This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Asked Tuesday if he'd had any advice for Wayne Tinkle upon Tinkle's hiring by Oregon State, and if he now regrets giving it, Larry Krystkowiak didn't let the reporter finish his question.
"Since he's done a better job than I did?"
Reporter: "I didn't say that."
"I did," Krystkowiak said. "We won six games our first year."
Tinkle's up to 16.
What's more, with just seven scholarship players, Oregon State is 14-0 at Gill Coliseum, where a Beaver victory Thursday night would be their second over a top-10 team this season.
It's not enough to say that Krystkowiak and Tinkle go back, so the aforementioned reporter, Kyle Goon, wrote a story about their relationship that's a highly worthwhile read.
Krystkowiak, though, said he has no time to reminisce. He's focused on avoiding the fate of No. 7 Arizona, which fell 58-56 in Corvallis last month.
While Oregon State lost its last two games by a combined margin of 29 points, Utah was beating Cal and Stanford by a combined 31, and No. 9 Utah enters Thursday's game as an 8.5-point favorite, but OSU's relentless zone pressure and yeomanlike work ethic has his undivided attention, Krystkowiak said: "We've got our hands full."
Time, Place and [Radio Waves in] Space • The tip's as late as they come: 9 p.m. MT in Corvallis. Those still awake can enjoy the game on Pac-12 Networks, called by Spero Dedes and Matt Muehlebach, or on ESPN 700 radio, with Bill Riley and Jimmy Soto.
Opposing Coach • After succeeding Krystkowiak, Tinkle went 158-89 as head coach at Montana and reached the NCAA tournament's second round back-to-back in 2012 and 2013. He inherited an Oregon State team from Craig Robinson that lost all five 2013-14 starters, but with just one more victory, would give OSU only its third winning season since Gary Payton was drafted in 1990. And indications are that he's just getting started: Rivals rates OSU's 2015 recruiting class as the nation's 18th-best.
Telling Stat • This year's Beavers are characterized by their zone pressure defense, which is holding Pac-12 opponents to a mere 52.2 points per game at Gill Coliseum and has resulted in a Pac-12-best 7.8 steals per game and a plus-2.5 average turnover margin. Said Krystkowiak: "You've got to be real patient, I think, with the basketball."
Pregame Quotable • Krystkowiak, on Tinkle: "I could go sit on a beach for a day with Wayne and I don't feel like we need to catch up on anything. Just crack a beer and sit back and know that we've been through a heck of a lot together."
Beavers Roster Overview • Tinkle did take Krystkowiak's advice, which turned out to be: Don't rush out and award scholarships to guys who might not be a part of your future. Tinkle has just seven scholarship players, freeing him to offer a handful of elite recruits and lay the foundation for a bright future. The downside: OSU's rotation is paper-thin.
Six players are likely to share the vast majority of Oregon State's minutes.
Tinkle leans heavily on SLCC product Gary Payton II, who has responded by ranking among the conference leaders in points (16th, 13.1), field goal percentage (12th, .496), rebounds (fourth, 7.9), assists (14th, 3.0), steals (first, 3.0) and blocked shots (tied-11th, 1.0).
Joining Payton II in the backcourt is Toronto sophomore Malcolm Duvivier (who has averaged 11.5 points and 3.6 assists, but whose shot can be highly suspect) and Langston Morris-Walker (who has scored 53 points in his last four games).
In the frontcourt, Oregon State features a floor-spreading Dutchman in Olaf Schaftenaar (who hit 44.6 percent of 3-pointers through 21 games but has gone 0-for-13 in OSU's last four), a shot-blocking Senegalese in Daniel Gomis (fifth in Pac-12 at 1.5 per game), and a scorer from Georgia — American Georgia, disappointingly — in Jarmal Reid (who has reached double figures in five of OSU's last seven).
Something's Gotta Give • The Beavers rank seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense, at .376, and 16th in 3-point field goal percentage defense, at .294. Utah is fifth nationally in field goal percentage, at 49.7 percent, and ninth in 3-point percentage, at 40.8. Utah might be able to afford at least a slight dip: Oregon State is 0-6 when opponents shoot better than 40 percent.
Oregon State's Edge • At the risk of retreading prior ground, it has to be Gill. OSU's home attendance is up 42 percent from last season and the players have thrived on the energy. Considering that Utah fell flat at Arizona and UCLA, "It'll say a lot for us as a team if we can go there and take it to them," said center Dallin Bachynski. Five of those six OSU rotation players have shot better at home, and four of them drastically so: Payton II by 11.7 percent, Duvivier by 9.9 percent, Reid by 18.3 percent and Schaftenaar by 7.2 percent.
Utah's Edge • Gill aside, Utah has an edge in virtually every category — including, probably, defense. To pick just one, though, Oregon State has been outrebounded in eight straight games, while the Utes rank second in the Pac-12 in rebounding margin at 5.8 per game. In OSU's upset of the Wildcats, they outrebounded them by six, but when the two met again later in the month, Arizona won the battle of the boards by 10 and throttled OSU, 57-34.
Watch Out For • Scorpions. Tinkle had a fright on a flight from L.A. and was reportedly enlisted to check the overhead bins. Who can say there are none nesting in his snow-white 'do? In all seriousness, keep an eye on Utah point guard Delon Wright, who rolled his ankle against Cal but said on Wednesday that it's "nothing major." It's vital to Utah's stretch hopes that it's not.
— Matthew Piper
Twitter: @matthew_piper