Spring Break
Men prep for Duel in the Desert
OSU men's basketball team travel to Texas this weekend for their first tournament of the season
Nic Adenau
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Sports
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The Daily Barometer
After back-to-back exhibition wins, the Oregon State men's basketball team is heading down to Lubbock, Texas this weekend for the Duel in the Desert tournament.
"Anxious is probably the right word now," Head Coach Craig Robinson said. "Now the real games start."
The Beavers will be playing against three teams throughout the tournament - Texas A&M Corpus Christi, South Dakota and the hosting team, Texas Tech.
After having a turnaround season, the Beavers are excited to see how this year's new team will match up against some more experienced opponents.
"It's not going to be an easy tournament," Robinson said. "It's going to be a tough weekend."
Despite the strength of the schedule of this weekend, key players to lead the Beavers into the tournament include junior forward Omari Johnson, who averaged 13 points and five rebounds per game throughout exhibition play, and senior guard Seth Tarver, who averaged 10.5 points and four rebounds per game in the exhibition games.
"I think that it will be a good barometer for what we need to work on to go forward," Robinson said. "I like these tournaments where you have to play two or three games in a row because it really does test what your players can do."
On Friday, the Beavers will start the tournament off by playing the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders. The Islanders, led by Head Coach Perry Clark, have been preseason picked to win the Southland Conference.
"They have some really good athletic players," Robinson said.
Key returning players for the Islanders are senior guard Kevin Palmer and junior forward Demon Watt. Palmer led the team last year, averaging 18 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while Demon averaged 8.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
On Saturday, the Beavers will play against the South Dakota Coyotes. The Coyotes are led by Head Coach Dave Boots and finished last season with an overall record of 20-9. The team leaders for the Coyotes this season are senior forward Tyler Cain and sophomore guard Louie Krogman. Cain averaged 15.4 points per game last season while Krogman averaged 12.8.
On Sunday, Oregon State will finish the tournament off by playing the host of the tournament, Texas Tech. Last year, the Texas Tech Red Raiders finished 11th in the Big 12 conference with an overall record of 14-19.
Texas Tech, being the most experienced team scheduled, will be the Beavers' biggest game of the tournament. The game will be the Beavers' first Division I opponent of the season. Key players for the Red Raiders include junior guard John Roberson and senior guard Nick Okorie. Last season Roberson averaged 35.3 points per game while Okorie averaged 25.3.
With a game each day in the tournament, the OSU team will turn to its depth to keep its starting players fresh for each game.
"Right now, I could put 14 guys into a game," Robinson said. "Having depth like that will make this tournament be a little bit more realistic of a basketball team playing in a tournament. Opposed to last [year], if we played this kind of tournament we could play well in the first game and horrible in the second two because we would be exhausted."
The Beavers hope to take the next step, after winning both exhibition games, and show even more improvement in this weekend's tournament.
"We want to continue the things we were doing positively in the exhibitions games," Robinson said. "It will be interesting because this will be the first game that our freshmen will be playing an actual college game."
Out of the newly recruited class, freshman forward Angus Brandt has had the most success. In both exhibition games combined, Brandt, who was recruited from Sydney, Australia, had 11 points, six total rebounds, four blocks and a steal.
"They are going to be nervous just because it is their first college game," Robinson said. "I am hoping that they can get in there and get bumped around early so it snaps them out of it."
The tournament will be a great opportunity for Beavers to see how far they have come from last year's big turnaround. The outcome of this weekend could easily define how the Beavers will look going into Pac-10 play.
Nic Adenau, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com
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