TV schedule: Saturday, March 13, 10:30 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
In the Pac-12 championship game, the Oregon State Beavers will try to be a bid stealer against the Colorado Buffaloes. Oregon State defeated UCLA 83-79 in OT and then beat Oregon 75-64 and was led by Ethan Thompson with 16 points, Oregon State had 4 other players in double figures.
This old Colorado team is led by Tad Boyle and got out to a 14 point first-half lead. But USC stormed back and tied the game with 36 seconds left. D’Shawn Schwartz got a tip dunk with 3 seconds left that won the game for Buffalo’s. McKinley Wright and Jeriah Horne were very good for Colorado and had a combined 43 points. No other player scored in double figures for them.
Colorado is 2-0 vs Oregon State this year. In the first matchup, it was a blowout with the Buffaloes winning 78-49. The Beavers shot a really poor 32.7/25.0/56.3 line from the field and also turned the ball over 20 times. With that bad of a shooting performance and that many turnovers you are gonna have a hard time beating anyone. Tristan da Siliva and Horne were good off the bench with 31 total points.
In the 2nd game, Colorado still won but it was much more competitive with the Buffalo’s winning 61-57. Both teams shot terrible from three Colorado was (4-18) and Oregon State was (6-22) and Colorado struggled to take care of the ball with 16 turnovers. But the Buffs won the game because they were able to get to the line 10 more times than Oregon State and made 10 more free throws.
Since that loss, Oregon State has won 5 out of the last 6 where Colorado has won six in a row. But this game will be really interesting. The Beavers are playing for their NCAA tourney hopes and would be a bid stealer for sure. Wayne Tinkle has done an incredible job this year for them. Thompson is a quality player, Warith Alatishe is an under-the-radar transfer pickup and Jarod Lucas is a solid shot maker.
With it being March, I’m picking Oregon State to continue to hot play and win.
Prediction: Oregon State 72 – Colorado 68