Colorado, Oregon State meet in Pac-12 quarters
No. 5 seed Colorado (20-11, 11-8) vs. No. 4 seed Oregon State (18-12, 10-8)
Pac-12 Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas; Thursday, 4:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the Pac-12 semifinals is up for grabs as Colorado is set to take on Oregon State. The only meeting between the teams this season came on Jan. 31, when the Beavers shot 48.2 percent from the field en route to a 76-74 victory.
SQUAD LEADERSHIP: The rugged Tres Tinkle has averaged 20.7 points and 8.2 rebounds to lead the charge for the Beavers. Stephen Thompson Jr. has complemented Tinkle and is putting up 16.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. For the Buffaloes, this will be a homecoming game for sophomore Tyler Bey, who's averaging 13.2 points and 9.7 rebounds. Bey has been complemented by McKinley Wright IV, who's recording 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.
FUELING THE OFFENSE: Ethan Thompson has had his hand in 51 percent of all Oregon State field goals over the last three games. The sophomore guard has 14 field goals and 25 assists in those games.
LONG-RANGE THREAT: Oregon State's S. Thompson has attempted 193 3-pointers and connected on 31.6 percent of them, and is 9 of 38 over his past five games.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Beavers have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Buffaloes. Oregon State has 48 assists on 77 field goals (62.3 percent) over its previous three outings while Colorado has assists on 44 of 82 field goals (53.7 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Oregon State is ranked second among Pac-12 teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 31.1 percent. The Beavers have averaged 10.1 offensive boards per game and 12.7 per game over their last three games.
