Opponent Preview: Boise State - How do the Beavers Fare Against the Mountain West Champions

(Sean Meager/OregonLive)

3 seed Oregon State matches up against 13 seed Boise State at 2:30 PM on Saturday in Corvallis. This is the fourth time in five years that the Beavers have hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the last time being in 2017, in which they defeated Long Beach State and Creighton, for a berth in the Sweet 16.

Boise State (28-4, 16-2 Mountain West) is coming into the tournament after winning the Mountain West regular season and tournament, and are currently on a 7-game winning streak.

While the Broncos strength of schedule isn't great, coming in at 172, their RPI has risen to 39 after winning their conference tournament.

There are a couple games to better match up the Broncos and the Beavers. Boise State played Washington State on Dec. 1 and ended up losing 95-71. The Beavers beat Washington State twice this season, 76-69 and 52-35. Boise State also played Washington Dec. 16 in Seattle and beat the Huskies 73-69. Of course, When the Beavers played in Seattle, they ended up demolishing Washington 86-39, but was a closer match up in Corvallis, winning 78-67 and of course, ended up losing to Washington in the second round of the Pac 12 tournament 67-68.

Another game to look at for Boise State was their Nov. 19 match up with then #5 Louisville and now the 1 seed in the Albany Region in which the Beavers and Broncos are playing in. Louisville ended up coming to Boise State and beat the Broncos 74-55. Louisville has been one of the most dominant teams in the nation this season, so there are much worse things that could have happened than a 19-point loss, but it shows just how far Boise State is from being elite.

Oregon State should be able to handle Boise State, and if they don't, it will be just the 7th time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams that a 13 seed has beaten a 4 seed.

It's going to fall on the Beavers defense to if they want to beat the Broncos. Both teams are averaging 75 points a game, but Oregon State is giving up three less points a game at 60. The Broncos are pretty good shooters of the basketball, making 35 percent of their three pointers and are efficient around the basket making 44 percent of their field goals.

When the Beavers are making their three-pointers, I believe they're one of the hardest teams in the nation to beat, so if they have that going on Saturday, the Broncos are in for a long game. If they don't have it going, they are going to have to rely on Joanna Grymek and Mikayla Pivec to get inside and score the basketball.