The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jeff Wick Junior Seth Tarver leads Oregon State on defense with 46 steals. Tarver scored seven points with two steals in OSU's win over Oregon at Gill Coliseum.

The Oregon State men's basketball team is possibly playing its best basketball of the Craig Robinson-era.

The Beavers have won three straight, and in those three, they have shut down some of the elite players in the Pac-10.

Washington State's Taylor Rochestie managed to score all but five points in Pullman in the Beavers' 2-point victory. Stanford's leading scorer Anthony Goods was held to a goose egg against the suffocating Beaver defense. Stud point guard Jerome Randle of the Golden Bears was held to a measly three points his lowest scoring output of the season. The next leading scorer on the Beavers' hit list: University of Oregon's Tajuan Porter.

"They're very good when he's very good," Coach Robinson said. "So if we keep him from being very good, we'll have a better chance of closing them down."

In Civil War: volume 1 of 2009 Porter torched the Beavers for 22 points, but only managed three in the second half as the Beavers came from behind to get the win. If the Beavers would like to come away with the same result as last time, it's more than likely they'll need to play two good halves against Porter.

"He single-handedly, in the first half of the Civil War, kept them in the game," Robinson said. "I thought we did a good job on everyone else except him, so we have to reverse that."

Although Oregon managed to come away with a win against Stanford last week at Mac Court, with Porter only managing six points, it seems apparent that if the Beavers continue this assault on the conference's best scorers Oregon State will leave Eugene with plenty to smile about on Sunday night.

"Before every game Coach tells us that there are certain players and if we don't let them score their averages, we'll win the game, " senior point guard Rickey Claitt said. "But we don't want to dwell on it too much. That's what I don't want to happen is to dwell on Tajuan Porter and let other players make big shots."

It's uncertain whether the reign of terror on the opposition's top offensive threat will continue for the Beavers, but what is certain is that McArthur Court will be full, and it will be rocking.

Continued...

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