The Beavers will try to get a split in the season series with Washington State on Thursday evening.
The Cougars sent OSU home from Spokane with a 81-75 loss on Dec. 31, putting the Beavers in a two-game hole to start the Pacific-12 Conference season.
That was a long time ago in basketball terms.
The Beavers are a different team and they’ll be at home.
“The biggest thing when we were in Spokane, we got off to such a slow start and then we were playing catch up or even with them for the rest of the game,” OSU coach Craig Robinson said. “I’m hoping that we don’t get off to such a slow start since we’re playing at home. I thought that was the biggest difference in that game.”
The Beavers have improved on defense and have been effective using a hefty dash of zone along with their man-to-man.
The Cougars haven’t exactly been tearing up the conference, but they do have some major threats in big man Brock Motum and guard Reggie Moore.
Motum averages 16.8 points and 6.6 rebounds to lead WSU.
Motum was 10 of 15 from the field and hit three 3-pointers for 26 points in the first meeting.
“I didn’t think we executed it well when we played them the first time and he got off to a really fast start and was playing at home with a lot of confidence and had a great game,” Robinson said. “We can’t let him do that on Thursday.”
