OSU looking to eliminate head-scratching losses

Craig Robinson had a simple message for the Oregon State University men's basketball team prior to Wednesday's practice.

"I told them to win the games you're supposed to win," Robinson said. "You're playing at home and you're a Pac-12 team who's expected to win. You have to win those games."

In the past, the Beavers have not.

Oregon State hosts California State University Bakersfield Saturday at Gill Coliseum in its season-opener.

The Roadrunners went 9-19 last year and ended the season on an eight-game losing streak.

Saturday's game is one of eight nonconference home games Oregon State will play this year. It will be the most nonconference home games the Beavers have played since 2006-07, when they went 6-4 in 10 games at Gill Coliseum.

All eight are against opponents outside of the traditional power six conferences. None of the eight went dancing in March and only three of the eight (Hofstra, Idaho and Montana) finished last season with a .500 record or better.

"We've got eight games at home where they should be wins, but we've got to come out and get them," said sophomore guard Ahmad Starks.

There's often a notion that the purpose of nonconference games is to prepare for conference play, but for a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations, every game is equally important.

"They're very important," Starks said. "You got to win these games to help yourself down the road."

Starks is right, because losing such games could come back to bite them.

Of the 37 teams that received  March Madness at-large bids, only seven suffered nonconference home losses to non-BCS conference schools that didn't go on to make the NCAA Tournament.

None of the 37 suffered more than one such loss.

Those, for lack of a better term, are considered "bad losses," and are often times decide a bubble team's postseason fate.

Last year, Oregon State suffered three defeats at home to non-BCS schools that didn't go on to make the NCAA Tournament: Texas Southern (66-60 on Nov. 21), Utah Valley (70-68 on Dec. 1) and George Washington (87-79 on Dec. 18).

Throw in road losses to Seattle University (83-80 on Nov. 17) and Montana (71-66 on Dec. 15) and it's safe to say Oregon State had already eliminated itself from the at-large picture before Pac-10 play even began.

And it wasn't just a one-year thing.

In 2009, the Beavers lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at a neutral site, Sacramento State University and Seattle University at home and Illinois-Chicago on the road.

Only one of those teams — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi — finished the year above .500.

The last time the Beavers didn't lose a nonconference home game came in the 2005-06 season, but that's a bit misleading considering the Beavers played just four nonconference home games that year and lost four of the seven nonconference games they played outside of Corvallis.

In the three years Robinson has been at Oregon State, the Beavers have compiled a 17-17 record in nonconference play.

"First of all, the first couple years, everybody was getting used to playing a different way and our talent gap was more significant," Robinson said. "The third thing is there was a real culture of losing when I got here. You have to learn to win."

Starks wasn't around for Robinson's first two seasons, but knows last year's November and December games didn't go as planned.

"We should have won all of them," Starks said. "Lack of focus, poor decision making at the end led to the losses. This team has a total different camaraderie, different mindset. The focus is to not let that happen again."

Robinson has made no secret of the fact he believes this year's team is the best he's had at Oregon State, and thinks the nonconference woes are a thing of the past.

"I'm really excited about our talent level, our work ethic and our ability to beat the teams we're supposed to beat," Robinson said.

When asked if the Beavers finally realize how important the nonconference games are, Robinson didn't hesitate.

"The way we look at it is we have one nonconference game to worry about and that's Cal State Bakersfield," Robinson said. "That shows you important it is."

Grady Garrett, sports editor

sports@dailybarometer.com