If you would prefer to listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray call today’s game instead you can listen to today’s game online.
Just be sure to right-click on the link above so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below.
Join your fellow Bruin fans discussing today’s game.
This is your UCLA Bruins at Oregon State Beavers game thread.
Go Bruins!