Pope delivers a papal address to Arizona schools
Jordan Pope’s outstanding play led Oregon State to a sweep of the Arizona schools at Gill Coliseum (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)
CORVALLIS — It was a banner weekend for Oregon State men’s basketball. Think Jordan Pope had anything to do with it?
Maybe just a little. The 6-2 sophomore guard was the bell cow as the Beavers upset ninth-ranked Arizona on Thursday night, then polished off Arizona State on Saturday at Gill Coliseum.
Pope scored 31 points, including a 3-point howitzer at the buzzer of an 83-80 victory over the Wildcats, OSU’s first win over a top-10 team since 2015. Pope added 19 points and six assists in the Beavers’ 84-71 romp past Arizona State, a margin that could have been 30 points had they not put on a clinic in missing free throws.
It was Oregon State’s first weekend sweep of a Pac-12 opponent since February 2021 and the first time the Beavers have swept the Arizona schools since 2014-15, coach Wayne Tinkle’s first season at the OSU helm. To call it unexpected is an understatement. The Beavers were pounded by 27 and 23 points, respectively, the previous weeks in losses at Utah and Colorado.
“The guys were embarrassed,” Tinkle said after the win over the Sun Devils. “They were committed to being better this week. They got after it.”
Especially Pope, who was a shoo-in for Pac-12 Player of the Week after his performance against Arizona and ASU. Pope was also named National Player of the Week by ESPN and Naismith Awards.
“I would hope so,” Tinkle said. “He was outstanding.”
Pope was the best player on the floor against Arizona State. He hit his first four shots from the field and finished 8 for 13. ASU coach Bobby Hurley used three different players trying to defend Pope and sent double-team help his way on every drive, but Pope was patient and cashed in on his opportunities.
“We tried to take the ball out of his hands, especially after coming off what he did against Arizona,” Hurley said afterward. “He was a major priority, but he still had a productive game.
“He is a terrific player, clutch player. Really good off the bounce getting to his spots, creating and shot-making. I love his demeanor. He just seems to be in control of his game. A really talented young guy.”
“I’m playing at a high level right now,” Pope said after Saturday’s win. “I feel like I’m in a groove. I have some momentum going. Same for my teammates. I’m helping them, they’re helping me — I think it’s all coming together. We have to keep it up.”
The problem is, the Beavers can’t play all their games in the friendly confines of Gill. They are 11-2 there, the losses to Stanford in double overtime and 69-62 to UCLA in their conference opener. The Beavers, headed to L.A. for games at UCLA on Thursday and Southern Cal on Saturday, are 0-7 in games played on the road and at neutral sites.
“I think we lose focus (away from home),” Pope said. “We might not take to other teams’ crowds well, either. I don’t know what it is, really. The potential is there. We have flashes where we’re really good.
“We do love our homecourt. Our fans are great. Everything is familiar. We have to find a way to be this dominant on the road. This road trip will be a good test.”
Pope was Oregon State’s best player as a freshman, leading the Beavers in scoring (12.6) and assists (2.3) while shooting .423 from the field, .379 from 3-point range and .836 from the free throw line. Pope has improved all of his numbers this season, averaging 17.8 points and 3.7 assists while shooting .457, .390 and .857. He ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring and free throw percentage, sixth in assists, 3-pointers made per game and assist/turnover ratio and is tied for 15th in 3-point percentage. Pope also ranks second in minutes played at 36.1 per game.
“Jordan was pretty good last year, but a big part of him being better this year is his buy-in to executing our offense,” Tinkle said. “Even in the games we lost at home in conference play, there have been moments where we have been as good offensively as we have in a number of years. When you execute and score, you‘re getting shots you work on in practice every day. When that happens, the confidence grows.
“Jordan is really maturing though this year. He has made strides with his comfort level offensively, but also with his leadership. We have worked hard since last year getting him to understand how he can get his teammates to play at a higher level by his positive leadership and feedback. In that area, he has grown by leaps and bounds. He is really positive with the guys. We were a lot better these last two games. He had a big hand in that.”
Pope is from Oakley, Calif., 50 miles from San Francisco in the East Bay Area. He attended Prolific Prep Academy in Napa, where he played as a sophomore with a senior named Jalen Green. Green, who turns 22 on Feb. 9, is averaging 17.8 points per game in his third season with the Houston Rockets. Pope and Green are friends, and the two were training partners for about a month last summer.
“We came back for summer workouts at Oregon State (in June), and after that, I went straight to Fresno, Jalen’s hometown, and spent about a week with him there,” Pope said. “Then we went for about three weeks to L.A., where we were training with NBA players.”
Pope said the emphasis for him was “getting strong and being able to knock down shots.”
“We did a lot of weight-training and conditioning workouts to help build endurance and muscle,” Pope said. “We also worked on being able to make tough shots — learning how to score in different spots over taller and stronger defenders.
“I knew coming into this year I was going to see a lot more bodies of different sizes and strengths. People are jumping out of the gym these days. It was about being able to maintain the same production and efficiency and finding ways to be even more successful.”
Pope smiled when I asked if he also had worked to hone his step-back jump shot, which he has employed more often this season.
“Been doing that since I was a kid, watching guys like Kobe Bryant and Steph Curry,” he said. “I’ve been practicing that a whole lot. It’s just another weapon for me.”
Pope is more of a shooter than a distributor, but he winds up doing both for the Beavers.
“When he is really good, he strikes that perfect balance between being a point guard who can create for himself and others,” OSU assistant coach Eric Reveno said. “He has an ability to score and take a tough shot and wants to do that, but at the same time has the ability to make others better. That’s where his game has risen this year.”
Tinkle speaks glowingly of Pope as a person.
“Jordan is an unbelievable kid with strong family values,” the veteran OSU coach said. “He lost his mother when he was young, but his father and brothers are a big, positive influence.
“After we got shellacked at Colorado, we talked to the team in the locker room for a while. The coaches gathered in the coaches’ room, and a minute later he knocked on the door and says, ‘Coach, can you please come out here? My grandmother and aunt are here and I want you to meet them.’ We went out and he introduced me to his family from Missouri. At a moment when we were down … it shows he gets the bigger picture.”
Pope is on a short list for the popular athlete on the OSU campus right now.
The Beavers celebrate after Pope’s 35-foot 3-pointer to end the first half against Arizona State (courtesy Karl Maasdam/OSU sports communications)
“I’m hearing and seeing a lot of love from the students and the fans,” he said with a smile. “That means a lot.”
Those fans are worried that Pope might succumb to the temptations of an NIL collective and transfer to another school after this season.
“I don’t really pay attention to that,” he said. “I focus on where my feet are right now. I love Corvallis and Oregon State. I love Coach Tinkle and the program and all my teammates. I don’t really get into all that stuff or think about it.
“The college landscape is a lot different now with the NIL. I know it’s something everyone thinks about. I’m just focused on trying to win here and get this program back on the top. I know we can make a deep run.”
The Beavers are 11-9 overall and 3-6 in Pac-12 play. At least a split in L.A. would get them started on the right track.
“I’m pretty confident,” Pope said. “We had UCLA at home and let it slip away. It was a game we definitely should have won. We have to go into that game with the same attitude, the same mindset we have at home. Same with USC. Those are two really good teams, but if we do what we can do, we’ll be in good shape.”
There are 12 freshmen and sophomores and only two seniors on Oregon State’s roster. It’s a young team, but there is more interest in the OSU women’s team right now. Largest crowd for the men’s team is 4,318 this season. On a day in which the Beavers honored members of their 1963 Final Four team — which averaged more than 8,600 for their home games — they drew 3,842 for the Sun Devils.
“The crowd wasn’t big, but it was loud and supportive,” Tinkle said. “The Beaver Dam (student section) has been pretty damn (not sure if pun is intended) good.
“We told our guys, ‘If we want great crowds at home, we have to win games.’ We’ve been pretty good at home. We’ve played some exciting games here. Hopefully the fans will come out and support us the rest of the season. I was proud of the way we played this weekend. Hopefully we’re starting to turn the corner.”
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