Is this the best Beaver basketball season of your lifetime?

Many fans would consider nodding. The orange & black are off to their best overall record (12-4) since the 2019-20 season.

Thursday night, the Beavers take their 12-4 record to the southern tip of the Bay Area, where they will face Santa Clara. Here are 3 keys to victory for Wayne Tinkle’s Oregon State men’s basketball team.

In the Beavs’ two West Coast Conference wins over Portland and San Diego, the orange & black have shot 61.4% and 57.8% respectively. Buoyed by Wayne Tinkle’s consistently strong defense, those high shooting numbers should be good enough to win most nights. Oregon State is the kind of team that can defend a lead, but first they need to build it.

In the Beavers’ conference-opening win over Portland, five shooters scored more than 14 points. Michael Rattaj has provided a reliable 16.7 PPG to lead all scorers, but Oregon State is much more successful when the stellar German wing doesn’t have to carry the burden by himself.

All season, a consistent trend has followed the Beavers. When they are bigger and longer than their opposition, particularly inside with 6’9″ transfer forward Parsa Fallah, they win games. Former McNary HS (Keizer, OR) standout Nate Kingz has also exceled on the wing, with his length proving crucial. If they can involve those players early, and repeatedly press their size/length mismatches against smaller WCC foes like Santa Clara, they will have the advantage.

HOW TO WATCH:
– Tipoff is Thursday, January 9th at 7:00 PM

– Radio coverage begins at 6:30 PM on KEX 1190 AM (Portland/Salem), KEJO 1240 AM (Corvallis), and across the Beavers Sports Network

– Video coverage can be viewed online with an ESPN+ subscription

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REALIGNMENT: 3 Options for the Pac-12 Conference

The Oregon Ducks offense suffered a key injury at the beginning of the season as offensive lineman Matthew Bedford suffered an injury prior to their season opener vs. Idaho during fall practice.

He only saw playing time in the win vs. Oregon State, when he was in during the last few plays of the game as the Ducks knelt it out for the win.

Bedford was a transfer from Indiana, where he started for multiple years for the Hoosiers prior to coming over to Eugene. He was thought to come in and be an immediate starter for the Ducks prior to his injury.

After Oregon’s 41-21 loss in the Rose Bowl, Bedford addressed his year of eligibility and what is next for him, including the possibility of coming back for one more season at Oregon.

“It’d be amazing to have that extra year and another opportunity. Like I said, it’s in the works. It’s in the future. I can’t really control that thing, just trusting God… I mean, it is, honestly, out of my hands. The only thing I can do is prepare every day like I’m going to be playing tomorrow. And that’s been my approach since January and how I’ve been dealing with this thing. It’s just every day waking up, doing everything I can to put myself and in the best position to help this team,” Bedford said. “This team has so many great athletes, great people that are investing in this thing, and I just want to do the same.”

It would be the second time that Bedford would be seeking the medical hardship waiver after missing almost all of the 2022 season with an injury. If granted once again, it would be Bedford’s seventh season in college football.

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Bedford said that the rehab for his injury has been smooth sailing and that if his extra year of eligibility is given to him, that he will be ready and in shape.

“I’m feeling back, feeling right back. I’m turning around the corner,” Bedford said. “But I feel like I’m ready to get back to practice and get back moving around like I used to. I feel like I’m moving around like I used to again. I feel like this time was needed for me to get 100-percent again.”

If he is given the extra season, Bedford would become one of the unquestioned leaders of the offensive line for the Ducks.

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While putting together a top-5 recruiting class through the Early Signing Period for the 2025 cycle, Dan Lanning & Co. has also been hard at work getting an early start on the 2026 class.

Already, Oregon has landed 10 prospects in the 2026 recruiting class, including eight blue-chip recruits. This collection of high school football underclassmen is good for the No. 1 class in the 2026 On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings.

There are currently 15 recruits ranked as five-star prospects in the 2026 cycle, and one of them is committed to Oregon: Reidsville (N.C.) tight end Kendre Harrison. Harrison, the No. 1 tight end in America, pledged to the Ducks on Nov. 30.

“I love Coach (Dan) Lanning. I love the coaching staff. I just love the school,” Harrison said of why he committed to Oregon. “I love everything about Oregon. I know Lanning and Coach Drew (Mehringer) and all those wonderful coaches out there are gonna develop me on and off the field. And I’m gonna have fun on and off the field. That’s really the main things right there.”

Harrison is joined in the Ducks’ class by a whopping three top-50 prospects. Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei offensive tackle Kodi Greene is the No. 22 overall recruit in the cycle. Texarkana (Texas) Texas High running back Tradarian Ball ranks No. 42 and Scottsdale (Ariz.) Willamette defensive lineman Tony Cumberland is ranked No. 46 nationally.

Four additional blue-chips are committed to Oregon: Frankfort Heights (Ill.) Lincoln-Way East top-100 quarterback Jonas Williams, American Fork (Utah) Lone Peak DL Bott Mulitalo, Mater Dei DL Tomuhini Topui and Ventura (Calif.) linebacker Tristan Phillips.

Salt Lake City (Utah) Bingham DL Viliami Moala is a top-40 prospect at his position and Riverside (Calif.) St. John Bosco EDGE Dutch Horisk has been committed to Oregon since Aug. 17.