The Washington State Cougars take on the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis, Oregon. Tip-off is set for 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Oregon State is favored by 6.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -290. The total is set at 145.5 points.
Here are my Washington State vs. Oregon State predictions and college basketball picks for February 6, 2025.
Washington State vs Oregon State Prediction
My Pick: Washington State +7.5 (Play to +7)
My Washington State vs Oregon State best bet is on the Cougars spread, with the best odds currently available at BetMGM. For all of your college basketball bets, find the best lines using our live NCAAB odds page.
Washington State vs Oregon State Odds, Spread, Pick
| Washington State Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+6.5 -110 | 145.5 -110 / -110 | +235 |
| Oregon State Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-6.5 -110 | 145.5 -110 / -110 | -290 |
- Washington State vs Oregon State spread: Oregon State -6.5
- Washington State vs Oregon State over/under: 147 points
- Washington State vs Oregon State moneyline: Oregon State -290, Washington State +235
- Washington State vs Oregon State best bet: Washington State +7.5 (Play to +7)
My Washington State vs Oregon State College Basketball Betting Preview
The situational spot is “good” for both squads.
The Cougars need a win after four consecutive losses. They’ve played some tough competition recently, and three of the four losses were away from home. That said, you can’t lose to Pacific, no matter the setting.
Still, they should be fired up in a bounce-back spot.
However, Oregon State is also looking to bounce back and snag a home win after getting obliterated by Gonzaga on Tuesday, losing by 38 in Spokane.
The key to beating Oregon State is to defeat Wayne Tinkle’s zone-press defense, but I’m not sure Washington State can do that.
On the one hand, the Cougars are an adept press offense (1.04 PPP, 88th percentile, per Synergy) with enough spacing and shooting to beat the zone over the top. Nate Calmese is an excellent point guard, and he's surrounded by five guys shooting at least 37% from 3.
On the other hand, the Cougars are a post-reliant offense that hasn’t performed well against zone coverages this year (.95 PPP, 48th percentile, per Synergy).
But, then again, the Cougars are the nation’s best post-up offense (1.17 PPP, per Synergy) with a bevy of potential high-post pins that could unpack Tinkle’s zone scheme.
The Cougars' backcourt leads the way in scoring, but LeJuan Watts, Dane Erikstrup and Ethan Price are elite post-up scorers (combined 38 points per game) and playmakers (combined eight assists per game) who can unpack any zone scheme.
On the other end of the court, Oregon State is a similarly post-reliant offense, playing mainly through Michael Rataj and Parsa Fallah down low.
Washington State has the front-line size to stick with those two, which shows in the metrics (.80 post-up PPP allowed, 71st percentile, per Synergy).
Wazzu also presses at a super high rate, which explains the Cougars' league-leading 19% defensive turnover rate (per KenPom). Oregon State is a reasonably steady ball-handling squad, but the Beavers haven’t executed well against press coverage (.83 PPP, 27th percentile, per Synergy).
While this game has some conflicting factors, I ultimately have to side with the Cougars.
I think this line is a tad inflated, especially when the projection models make the Beavers closer to five- or six-point favorites than seven (EvanMiya, Bart Torvik and Haslametrics).
The Cougars have the necessary playmaking forwards to run a zone offense, and their guards are good enough to break press. Meanwhile, they have the front-line defense to keep Oregon State from establishing its post-heavy offense.
