Offensively gifted sophomore guard starting to produce for Oregon State

By Cliff Kirkpatrick

Gazette-Times Reporter

Lathen Wallace figured it out last weekend.

Finally, his understanding of the Oregon State offensive system and his physical conditioning came together and the combination helped him find his shot.

The sophomore guard was the highlight for the men's basketball team during the Beavers' Pacific-10 Conference road swing to Arizona State and Arizona, even as they lost both games.

Wallace has been known for his outside shooting, but injuries and learning the motion offense of new coach Craig Robinson slowed him down.

"It came around pretty well," Wallace said. "I just let my game come to me. I felt it was a growing point for me. Before that I took ill-advised shots."

His offensive production will be vital as the Beavers continue through the Pac-10. They have home games Thursday night against Washington State, followed by Washington on Saturday night.

Wallace was OSU's leading scorer in both games last weekend, netting 13 against Arizona State and 17 against Arizona. No other OSU player reached double digits.

"It's a combination of a couple things," Robinson said. "One, he has a better understanding of what we are doing out there. Secondly, he was coming off an injury in the summer. So he's just getting back into real basketball condition."

Wallace suffered a torn meniscus in one of his knees while working out at home over the summer. He rehabbed the injury and was late going full speed in practice when the fall arrived.

He has still played in all 14 games this season, coming off the bench to average 5.9 points a game, with 30 of his 83 points coming in the last two games.

"It was hard coming off injury," Wallace said. "Now I feel like I'm coming around and the offense is flowing for me."

Dawn patrol

Practice was moved to earlier in the morning this week as a form of punishment. Last week the team worked out at 7 a.m.; this week it's 6 a.m. It's still not the 5:30 a.m. slot the players endured earlier in the season.

"Even though things are going well, things can go badly," Robinson said. "When they go badly you have to go back to the old way."

The players understand the change, even though they looked a little tired late in the morning.

"We've been through it," guard Calvin Haynes said. "We've done if for a while. I don't think 6 a.m. is too bad. It's a matter of him letting us know we have work to do. He wants to drill in our head that hard work is still coming."

Sturner out

Freshman walk-on forward David Sturner from Philomath is out indefinitely with mono, Robinson said. It could be up to two weeks.

"We are so thin that this is not good," Robinson said. "It's more noticeable in practice. We can't go as hard because you can't give guys enough breaks. So we'll see how long it goes. You never know with mono."

Sturner has played in eight games, including three of the last four. He has scored three points, grabbed three rebounds and has three assists.

Lineup changes

There may be a lineup change this week because of success by Haynes and Wallace off the bench and the struggles of forward Daniel Deane since conference play began.

The usual starting lineup has been guard Rickey Claitt, center Roeland Schaftenaar, forward Omari Johnson, forward Seth Tarver and Deane.

"I like the formula," Robinson said. "I always like having someone on the bench to give you a lift. I like that setup right now. It's possible I could change it. We're still deciding on the lineup for this weekend."

Robinson's schedule

The Presidential Inauguration is Tuesday and Robinson will be in Washington, D.C., to watch his brother-in-law, President-elect Barack Obama, take the oath of office.

The Beavers will practice Sunday instead of the using that as their day off, then take off Monday. That will allow Robinson to travel to Washington .

Assistant coaches will run Tuesday's practice and Robinson will meet the team in the Bay Area for the Jan. 22 game at California.

"I'll say that's a good excuse to miss practice," Wallace said.