Michael Rataj leads Beavs to 8th straight home victory

Wayne Tinkle in his postgame conference after the win over Pepperdine admitted the Beavers looked "lost" without big man Parsa Fallah in the 80-71 loss against San Francisco last Saturday. Thursday night, the Beavers looked anything but lost as they defeated Pepperdine 83-63 to secure an 8th straight home victory at Gill Coliseum.

The win lifted the Beavers to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in West Coast Conference play. Tinkle credited the leadership of Demarco Minor (who finished one assist shy of a double-double) as instrumental in the win and also mentioned how the team stepped up in Fallah's abscece, but it was Michael Rataj who stole the show in Corvallis.

Rataj finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, and had the most important sequence in the win when he knocked down four straight 3-pointers in less than three minutes. On his second of four consecutive makes, Rataj was already halfway down the court to play defense as the ball was in the air, a testament to the confidence he has in his abilities to knock down shots from range.

Oregon State's Michael Rataj has made a noticeable jump as a junior.

Intriguing game as a 6'9 forward. Physical, active defender, capable driver & passer. Improved shooter at 40.6% though still at 3.0 3PA. 4 in a row here.

22-4-2-4blk vs Pepperdine | 29-7-2 vs Gonzaga in OT win pic.twitter.com/Jn8H8A2M0U
— Keandre Ashley (@HoopIntelllect) January 24, 2025

Pepperdine held the lead for a moment in the second half after Danilo Dozic hit a long three to put the Waves up 36-34. Demarco Minor decided he had seen enough and took matters into his own hands, hooking up with Maxim Logue twice for an Alley-oop, the second of which left the basket shaking for what seemed like an eternity. The Logue alley-oops gave the Beaver a bit of fuel and Rataj then hit his four 3's in a row and Oregon state never looked back as they handed Pepperdine their third-straight WCC loss.

The Beavs shot 60% from the floor and 55% from beyond the arc with Kingz adding on 20 points of his own to go with Rataj's 22 points and Minor's 13. It's worth noting that Ratai did go to the tunnel towards the final minutes of this game and was walking with a bit of a limp, he later joined his teammates on the bench. It's safe to say all eyes will be on the health of Rataj and Fallah as the Beavers enter their final 10 conference games of the 24-25 season.

Oregon State return to action on Saturday, January 25 at home against Santa Clara on ESPN+ with tipoff scheduled for 3 PM PT.

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