Men’s Civil War: Beavers need to gain some ground

There's a difference, Craig Robinson says, between "meaning" and "intensity."

His explanation was in response to the following question: "Does Sunday's Civil War carry any extra meaning because of the rivalry?"

Robinson said the rivalry adds extra intensity. It doesn't, however, add extra meaning.

The game is meaningful enough as it is.

Oregon State (13-7, 3-5 Pac-12) still resides in the bottom half of the conference, despite a home sweep of the Los Angeles schools last weekend.

With the first half of Pac-12 play coming to a close this weekend, the Beavers are running out of time if they want to make a run at the stable of teams ahead of them.

One of the teams they're chasing?

The first-place University of Oregon.

"It's meaningful for us to try and beat a team above us so we can gain some ground on those who are in front of us," Robinson said. "There's a lot riding on it."

Lose, and the Beavers are four games out of first at the turn. Win, and they'll enter the second half of conference play right in the thick of things.

Oregon (15-5, 6-2) is tied with Cal atop the Pac-12. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has the Ducks in his "next four out," meaning they're right on the cusp of having an NCAA Tournament-worthy resume.

"If they keep doing what they're doing they're going to surprise a lot of people," sophomore forward Devon Collier said.

Less than a month ago, Oregon was surprising people for all the wrong reasons.

The Ducks struggled out of the gate, losing each of their three noteworthy nonconference games (at Vanderbilt, at BYU and vs. Virginia) by double digits.

As if that wasn't bad enough, unhappy heralded freshman guard Jabrari Brown left the program in late November.

But second-year coach Dana Altman's team weathered the storm just in time for Pac-12 play and have been a different squad since.

They've won four consecutive games and are the only team in the conference with a winning record on the road in Pac-12 play.

The Ducks' stats aren't particularly eye-popping — they rank eighth in the conference in scoring offense and scoring defense — but they're a veteran club that gets the job done.

"They play together and they're shooting the ball really well right now," said sophomore guard Ahmad Starks.

Senior Garrett Sim, a product of Sunset High School in Portland, is shooting 47.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Ducks' leading scorer, Devoe Joseph, has also made more than 40 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Three-year starter E.J. Singler is fresh off a career-high 26-point performance in last Saturday's come-from-behind win over UCLA.

The Ducks went 2-0 in last year's Civil Wars and held Oregon State to under 40 percent shooting in both contests.

With the exception of now-graduated Lathan Wallace, the Beavers couldn't hit the broad side of the barn against the Ducks' zone. In the losses, Wallace made 7 of 13 treys while his teammates hit just 2 of 28.

"They play that zone really well, they talk a lot [on defense]," Starks said. "We're going to have to move the ball around and make sure we knock down shots."

The number one thing the Beavers have going against them this weekend is the fact that they haven't won a Pac-12 road game in nearly 23 months (13 straight losses).

The number two thing is probably the experience advantage Oregon possesses.

The Ducks start three seniors and two juniors. Of their 10 players averaging at least 13 minutes, only sophomore Johnathan Loyd has played less than two years of collegiate ball.

The Beavers, on the other hand, start two sophomores and a freshman.

"We've got to show more maturity than our age," Robinson said. "They play hard, they're well disciplined, they execute on offense and they're good defenders. We're going to have our hands full."

 Grady Garrett, sports editor

sports@dailybarometer.com