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Oregon State Beavers @ Seattle Redhawks Basketball Recap

Seattle 83, Oregon State 80

In one night, the Seattle University Redhawks wiped away the bad taste of an 0-3 start to their season. The Oregon State Beavers were reminded just how far they have to go in order to become an upper-tier program in the Pac-10 Conference.

Seattle used the energy of its wings and its backcourt players to speed by Oregon State, 83-80, as the Redhawks captured the first win of their season. Seattle knocked off the Beavers for the second straight season, announcing their presence as a formidable opponent for a Pac-10 foe.

Seattle came out much more aggressively than in its previous three games. Oregon State - with powerful low-post players and a lot of beef near the rim - struggled with the fast pace initiated by Redhawk coach Cameron Dollar, a former point guard at UCLA who loves to employ a racehorse style of play. OSU's muscle near the basket helped the Beavers stay even on the scoreboard - the game was tied at 43-all - but the Redhawks played this game in the 80s, which is where they wanted it to be (actually, Seattle prefers games in the 90s or higher, but Oregon State likes to play in the low 60s and high 50s, so Seattle still won the battle for tempo).
 

Even though SU's passing suffered at times against the 2-3 zone defense used by Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, the Redhawks busted that zone with dead-eye shooting they lacked last season, and the point guard who could feed shooters for open looks. Seattle has been helped this season by the arrival of a high-impact freshman, Sterling Carter. The new force on the SU roster poured in 20 points thanks to 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. However, Carter wouldn't have done so much damage if he didn't have a slick-passing teammate to help him out. Lightning-quick guard Cervante Burrell was able to make things happen for SU's offense against Oregon State. Burrell slashed through the OSU zone for a number of layups, and that level of dribble penetration forced the Beavers to collapse. Burrell adjusted to OSU's defense by kicking the ball out to Carter on the perimeter, and the freshman proved to have a lethal shooting touch beyond the arc.

Carter took OSU right out of the 2-3 zone and forced the Beavers to take more chances on defense, which led to a faster-paced game. Teams can slow down the pace when they sit back in a 2-3 zone look, but when a sharpshooter can exploit the 2-3, teams have to pinch on the perimeter. OSU resorted to a 1-3-1 halfcourt trap, and as a result of that adjustment, the Beavers used up more energy at the defensive end of the floor. They lost some starch in their halfcourt offense as a result.

This game featured an uneven level of play, which is normal for an early-season contest. Oregon State's use of multiple zone defenses plus Seattle's constant push to establish a faster tempo created a number of lulls in the action. Both teams ran into stretches of time when they battled fatigue and lost a measure of their concentration. The other reason why this game lacked a steady flow was that the officials were extremely whistle-happy. A lot of college basketball games this past week have involved obscenely high foul counts, and this game was no exception. A total of 48 fouls were called in this game, 27 against the Beavers, which is a reflection of Seattle's quickness at both ends of the floor. At the very beginning of the second half, however, this dynamic worked in favor of Oregon State. While SU reached too much on defense and picked up cheap fouls, OSU marched to the foul line and built up a 64-52 lead with 11:17 remaining in the game. However, as the stretch run arrived, it was Seattle who turned the tables on Oregon State and proved to be quicker to the ball.

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While the Redhawks outhustled Oregon State late in this game - SU outrebounded the Beavers for the night, 43-37 - Seattle's Aaron Broussard littered the stat sheet by racking up 12 rebounds and four steals. Broussard's high-level intensity created numerous impact plays that Oregon State wasn't able to match. Seattle's defensive pressure made a difference in the second half by continuously forcing turnovers from Oregon State's shaky backcourt. For a span of over eight and a half minutes late in the second half, Oregon State scored only five points. Leading by 12 with 11:17 to go, the Beavers watched SU produce a 24-5 run fueled by Burrell - who scored six points in a two-minute stretch during that assault - and Redhawk teammates Alex Jones, who went on a rampage of his own to push Seattle across the finish line first. Jones scored seven points in under two minutes to give SU a 76-69 with 3:05 left.  

As the endgame phase neared, Dollar took a risk from the SU bench. He called his team's final timeout with 2:33 to go because he saw his team losing just a little bit of focus. Oregon State pulled within four, at 78-74, but the Redhawks - thanks to Dollar's timeout - regrouped and held off the Beavers in the final two minutes, thanks to a poor play by Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham.

With 9.8 seconds left and SU in possession of the ball with an 82-80 lead, Carter lost control of the rock near the halfcourt line. Cunningham had a chance to come up with a steal, but he recklessly bumped into Carter instead. Carter hit one foul shot to provide the final margin of victory for SU, and when OSU guard Calvin Haynes turned the ball over with two seconds left, Seattle's comeback and Oregon State's dispiriting collapse were both complete.

One season after drubbing Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., the Redhawks were able to sustain their mastery of the Beavers. It remains to be seen if SU can continue to play with this level of energy in the coming weeks... and if Oregon State can get off the mat after a stomach-punch loss.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer