Osu Says It’s The Refs

Oregon State doesn’t always play hard, as coach Eddie Payne and his players admitted following the Beavers’ most recent defeat, an 80-68 loss at Washington State.

And OSU rarely plays particularly well, as any statistical breakdown would suggest. Surely no team in the Pacific-10 Conference is so quick to fire the off-balance perimeter jump shot.

Alas, OSU’s 2-10 Pac-10 record has led to some serious soul searching among coaches and players. After hours and hours of uncompromising reflection, the Beavers have arrived at a difficult and painful conclusion.

Basically, the refs stink.

“It’s like five against eight,” freshman guard Deandra Tanner said.

Payne has taken the whining to another level, suggesting that Pac-10 officials are biased against conference also-rans.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,” the third-year coach said.

“It’s hard to get over the hump when you’re building, in relation to the officials.”

Never mind that OSU ranks ninth in the Pac-10 in 3-point percentage (.322) and rebounding and a distant 10th in free-throw percentage (.608).

Never mind that the Beavers managed to make WSU’s Steve Slotemaker look like James Worthy on the fast break last weekend.

It’s the officials.

“The officials right now seem to have an attitude about us,” Payne said.

Around the conference

WSU forward Carlos Daniel (sprained ankle) remains questionable for tonight’s 7:30 tipoff at California. Saturday night’s game at Stanford will be televised by Fx, also at 7:30… . UCLA center Jelani McCoy, kicked off the team after twice testing positive for marijuana, is expected to be a first-round selection in this summer’s NBA draft. The Canadian snowboarding team is another option… . UCLA students, somewhat unclear about geography, chanted, “Go back to Australia” to Cal senior Sean Marks, a native of New Zealand.

UCLA senior Kris Johnson has averaged 21.1 points in six games against Cal since enduring chants of “Fat Boy” at Harmon Gym… . Arizona wing Michael Dickerson has made 137 of his last 233 shots (.588), but the former Federal Way High School star has drawn more attention for comments that appeared in the Seattle Times. Dickerson told the newspaper that Washington might have been a better choice than Arizona, considering his desire to get extensive playing time as a freshman. Not that he’ll be returning that national championship ring anytime soon… . “I don’t want to sound cocky or overconfident, but we’re going to make the tournament,” ASU guard Ahlon Lewis said.

Cal point guard Raymond “Circus” King has toned down the playground flair that made him a star at Bay Area playgrounds. “It’s been difficult,” King said. “I feel I have sacrificed a large part of my game for the team. But I’m trying. It’s a learning process. I’m trying to find a balance.” The 5-foot-10 sophomore may have found that balance last weekend in Los Angeles. He scored only 10 points, but had nine assists and just two turnovers… . Rationalization of the week, from Stanford coach Mike Montgomery: “If we had lost our first three games and won 18 straight we’d be the greatest thing since sliced bread.” … With UW mired in a three-game losing streak, junior swingman Donald Watts decided to shave his head. He proceeded to score 27 points in a victory over OSU. “I kind of forgot my dad was the first person ever to do this,” Watts said, forgetting Curly Neal, among others.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Area leaders Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Bakari Hendrix, GU 180-340 122-162 5 18.7 JoVann Johnson, NIC 94-196 97-136 4 18.1 Karim Scott, EWU 151-280 56-87 12 16.8 Carlos Daniel, WSU 137-283 107-158 1 16.6 Matt Santangelo, GU 150-327 78-102 61 16.3 Modesto Spencer, CCS 135-297 56-68 37 15.1 Ben Heimerman, Whwth 72-109 62-70 8 15.1 Johnny Goodman, NIC 134-289 36-48 58 15.1 Nathaniel Bailey, NIC 130-315 77-120 33 14.2 Jeff Mix, Whwth 118-220 47-71 2 13.6 Shannon Taylor, EWU 92-242 45-70 50 12.7 Richie Frahm, GU 109-227 50-62 59 12.6 Deon Williams, EWU 91-230 58-87 27 12.1 Chris Crosby, WSU 102-244 40-57 39 11.8

Rebounding Daniel, WSU, 10.0 (231); Cedrick Day, CCS, 8.0 (200); Mix, Whwth, 6.8 (142); Johnson, NIC, 6.7 (107); Hendrix, GU, 6.6 (172); Scott, EWU, 6.6 (145).

Assists Williams, EWU, 5.9 (130); Jordan, Whwth, 4.4 (97); Bailey, NIC, 4.3 (113); Blake Pengelly, WSU, 4.2 (101); Santangelo, GU, 4.0 (107).

Steals Bailey, NIC, 3.5 (92); Johnson, NIC, 3.2 (51); Goodman, NIC, 2.4 (58); Scott, EWU, 2.2 (49); Quentin Hall, 1.6 (42).

Schedule Today: Pepperdine at Gonzaga, 7 p.m.; Montana State at EWU, 7:05 p.m.; Utah State at Idaho, 7:05 p.m.; WSU at California, 7:30 p.m. Friday: NIC at Eastern Utah, 6:30 p.m.; Whitworth at Seattle U., 8 p.m. Saturday: NIC at Colorado Northwestern, 6:30 p.m.; Loyola Marymount at Gonzaga, 7 p.m.; Montana at EWU, 7:05 p.m.; Nevada at Idaho, 7:05 p.m.; WSU at Stanford, 7:30 p.m.; Whitworth at Puget Sound, 8 p.m.; CCS at Big Bend, 8 p.m.

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