WSU Men's Basketball | Hungry Beavers aiming for upset

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Signs of the wreckage from a once-proud college basketball program are everywhere: Oregon State recently fired its coach, and it is last in a number of key Pac-10 statistical categories: Shooting, assists and without a member in the league's top 20 individuals in scoring.

The Beavers (6-17) are lugging a school-record 13-game losing streak, the bulk of which got Jay John cashiered and interim coach Kevin Mouton installed.

Into the conference's dead zone strides Washington State tonight, hoping to silence the small indicators that suggest Oregon State might be ready to rise up and bite somebody.

"They're going to be so hungry," said WSU coach Tony Bennett. "The focus for us has to be on ourselves."

Hungry is an understatement. The Beavers have nothing resembling a good victory this year. In the Ratings Percentage Index computer, the top-ranked team they've defeated is Idaho State, at No. 251. OSU is No. 242.

But the Beavers taxed Cal in a loss last weekend on the road, and were within nine of Stanford in the late stages, hinting that Mouton has them playing hard and spoiling for a big upset — which almost any win would be in the rugged Pac-10.

"Our practices have become really intense," Mouton said this week.

Mouton has managed to get forward Marcel Jones more involved. He was in a 15-for-70 shooting funk earlier in conference play, but had 13 points at Stanford. He's averaging 10.5 points and a team-leading 5.6 rebounds.

The first meeting in Pullman was John's penultimate game at OSU and a complete rout won by the Cougars, 69-46, after they led 54-28 at one point.

History would point to a big game by WSU center Aron Baynes tonight. A year ago, in a tight one at Gill Coliseum, Baynes scored 11 straight points and helped the Cougars to a comeback win. Then he had 17 points in WSU's home victory in January and hasn't topped that since. WSU (18-5, 6-5), tied for third in the league after a 74-50 thrashing of USC last week, can't afford a slip as it tries to polish its résumé for a second straight NCAA tournament, an accomplishment never achieved in school history.