Men's Basketball | Huskies roll over docile Beavers

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State's basket proved just about as empty as its threats.

A day after several players called out the Huskies at practice in a bizarre confrontation that almost turned physical, the Beavers simply rolled over once the game started as Washington cruised to a 97-59 win in front of 5,539 at Gill Coliseum.

"We just tried to take everything from them so they couldn't say anything," said UW guard Venoy Overton. "We just did all of our talking out on the court."

The win was the largest for UW (14-12, 5-8 Pac-10) since a 41-point victory over New Jersey Tech in the season opener and was keyed by a career game from senior guard Ryan Appleby, who scored a career-high 32 points and set a school record with nine three-pointers.

Oregon State (6-19) lost its school-record 15th in a row and is 0-13 in Pac-10 play after a weekend that likely ranked among the program's bleakest in recent memory.

It began Friday when OSU senior forward Marcel Jones and freshman center Sean Carter led a contingent of about five Beavers onto the court at the end of UW's practice, with Jones boasting, "Don't let our record fool you."

Much of their anger appeared focused on Overton, who had told reporters after Washington's win over Oregeon State in Seattle last month that Jones had done a lot of talking before and during the game and that even his teammates had said "he's all talk."

"I think he kind of came at me a little bit just for me saying that," Overton said. "I knew that Marcel was going to say some things because he's, like, the main talker."

Washington coach Lorenzo Romar quickly interceded and nothing more than words were thrown.

"It was really weird," said Huskies forward Jon Brockman. "I'd never seen anything like that before."

According to several UW players, coaches and others in the traveling party, the tensions didn't end there.

Washington players and coaches said a Beavers player, who several identified as Jones, left a voice message for Huskies guard Joel Smith, asking UW players to come to the parking lot of the hotel where Washington was staying, and fight.

Oregon State coach Kevin Mouton denied that any Beavers players went to UW team hotel, two blocks from Gill Coliseum, though several in the Huskies party confirmed the incident.

"We were all just kind of laughing about it like, 'Hey, they are going to come to the hotel here and fight," Appleby said. "We were like, 'I don't think so,' and just laughed it off and focused on the game. I think they were just trying to intimidate us."

Romar called Mouton after the voice mail and said Mouton "did an admirable job of taking control of the situation."

"Nothing escalated, nothing got out of control," Romar said. "When all is said and done, it was just a little bit of trash talk."

Talk that appeared to ignite only the Huskies.

"Guys came out more fired up," Appleby said.

The Beavers, meanwhile, seemed cowed by it all, apparently having gotten a stern lecture from Mouton and a warning from officials before the game.

"I thought they were less aggressive," Overton said. "It seemed like they didn't play too much out on the court tonight."

Indeed, while observers figured all of the off-court tension might make for a physical game, it instead was one of the season's most tame.

"There wasn't anything said out there," Brockman said.

It was also over early.

Oregon State missed 16 of its first 20 shots as the Huskies quickly built a double-digit lead. An 11-0 run gave UW a 19-7 lead with 11:40 to go in the first half, and the Huskies led 48-24 at halftime. The lead grew to 41 in the final minutes as the Huskies had five players in double figures. Justin Dentmon continued his resurgence with 17 points; Brockman had 15 and 10 rebounds.

"I felt we had focus and a no-nonsense attitude," Romar said. "If someone comes into your practice and tells you what they are going to do to you, you better be ready to play."

Oregon State's Calvin Hampton, meanwhile, said all the talking "allowed a lot of guys to lose focus and sight of the task at hand."

"It wasn't good at all," he said. "It was a lot of negative energy we didn't want to bring to the court."

Jones had three points in 12 minutes off the bench and left the court quickly afterward, bypassing the traditional postgame handshake.

By then, there was nothing left to say.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com