Oregon State Basketball must limit Houston’s rebounding opportunities

2. Houston will put OSU at the line, and they need to take advantage

Undeniably, one of the biggest keys to Oregon State’s flourishment in the NCAA Tournament has been the Beavers’ reliance on free-throws.  Considering they rank in the top 70 in free-throws made and free-throw percentage, that should come as no surprise.

In their three wins, the Beavers are a blistering 56-65 (86.2%) on freebies, which includes a 32-35 showing in the win over Oklahoma State.  For the season, OSU has been solid at getting to the charity stripe, attempting a 110th-best 19.4 per game and making 14.8 of those.

To pull off the upset over Houston, the Beavers will again need to rely on the charity stripe – and luckily for them, the Cougars have been willing to send teams there.  Despite their stellar defense, Houston has struggled at keeping teams off the free-throw line, where teams attempt a whopping 21.2 free-throws, which ranks 301st in the country – and teams are making at least 14 of those.

Those marks have not been nearly as bad in the NCAA Tournament, especially considering the Cougars have attempted and made more free-throws than their three opponents – but they have still given up points there.  In those three wins, Houston has maintained a 42-61 clip – but allowed teams to go 38-52 from the line.

Oregon State has proven to be deadly from the stripe because so many players have been clutch in those moments.  Three of the Beavers’ starters – Jarod Lucas, Ethan Thompson, and Zach Reichle – shoot over 80% on free-throws, and that, in turn, has allowed Oregon State to maintain a 28th-best 77.1% clip on freebies.

Those individual performances – paired with OSU’s win over Oklahoma State, which saw Thompson go 15-16 from the line – bode extremely well for the Beavers against a Houston team that will put them on the charity stripe.  Oregon State will desperately need it, too, given Houston’s staunch defense – points will be extremely difficult to come by, and the Beavers must use any avenue possible to produce.