After a slick 5-point win against the Ducks on Thursday, the Huskies turned right around and whooped up on the Beavers, beating them by 10.

It was sheer dominance from the jump once again. Remember that 13-2 lead we sprinted out to in Eugene? Well, how’s 11-0 work for you? Because that’s what we saw in Corvallis. That eventually ballooned to 22-7, and 40-23 right before halftime before a little mini-run by the Beavs made it 40-27 at the break.

Truth be told, it never really got close. The Huskies were up by 20 with 6 minutes to go in the game. It wasn’t until very late when Oregon State went on a garbage-time run to get it down to the 10-point difference. That’s a pretty GOOD Beavers team down there, and we just ran them out of their own gym!

The Huskies shot 58.3% from the field, including 36.8% from 3-point. We generated 10 steals (Thybulle had 5 all by his lonesome) and limited ourselves to just 12 turnovers (many of them when the Beavers turned to a full-court press; thankfully they didn’t have the stamina or the will to use it very often). It’s true, the Huskies will need to figure out how to better beat the press as we approach tourney time.

Big ups to Jaylen Nowell (19 points, to lead the way), David Crisp (14 points and 4 assists against just 1 turnover), and Thybulle (11 points, 3 assists, 3 boards, to go along with the aforementioned 5 steals in limited minutes due to early foul trouble), but the real star of this game was Naz Carter, who matched a career high with 18 points off the bench in 32 minutes (adding 3 boards, 3 assists, and 3 steals). He had MANY explosive drives to the rim for earth-shattering dunks, shooting 8/11 overall (including a couple nifty turnaround fadeaways early). This was a game that allowed you to dream a little bigger about this kid’s potential.

The Huskies are now 7-0 in conference, but the teeth of their schedule continues. This week, we play the surging L.A. schools. The Trojans are up first, who are 5-2 in conference. They lost their only road games (in Oregon, coincidentally) while cleaning up at home. Over the weekend, they swept the Arizona schools, so they’re likely for-real, and possibly our toughest challenge of the entire season.

Let’s just keep taking it one game at a time. And, for the love of God, let us protect this house!