Oregon State is on track to post its best men’s basketball home record in four decades.
The Beavers are 11-1 at Gill Coliseum this season following Thursday’s 97-89 overtime win over No. 16 Gonzaga. The only setback of the first 12 games was a three-point loss to No. 13 Oregon on November 21.
With six home games remaining, OSU could finish its Gill slate with a 17-1 record. That would be the best record on a percentage basis (.944) since the Beavers went 11-0 at home during the 1983-84 season.
The last time the Beavers lost only one game at Gill was 1989-90, when they were 11-1.
Even if Oregon State loses one game and finishes 16-2, it would be the best record on a percentage basis since the 1989-90 season.
Getting to 17-1, or even 16-2, will have challenges. The Beavers remaining home games are Pepperdine (Jan. 23), Santa Clara (Jan. 25), Washington State (Feb. 6), Saint Mary’s (Feb. 8), Pacific (Feb. 15) and San Francisco (Feb. 26).
This is coach Wayne Tinkle’s best performance at home since his first year in Corvallis, when Oregon State produced a 15-2 record at Gill in 2014-15. Since the 11-1 record in 1989-90, the Beavers have had only four two-loss seasons at home.
Will it matter at the turnstile? Until Thursday’s sellout crowd, the reaction has been indifferent. Through 12 games, the Beavers have cumulative home attendance of 43,521, an average of 3,627 per game.
To put that number into perspective, the highest attendance during Tinkle’s 11 years in Corvallis was his first season, when OSU drew 95,409 for 17 games. It would take sellouts for the remaining six games for the Beavers to eclipse that number this season.
Last year, Oregon State drew 61,649 for 17 home games. If the Beavers are even modestly successful over the next seven weeks, they should eclipse that total. With several prominent foes remaining on the schedule, it’s reasonable to expect crowds averaging 6,000 or better for the final six games. That should hike OSU’s home attendance total to 80,000 or better, the best since 2015-16, when 89,767 attended games at Gill.
This week should be telling for fan interest. The Beavers play home dates against Pepperdine and Santa Clara, games that aren’t headliners like Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s or Washington State.
Best home records since 1983-84
2019-20: 12-4
2015-16: 12-3
2014-15: 15-2
2004-05: 12-2
1998-99: 12-2
1990-91: 12-2
1989-90: 11-1
1983-84: 11-0
—Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, [email protected] or @nickdaschel.
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