MBB Recap: Oregon State vs. Auburn
Ducks Confrontation No. 21 Auburn Tigers Tonight in Las Vegas, as part of Players Era Festival. Auburn jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead early, capitalizing on some poor ball control from the Ducks. Oregon would quickly tie things up at 10 points, leading to a back-and-forth battle for most of the first half. It was a messy half for both teams, as Auburn didn’t shoot the ball well (37.8% from the floor, 16.7% from three), and Oregon struggled badly with turnovers (10 in the first half alone). Sean Stewart He had a monster one-hit, so that was nice to see.
The second half was very similar to the first, as it was a very back-and-forth affair for the first 10 minutes of the half, and the lead never rose above 4. But then, things took a turn. The Tigers began to build the lead, using an 8-0 run to take a 68-59 lead with just 6:26 left in the game. Oregon would try to come back but would never get closer than 6 points from Auburn, and the Tigers would win the game 84-73.
Honestly, Oregon State lost this game for two very big reasons: turnovers, and suffocating its stars. The Ducks had 18 turnovers tonight, most of which were just bad/lazy passes. This cannot continue to be the norm if this team wants to compete come tournament time. I don’t think it’s going to be a big issue in a month or so but I’m trying to fit this new roster of players together and re-integrate Jackson Shelstad Getting into the lineup with a group of new players after missing most (if not all) of training camp is a difficult task.
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Speaking of Schlestad…it is… Nate Bittle She was essentially taken out of the game by Auburn’s defense. They got very few clean looks at the basket and went a combined 6-28 from the floor tonight (and 2-15 from three, but most of that was 1-11 from Shelstad). This team has to find ways to make it look easy, even if the opposing team is trying to knock them out of the game. That’s what good teams do, and that’s how they win. I shudder to think what this game would have been like without it Takay Simpkins He put up 22 points on 5-9 shooting. It’s still very early in the season, but if they can’t find ways to motivate their best players, it’s going to be a long season.
As always, “Sco-Dax.”