Oregon State qualified for the program’s second-ever Pac-12 tournament championship game Friday night after the No. 5-seeded Beavers had dominant stretches in a 75-64 semifinals win over No. 1 Oregon in Las Vegas.
Ethan Thompson hit five three-pointers and scored 16 points, and Warith Alatishe had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Beavers to their second win this season over the rival Ducks.
Oregon State (16-12) plays Colorado, a 72-70 winner over USC, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the Pac-12 tournament title. The conference tournament champion gets an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The Buffaloes (22-7) swept the season series from Oregon State.
Oregon State’s only experience in a conference championship game came in 1988, when the Beavers lost to Arizona in the title game.
Five Beavers scored in double figures. Aside from Thompson and Alatishe, Rodrigue Andela and Zach Reichle scored 12 points and Jarod Lucas 11.
Six days after Oregon hit 15 of 23 shots from three-point range in an 80-67 win over OSU, the Beavers turned the tables. Oregon State hit 10 of 19 shots from behind the arc, while the Ducks (20-6) were only 6 of 25.
The Beavers, who led by as many as 19 points, out-rebounded Oregon 38-24.
Eugene Omoruyi, Chris Duarte and L.J. Figueroa scored 14 points each to lead Oregon, which was denied a chance to win a conference tournament title to pair up with its regular season championship.
The notoriously slow-starting Beavers, who held a halftime lead in only five of 20 conference games this season, blasted to a 38-28 lead after the first half.
It was nothing like Sunday’s game against Oregon, when the Ducks blitzed OSU from three-point range and opened up a 16-point lead 10 minutes into the game. This time, Oregon State was ready for Oregon’s long-range assault. The Ducks were only 2 of 10 from behind the arc during the first half, and 10 of 25 overall.
The game was even through 14 minutes when OSU took control. Lucas hit a three to give the Beavers 21-19 lead. It was soon 32-23 on a layup by Alatishe. Late in the half, Lucas and Thompson hit back-to-back threes to provide the Beavers with a 12-point lead, their largest of the opening half.
Oregon State’s shooting spree continued early in the second half. Thompson hit two three-pointers and Reichle another as the Beavers built their largest lead at 49-34. OSU wasn’t done, as Andela and Alatishe scored consecutive layups for a 19-point lead and 13 minutes remaining.
Oregon called timeout, and Duarte responded with five quick points, slicing the deficit to 14. The Ducks eventually turned it into an 11-3 run, getting to within 58-47 with nine minutes left.
The Ducks were able to slowly claw their way back by forcing turnovers, as OSU had eight during the first 12 minutes of the second half. Figueroa buried an open three-pointer with 6:10 remaining, cutting the deficit to single digits for the first time in almost a half.
Oregon State’s offense was stopped cold. Over a seven-minute stretch, the only score was a three-point play by Andela. It allowed Oregon to pull to within 61-56 on a layup by Eugene Omoruyi with 4:33 left.
Lucas gave Oregon State some breathing room when, with two men in his face, he buried a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to put the Beavers up eight.
Oregon State turned back the Ducks’ offense on four consecutive possessions, and the Beavers settled down. Andela hit an elbow jumper, Alatishe tipped in a rebound and OSU’s lead increase to 12 points with less than two minutes remaining.
–Nick Daschel | [email protected] | @nickdaschel
