It’s Civil War time
Ducks to face balanced Beavers in Corvallis
By Donald Coulter
Ol IfM Emerald
Now that they're back in the nation's
top-10 once again, and in the running for a
third straight Pacific 10 Conference basketball
title, comparisons between this year's version
of the Oregon State Beavers and last year's
26-2 squad are abounding
And they stack up very favorably for the
1981-82 team, which hosts Oregon in Corvallis
Saturday
Oregon State enters Saturday's game with
a 17-3 record, a share of the Pac-10 lead, a No
6 ranking in both wire service polls, and a lot of
believers among the teams they've encoun
tered this season
One of those who has testified on behalf of
the current Beaver squad is Stanford coach
Dick DiBiaso DiBiaso speaks as somewhat of
an expert to OSU s
recent Pac-10 I
supremacy, as his
teams have lost six in a
row to the Beavers, in- ■
eluding a pair of 43 and (
30-point thrashings
this year
‘ (After the first I
game) I didn't think t
they were better than
last year," DiBiaso said
after last Saturday's >
111-81 loss to OSU f
"But now I do If you
look at their stats, you'll
see it "
Indeed The
Beavers' forte in recent
years has been
defense, and statis
tically they are playing
it better than the team
which was No 1 in the
nation for most of last
year
Last season
Oregon gave up an
average 60 9 points per
game, fewest of any
Pac-10 team So far
this year, the Beavers
are allowing 56 6
points per game, and
only 53 7 points in
confenrence play
'They're a little better defensively,
agrees Oregon head coach Jim Haney, but
with Steve Johnson's departure, they're not as
good offensively "
Maybe not. but they don't miss Johnson's
21 points a game as desperately as many
thought they would Oregon State is averaging
72 7 points this year, only three points fewer
than it did last year In conference games, that
figure is 75 1, second only to Oregon by one
tenth of a point
Last year, the Beavers set a school record
by leading the NCAA in field goal percentage
with a 564 mark This year, they re shooting at
a 538 clip, and have hit better than 57 percent
of their shots in conference play That's five
percentage points better than any other
Pac-10 team
Want some more evidence? Oregon State
is ahead of school records in three other
categories: steals (9 2), scoring margin (17 8)
and forcing opponents into turnovers (20 9)
And it is averaging 17 5 assists per game, for
an assist ratio of 618, far and away the best in
the conference
All of this for a team that was supposedly
entering a rebuilding year after losing John
son, Ray Blume and Mark Radford
Much of the slack in Johnson's absence
has been taken up by sophomore Charlie
Sitton Sitton, who started the season at for
ward, moved to the post after Greg Wiltjer
injured his ankle vs Idaho in late December At
center, Sitton is averaging 14 points and
shooting 62 percent from the field
►
\
Still, it is OSU’s
balance — William
Brew and Lester Con
nor at guard, Danny
Evans and A C Green
at forward, and set
shooter Rob Holbrook
coming off the bench
that has propelled the
Beavers to a 10-1 con
ference record
‘ They just don’t
make mistakes,'' adds
Haney. “I don't think
they're a great team,
but then again, no team
in the Pac-10 is great
this year.”
OSU's first game
against the Ducks was
in typical fashion The
Beavers had six
players in double
figures, stole the ball
12 times and forced 24
Duck turnovers. Con
nor led the way with 15
points, eight assists
and five steals
Despite the
15-point victory over
Oregon in January,
OSU head coach Ralph
Miller isn't taking the
Ducks lightly
Apparantly I took
life too easy this week ana it survivea us tor one
game.'' Miller -=aid after the Beavers narrowly
beat Cal 57-50 Monday night There will not
be any letting up in our practices this week to
get ready for the Ducks."
DUCK NOTES — Saturday cfternoon s
game will be televised as the NBC Pac-10
Game of the Week (KVAL. Ch. 13) Starting
time is 3:30 p m Miller has a lifetime record
of 20-16 vs Oregon, with 15 of those losses
coming to former Oregon coach Dick Harter
Haney is 1-8 vs OSU Oregon State has
won the last six contests between the two
teams, the most recent a 76-61 victory in
Eugene three weeks ago
Charlie Sitton
Spend next year in
Japan or
France.
Apply by February 15
For more information cail Paul
Primak
Office of International Services
330 Oregon Hall
686-3206
GRAND
OPENING
GREAT WALL
RESTAURANT
Szechuan Sf \ Ir?
Fine Chinese and American Food
Lunch from $2.85
Orders to Go
726-9133
862 Main St. Springfield
Dinner from $3.50
Sun-Thurs. 11:30 am-10 pm
Fri and Sat. 11:30 ani-11 pm
Also serving Beer and Wine
9
9
9
9
9
VALENTINE'S DAY
IMPORTED
coffee
fea
cobrful mugs
& accessories
kinko's
764 € ST 13th
r¥
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
LOVE
TO READ
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
A special gift book
Reads, “I Love You.”
Valentines that last,
Upstairs in the Book Dept.
I 13th & Kincaid
Mon-Fr. H 15 5 IQ
BOOKSTORE Sat 10:00-3:00
Textbooks 686-3520 • General Books 6#6-3510 • Supplies 6K6-4331
W ViY, JL i get into nature, recycle A Jm
,hisPaPBr ** tr- w