1. Defense
The adage goes defense wins championships. This is could never be more prevalent to the Oregon State basketball team. Head Coach Wayne Tinkle has coached his guys to buy in on the defensive end, because of this the Beavers never appear to be out of game. Opposing teams must deal with one of the best shot blockers in the country in Kylor Kelley. Kelley mans the middle for the Beavers and averages over four blocks a game. That kind of rim protection is going to be a huge factor in close games, especially when Kelley can play without fouling.
The Beavers throw many different looks at you on defense, but their goal is to funnel teams inside to their shot blocker and run teams off the three-point line. At this point in their season this has resulted in a top-10 field goal defense. Teams only shoot 39% from the floor against the Beavers and they give up just over 66 points per game. The thing that stands out when watching them play defense is their ability to force the offense into terrible shots.
The Beavers will attribute their defensive success to the presence of Kelley in the middle. Even when he is not blocking shots, he alters most shots and teams have a general fear of going to the rim when the shot blocker is in the game. When that happens Oregon State is able to turn up their on the ball defense and force teams into jump shooters. The Beavers have fouled a bit too much for my liking, but when you play an aggressive style on the defensive end of the floor that tends to happen.
Offense is often what gets left behind when playing a tough team. Defense should always travel. The way that Coach Tinkle coaches them to play is going to keep them in virtually every game, which will give them a chance to win every game they play.