Oregon State Basketball Opens Season With Matchup Against Utah Tech
On November 4, Oregon State tips off its basketball season with a matchup against the Utah Tech Trailblazers, a Western Athletic Conference team that went 11-20 last season. It will be the first time the two teams have played in the schools' history as the Beavers look to continue their undefeated streak in home openers under Wayne Tinkle.
Utah Tech, formerly known as Dixie State, has only had a Division-I basketball program for five years, joining the WAC in 2019 after being Division-II beforehand. Since their jump to the D-I level, their record is 46-70, with their best season coming in 2022-23 when they went 14-19. Their head coach Jon Judkins has overseen the program since this change began, and leads the Trailblazers into this season as well.
They are led on offense by senior guard Noa Gonsalves, who averaged 12.4 points per game last season and has spent all three of his collegiate seasons with the Trailblazers. He is one of two returners to have averaged double figures last season along with former Hawaii transfer Beon Riley (10.7 points). Guard Tennessee Rainwater also averaged 3.9 points per game last season, and is a first-ballot all-name team member.
Oregon State has a fascinating roster that has nine players from overseas: Turkish wing Kaan Yarkut, German forward Michael Rataj, Iranian forward Parsa Fallah, English big Matthew Marsh, Danish big Johan Munch, Canadian forward Thomas Ndong, French wing Isaiah Sy, French forward Maxime Logue, and Lithuanian guard Liutauras Lelevicius all make up this roster that is heavy on international talent.
Last season, Tinkle's Beavers went 13-19 overall and 5-15 in conference. They lost several players off of last year's roster, including point guard Jordan Pope (17.2 points), who transferred to Texas in the offseason. Other players that left are Tyler Bilodeau (forward, transfer to UCLA), Christian Wright (guard, transfer to Louisiana), Dexter Akanno (guard, transfer to Utah State), Jayden Stevens (wing, transfer to Idaho), KC Ibekwe (center, transfer to Washington), and Chol Marial (center, transfer to San Jose State).
With essentially an entirely flipped roster, Tinkle has his work cut out for him as far as establishing a new culture amongst these players and getting them to gel on the court. Even with these issues to sort out, they should still be able to get a fairly easy victory over a team that has struggled since its transition to Division-I.
The game will tip at 10 P.M. Eastern/7 P.M. Pacific time and will air on ESPN+.
More Reading Material From On SI
Washington State Football Finalizes 2025 Football Schedule
Four Teams the Pac-12 Could Target for Continued Expansion
John Mateer Talks Relationship with Former WSU QBs Cam Ward, Emmett Brown
Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.