UNC will host an NCAA Tournament game at Carmichael Arena for the first time in a decade Saturday afternoon, and the Tar Heels’ opponent will be No. 14 seed Oregon State. The Beavers enter the game with a 19-15 overall record and finished 12-8 in the West Coast Conference.
If you aren’t familiar with Oregon State, here’s a quick breakdown
Head coach: Scott Rueck. An Oregon State alumnus, Rueck has coached his alma mater since 2010. During that time, he’s transformed the Beavers into a national contender. Under Rueck’s guidance, Oregon State broke an 18-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2014, reached the Final Four in 2016 and is coming off an Elite Eight appearance in 2024.
Head coach Scott Rueck has led Oregon State to its best seasons in program history. (Image via Oregon State Athletics)
What’s the history? The Tar Heels and Beavers have met three times in women’s basketball. Oregon State beat UNC 71-62 in the final of the 1980 National Women’s Invitational Tournament (the precursor to the women’s NIT), in what is the only postseason meeting between the two schools before Saturday’s matchup. The Tar Heels beat the Beavers, 82-78, in the Bahamas in 2008, and Oregon State won in Chapel Hill in December of 2014.
Player to watch: Kelsey Rees. A veteran post presence, Rees has started 58 games for the Beavers in the last two seasons. The six-foot, five-inch senior is Oregon State’s leading scorer (12.8 points per game) and rebounder (7.6 rebounds per game) and anchors a Beaver frontcourt which ranks 24th in Division 1 in defensive rebounds per game (UNC ranks 53rd). Rees is also the rare Oregon State Beaver who stuck with the program this season – but more on that later.
Stats to watch: Oregon State has mastered the art of defending without fouling. This season, Beaver opponents average fewer than 12 free throw attempts per game, the eighth-fewest in Division 1. And as you would expect, Oregon State’s 13.9 fouls per game ranks them among the cleanest teams in the nation. Fewer free throw attempts means each one rises in importance – bad news for a UNC team which shoots just 66.9 percent from the line, which ranks 306th in Division 1.
But as clean as the Beavers are, their defense does not force many turnovers. In fact, Oregon State ranks dead last in the country in turnovers forced per game with 11.7. UNC’s ball-hawking defense forces nearly 17 per game. That the Beavers don’t rely on turnovers bodes well for the Tar Heels, who rank near the bottom of Division 1 with 13 turnovers committed per game. UNC has committed at least 20 turnovers in a game three separate times this season, and only has seven games with fewer than 10.
UNC has built its brand on defense under head coach Courtney Banghart, and the Tar Heels could feast on a vulnerable Beaver offense. Oregon State averages just 62.8 points per game and shoots 28.7 percent on threes, both of which rank in the 200s in Division 1. For the season, the Tar Heels are allowing teams to shoot just 30.6 percent from downtown and allow only 5.9 made threes per game. Only three teams this season have made more than 10 threes against the UNC defense.
A remarkable journey: Oregon State had to deal with the dissolution of the Pac-12 Conference and a move to the West Coast Conference this offseason, but that wasn’t even the beginning of the upheaval in Corvallis. Following their Elite Eight defeat to eventual champions South Carolina, the Beavers lost each of their top five scorers and nine players in total. And for much of the season, it appeared Oregon State would not come close to the NCAA Tournament: the team started the season 1-5 and lost four straight games by at least 19 points. But since late January, Scott Rueck’s team has turned a corner, winning 10 of its last 12 games and making an unlikely run to the WCC championship. The Tar Heels will see the best version of the Beavers Saturday afternoon.
What are the odds? As of Thursday, the Tar Heels are a 20.5-point favorite in the game.
For more information on how to watch the game, click here.
Featured image via Associated Press/John Locher
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