Beavers Road Woes Continue with 90-68 Loss to Gonzaga

Jan 28, 2025; Spokane, Washington, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg (33) celebrates after a dunk against Oregon State Beavers forward Michael Rataj (12) in the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images
Jan 28, 2025; Spokane, Washington, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg (33) celebrates after a dunk against Oregon State Beavers forward Michael Rataj (12) in the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images / James Snook-Imagn Images

Everything that could have possibly gone wrong for the Beavers Tuesday night in Spokane went wrong as the Beavers dropped to 6-4 in WCC play and 16-7 overall with a 90-68 drubbing to Gonzaga. The team bus broke down before the game causing players and coaches to Uber to the McCarthey Center, Parsa Fallah didnt seem fully 100% healthy, and the Beavs shot just 38.2% from the field. Wayne Tinkle in his postgame conference said the team needed to "humble themselves".

Sweeping Gonzaga in WCC play was always going to be a tall order, but after the Beavs' OT win in Corvallis there was a glimmer of hope that it could be done. Khalif Battle had other ideas as he contributed off the bench for the Bulldogs to the tune of 23 points. The Senior entered this WCC contest ranked 10th in the nation in free-throw percentage and converted on 12-13 from the charity stripe. Gonzaga ended up shooting 85% from the line compared to the Beavs 63%. It wasn't just Battle who was set on avenging the January 16th OT loss to Oregon State, Graham Ike joined the party with 22 points of his own on 10-12 shooting from the floor while Nolan Hickman went 4/6 from beyond the arc.

The Beavs hung in there for the first five minutes, but Gonzaga had the nail in the coffin by halftime. Gonzaga went on a 16-3 run to end the half that had Wayne Tinkle furiously subbing in and out different players to see which group of five could possibly mount a comeback. Gonzaga led by 20 at half and never looked back as their lead swelled to as much as 40 with 1:57 left in regulation.

Michael Rataj saw his scoring total almost halved from the first meeting against Gonzaga as he was held in check for 15 points, Nate Kingz pitched in with 11 while Parsah Fallah, who had 16 points in the previous fixture against Gonzaga only had 2 points Tuesday night with 11 minutes played.

The road woes have become a serious issue for Oregon State under Wayne Tinkle, who has a record of 23-94 in true road games.

Oregon State is 1-5 in conference play when away from the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum this season. The Beavers will have to get off the mat and dust themselves off as they play their next two games at home in Corvallis against Washington State (5-4 in WCC play) and St. Marys who sit atop the WCC at 8-0.


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Kyle Clements
KYLE CLEMENTS

Kyle is a 2019 graduate of Southern Oregon University and currently does play-by-play for SOU football and men’s and women’s soccer. He hosts a daily sports show in southern Oregon on The Ace Sports Radio, 107.9 FM and 1300 AM. Kyle also does play-by-play for the Rogue Valley Royals hockey team and the North Medford High School Black Tornado for TableRockSports.net. Kyle lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife and a Dalmatian named Penny.