Oregon State looks to remain perfect at home this season when it battles Cal Poly on Monday night at Corvallis, Ore.
While the Beavers (4-3) are 4-0 at home, the Mustangs (3-5) have yet to win on the road this season.
Cal Poly lost 85-70 at Idaho on Saturday to drop to 0-4 away from San Luis Obispo. The contest with Oregon State is the second of a three-game trip for the Mustangs, who complete the excursion at Weber State on Saturday.
The Beavers ended a three-game losing streak with Thursday’s 71-59 home win over UC Davis on Thursday.
It wasn’t a pretty effort as Oregon State committed 22 turnovers and had to overcome a five-point halftime deficit. But the Beavers outscored the Aggies 44-27 in the second half to rally for the win.
Chol Marial was a force with career bests of 18 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
“They tried to lay the wood to him but he didn’t back down and got us some great buckets in around the paint, and rebounded the heck out of it,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said of Marial.
Dexter Akanno added 16 points and Jordan Pope scored 15 for the Beavers.
Pope is averaging a team-high 17.3 points per game and has knocked down a team-leading 16 3-point baskets. Akanno is averaging 12.3 points and Tyler Bilodeau is contributing 12.0 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds.
Cal Poly is led by Kobe Sanders, who scored 20 points against Idaho for his third 20-point effort in the past four games.
Sanders has scored at least 12 points in all eight games and leads the Mustangs with a 17.4 scoring average.
Former Fresno State and Cal guard Jarred Hyder has five double-digit games while averaging 11.6 points and making a team-high 16 treys. He scored 11 points against Idaho.
Before the season, coach John Smith was highly complementary of Hyder at the Big West media day.
“Jarred Hyder is a very heady point guard who is very mature and understands how to play with pace and he competes on every single possession,” Smith said.
Oregon State has won two of the three all-time meetings. In the most recent matchup, the Beavers beat the visiting Mustangs 78-65 during the 2006-07 season.
–Field Level Media
