Oregon State ponders how to defend Dotson
Oregon State had no answers for Oregon?s Damyean Dotson in their first Civil War meeting this season.
The 6-foot-5 freshman guard scored 15 of his career-high 21 points in the second half to spark the Ducks to a 79-66 victory at Gill Coliseum.
It was the worst second half of the season for the Beavers.
With Dotson making 5-of-9 shots from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, UO outscored the Beavers, 51-32. It was the most points OSU has allowed in a half this year, and the final score was its biggest margin of defeat.
?The game was fine, and all of a sudden, Dotson starts making shots,? Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said. ?We were like, ?OK, that?s a freshman. If he?s taking those shots, that?s better than if Singler is taking them, or Kazemi, or Emory.??
But Dotson kept making shots, and the Beavers did not.
In tonight?s Civil War rematch at Matthew Knight Arena, the Beavers might have 6-foot-10 sophomore Eric Moreland check Dotson when they?re playing man-to-man defense.
?We haven?t decided how we?re going to approach Dotson this time around,? Robinson said. ?I like the potential match-up of having Eric on him. ? This time of year, with our record, I can use this as an opportunity to try out a lot of things.?
Moreland and Dotson are both natives of Houston.
Moreland, who transferred to Oregon State from UTEP, was a former standout at Hightower High School, while Dotson was a prep star at Yates High School.
?We?re familiar with each other,? said Moreland, who is averaging 9.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
?We?ve worked out together in Houston. His work ethic is admirable. He goes hard on every drill. It?s fun to watch. He?s a pretty good player.?
Dotson, who has started 27 of 28 games for the Ducks, averages 11.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. He shoots 44.6 percent from the floor.
Beavers tough on the road
Despite its record, Oregon State (13-15, 3-12) has played well on the road this year. No Pac-12 team has beaten the Beavers by more than 10 points on its home court.
How does that compare to the league leaders?
Well, Oregon lost by 24 at Stanford; Arizona lost by 13 at Colorado; UCLA lost by 18 at Arizona State; and California lost by 14 at UCLA.
Only Colorado, which lost by nine points at Arizona and ASU, has fared better.
?You go down all their scores and 10 points is as bad as they?ve been beaten on the road,? Oregon coach Dana Altman said. ?Which is a great compliment to them.?
For Oregon State, however, staying close isn?t good enough. Robinson said the next hurdle is learning how to win those games.
?We?re in every Pac-12 game we play,? he said. ?We?ve made that kind of growth, but we?ve stalled out. ? At the end, we have to make those winning plays that good teams make. We?re spending a lot of time trying to replicate those situations.?
Future players give hope
For those Beavers fans who are already looking ahead to next year, help is on the way.
Oregon State?s two recruits ? 7-foot, 230-pound center Cheikh N?Diaye, of Army-Navy Academy in Carlsbad, Calif., and 6-3, 185-pound guard Hallice Cooke, of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J. ? are both having solid senior seasons.
?N?Diaye is averaging a double-double,? Robinson said. ?His team has a chance to go pretty far in the California state playoffs.?
Cooke?s team is ranked fifth in the nation by USA Today.
?He can play either the point guard or off guard,? Robinson said. ?He?s making more threes this year. He?s a good ball-handler and a great defender. He?s the type of guy that you can groom to be a leader. He has the work ethic, the credibility and moxie to run your team in the future.
?I see both coming in and competing for their positions. I think there will be an opportunity at point guard for Hollis.?
