Oregon State Return To Action On Thursday Against Pepperdine on ESPN+
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Oregon State Beavers (14-6, 4-3 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (7-12, 1-5 WCC)
Date: Thursday, January 23
Time: 6:30 PM PT // 9:30 PM ET
Location: Gill Coliseum - Corvallis, Oregon
TV: ESPN+
Last week saw one of the biggest highs in Oregon State basketball's recent history with an overtime win over Gonzaga. Throughout the season, the Beavers have looked like a team very capable of returning to the NCAA tournament. However, Wayne Tinkle's team were quickly reminded that the job isn't done on Saturday with an 81-70 loss to San Francisco on the road. It's also a reminder of just how tough the Beavers have had it on the road. Tinkle's teams have only won about a quarter of their true road games since he arrived in 2014.
Fortunately, the Beavs have a chance to reset this week with a home contest against a Pepperdine team who have compiled a 7-12 record this year. Thursday marks just the second meeting between OSU and Pepperdine. Their only previous meeting came in 2018 in Corvallis, which resulted in an 82-67 win for Oregon State.
The Waves have lost their last two games and had their January 11 contest against LMU postponed due to the still-ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Given that situation, the Waves can be forgiven for looking a bit distracted in recent weeks.
Beavers forward Michael Rataj was named WCC Conference Co-Player of the Week for his efforts last week, which included a career-high 29 points against Gonzaga, as well as 18 against San Francisco.
OSU will need more big performances from Rataj in order to keep pushing for relevancy in the WCC race, still 2.5 games back from league leaders Saint Mary's.
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Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.
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