BearTalk

Not that Mike Montgomery and his staff need any advice on how to cope with Oregon State’s approach to basketball, but Sean Miller knows what they’re up against. Arizona’s first-year coach got a dose of the Beavers’ best on Saturday when OSU snapped a 27-year losing streak at McKale Center, escaping with a 63-53 victory over the Wildcats.

Miller, whose team was swept this season by OSU, was impressed.

“They’re extremely patient,” he said. “They take a lot of shots at the end of the clock and you could see the wearing effect on our team. It’s like, `You mean to tell me you’re going to make me stay in this stance that long. That’s not fair.’

“At times you’re baited into taking 3s. If you take quick shots, and you miss, they come down and now your defense starts to work against your offense. When they are that patient, you have to be disciplined, you have to have some toughness to you,  and understand the game is going to be played a little different. My team caved in in a big way. They have a true system. Their offense complements their defense.”

The Golden Bears know what awaits them tonight at Gill Coliseum. They have beaten coach Craig Robinson’s club just once in three tries the past two seasons, and they know why they’ve lost. Understanding it and doing something about it are two different things.

“We take shots in comparison to them pretty fast. They take their time, so you have to,” said senior forward Jamal Boykin. “ They can lull you to sleep. You have to stay mentally focused on defense. You end up playing defense probably 10 seconds longer (each defensive possession) than you usually do. After 10 more seconds you feel it.”

The Beavers not only take their time offensively, shooting open 3-pointers or sending cutters through the lane to the basket, but they also dictate tempo with their 1-3-1 zone defense.

“They cause a problem for us,” Montgomery said. “They get aggressive in that 1-3-1, they’ve got great size and it’s hard to pass through. People are open, but it’s really difficult to get it to them.

“All three games we’ve played have been mirror images. We’ve gotten up, played well and then it’s gotten dicey at the end.”

When the game is on the line, Monty said, the Beavers amp up the defense even more. “They get more aggressive,” he said.  ”They haven’t played it for 40 minutes, but when they get to the end of the game, they feel like they’ve got to ratchet it up. They really have notning to lose. (Roeland) Schaftenaar is long and (Seth) Tarver is one of the best defenders in the league. They start trapping, with that size, it’s hard to get out of there.”

Montgomery’s game plan sounds much the same as what Miller suggested. 

“We’re going to have to be patient, have to be tough-minded, probably have to withstand a run or two,” he said. “But if we take care of the ball and don’t let them get out on the break, that will help.”

THE SERIES: Cal leads the all-time series 75-58 and won by a score of 65-61 in Berkeley last month, but the Beavers swept both games a year ago.

LAST TIME: Cal surged from a 28-all halftime tie in Berkeley to lead by nine before the Beavers fought back. They got within two points, but Cal prevailed 65-61. Theo Robertson and Jerome Randle each had 14 points and Jamal Boykin scored 12. Calvin Haynes scored 25 points for the Beavers and Jared Cunningham, a freshman point guard from San Leandro HS, scored a career-high 18 points.

THE SCORING CHART: Randle needs nine points move past Lamond Murray (1,688 points) into second on Cal’s career scoring list. Sean Lampley is No. 1 at 1,776 . . . Christopher arrives in Corvallis ranked eighth all-time with 1,560 points, 48 points behind Leonard Taylor . . . Theo Robertson is 25th with 1,163 points.

MISCELLANY: The Bears rank first in the Pac-10 in free-throw accuracy (.744) and field-goal shooting (.475) and second in 3-point field-goal percentage (.373) . . . OSU, by comparison, is seventh in FT shooting (.668), last in FG percentage (.431) and last in 3-point shooting (.302) . . .  Cal sophomore forward Omondi Amoke (shoulder bruise) is expected to play tonight . . . Randle needs six assists to tie Jason Kidd (494) for third on Cal’s career list . . . Randle leads the Pac-10 and is third nationally in FT accuracy at 91.9 percent.

TIPOFF: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Ore.
TV: CSNBA
RADIO: 1550-AM

PROBABLE LINEUPS

CAL (17-8, 9-4)
Starters                                 Ht   Yr   Pts   Rebs
SF Theo Robertson                    6-6   Sr.  13.7  4.7
PF Jamal Boykin                        6-8  Sr.   11.6  6.6
SG Jorge Gutierrez                    6-3  So.   5.7  2.8*
SG Patrick Christopher              6-5  Sr.   16.2  5.4
PG Jerome Randle                  5-10  Sr.   19.8  4.6*

Key reserves
F Omondi Amoke                      6-7  So.   4.7  4.9
C Markhuri Sanders-Frison        6-7  Jr.    3.2  3.4
C  Max Zhang                          7-2  So.   3.4  2.7

Oregon State (11-13, 5-7)
Starters                             Ht   Yr   Pts   Rebs
SF  Seth Tarver                   6-5  Sr.   10.5    4.8
PF Omari Johnson                6-9   Jr.     5.0   2.6
C Roeland Schaftenaar      6-11   Sr.    8.4    4.0
SG Calvin Haynes                6-2   Jr.   13.0   2.0
PG  Jared Cunningham         6-3   Fr.    4.8   1.9

Key reserves
G Josh Tarver                     6-3  Sr.   3.3   1.9
F Daniel Deane                    6-8  Jr.   3.7   3.5
G Lathen Wallace                 6-3  Jr.   5.0   1.2
* – Assists