Sophomore guard scores 10 points in win over Bobcats

By Mike Keifer
For the Corvallis Gazette-Times

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Backed by the Jack McGillis faithful, the Oregon State men’s basketball team redeemed an unsightly nonconference road season with back-to-back wins by defeating Montana State 72-63 on Sunday afternoon.

McGillis, a sophomore and Montana native, scored a career-high 10 points in his second start as a Beaver, much to the delight of his family and friends at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

“I was so excited to come here to play,” McGillis, whose spot in the starting lineup was a game-time decision, said. “I’ve got 10 to 15 family members and about 50 fans here.”

It was a fits-and-starts college debut for the forward in his home state.

Called for traveling early in the first half, McGillis shook it off to hit a 3-pointer during a 12-2 OSU run. He followed up with a breakaway dunk off his own steal.

“We’ve started with two bigs all season,” OSU coach Jay John said. “We just thought, let’s give him the shot. We knew he’d be fired up.”

So it was with the entire team, which found its legs after a tentative start Sunday on the heels of Friday’s scary 69-67 win over Northern Colorado.

OSU (4-3) allowed a hot-shooting Bobcats team (2-4), led by forward Nick Dissly’s 22 points, to take an early 18-14 lead. MSU point guard Carlos Taylor had five of his seven assists in the first 10 minutes.

But that was the last time the Bobcats would hold the lead before OSU jumped to the eight-point cushion it would carry into the half.

A newly patient offense found success inside, shooting 53.8 percent despite continuing struggles behind the 3-point arc. The Beavers’ high-percentage shots showed the team’s maturity since its dismal offense in blowout losses to Nevada and Hawaii.

“I was pleased with the sustained focus that we showed,” John said. “Our shot selection was good in the first half. This trip, we’ve got more focus.”

Freshman starting point guard Josh Tarver exploited the quickness advantage he had on MSU’s Casey Durham for 14 points. Brother Seth Tarver came off the bench to pitch in another 11, including a team-best 7 of 10 from the free-throw line. The Beavers led by as much as 16 in the second half.

MSU’s late pressure and crucial points off the bench took the Beavers out of their rhythm and closed the lead to 61-56 with 2:24 remaining. But OSU shot just well enough from the free-throw line to avoid a real threat.

The Bobcats rally pointed to the inconsistencies that force the Beavers to find a different playmaker each game.

“We’re so young and our identity is so different from last year’s team,” McGillis said. “A lot of guys have to find their role on this team.”

Junior forward Marcel Jones had a career-high 35 points against Northern Colorado. He shot better as the game progressed against MSU, scoring 13 of his 24 points in the second half.

The forward was also instrumental in limiting MSU post Ted Morris, the Bobcats’ primary scoring threat, to 12 points.

“We did a lot of scouting on him,” Jones said. “I don’t think there were a lot of mismatches. They’re good inside and outside. We knew it would be tough to play here, with the arena and the weather. I was tired, but coach told us to come out with a lot of energy.”

John hopes nine straight home games will allow the Beavers to finalize their rotation, a process he says has only started, as they approach the Pacific-10 Conference season.

John said that the win was the first step in “sorting through a lot of things.”

“I don’t know about that,” he said about his lineup. “It was good to get a couple of wins on the road with the group that we’ve got here trying to prove themselves.”