INDIANAPOLIS — The Oregon State Beavers‘ magical run through March ended on Monday night, though the underdog Beavers almost pulled off another huge surprise in the Elite Eight.
Down by 17 points at halftime, the 12th-seeded Beavers mounted a furious rally in the second half to tie the game with less than 4 minutes to go before No. 2 seed Houston responded and went on to win 67-61 in the men’s NCAA Tournament Midwest Region final at Lucas Oil Stadium.
After trailing 34-17 at halftime, Oregon State cut out its turnovers and found some offense to storm back and tie the game at 55-55 with 3:46 to play. But Houston closed the game on a 12-6 run to win and advance to the Final Four this weekend. The Cougars will play the winner of Monday’s later game, the South Region final between No. 1 seed Baylor and No. 3 seed Arkansas.
The Beavers would have become the lowest-seeded team to earn a Final Four berth since the NCAA began seeding teams in 1979. Instead, the Beavers’ magical run at the NCAA Tournament ended, along with their season.
Houston goes back to the Final Four for the first time since 1984.
Maurice Calloo finished with 13 points for Oregon State (20-13), while Ethan Thompson added 11. Marcus Sasser scored 20 points for Houston (28-3).
Here’s a recap of how the game unfolded:
FINAL: HOUSTON 67, OREGON STATE 61
— The Cougars pass it in, seconds run off the clock. Marcus Sasser is fouled by OSU with 38.3 seconds left. Sasser misses the first free throw. Now a timeout, with the second free throw to come after the timeout. Sasser makes the second and Houston leads 62-56. The Beavers turn it over with 31.1 left. Warith Alatishe fouls out with 27.2 seconds left. Quentin Grimes heads to the line for two free throws. Both free throws are good. Ethan Thompson with a layup. Houston passes deep, and Calloo gives Gorham an intentional foul. Gorham makes 1 of 2. And now the Cougars get possession as well. It’s going to be too little, too late for Oregon State, but Calloo hits a three with 3.5 seconds left to cut Houston’s lead to 67-61.
— After the Oregon State timeout, the Beavers have it with 1:17 to play, and trailing 60-56. Jarod Lucas’ three-pointer is way short. Houston rebounds it. OSU’s Alatishe is whistled for fouling Justin Gorham with 53.6 seconds left. He misses the first free throw. He makes the second. It’s 61-56. Ethan Thompson trips, and it’s a jump ball. It goes back to Houston on the possession arrow with 47.4 seconds to go. Oregon State’s first turnover of the second half. Houston has trouble getting the ball inbounds, and the Cougars take a timeout. They lead by five, at 61-56 with 47.4 seconds left.
— Quentin Grimes hits a three for Houston, extending the Cougars’ lead to seven, at 55-48. Gianni Hunt drives and scores on a layup. That cuts it to 55-50 with 5:20 left. The Beavers get a stop, and Thompson with the rebound. He feeds Warith Alatishe, who cuts down the lane for a nice dunk. The Beavers are within 55-52 now. With the shot clock winding now, Dejon Jarreau tosses up a long three and banks it in. It’s under review to see if he got the shot off in time. If it stands, Houston leads it 58-52 with 4:09 left. Jarreau’s basket is no good on review. So the lead remains at 55-52 for Houston. And the Beavers are back with it. Now Hunt banks in a three, and that ties it at 55-55. Now Grimes answers with a three for Houston. The Cougars go back up 58-55. Now 3 minutes to play. The Beavers work it to Thompson, and he draws a foul on Jarreau. Thompson misses the first free throw. He makes the second. So the Beavers trim the lead to 58-56. A Houston miss, but two more offensive rebounds, and then an Oregon State foul. Grimes makes the front end of a one-and-one. He also makes the second free throw. Houston leads it 60-56 with 2:22 left. Hunt’s three misses. Houston rebounds it. Now 1:45 to play. Houston now is up to a 19-7 edge in offensive rebounding. White grabs one for the Cougars and gets fouled, heading to the line with 1:27 left. White misses the free throw, and the Beavers get the rebound. They call a timeout with 1:17 to play. Houston leads 60-56.
— Ethan Thompson scores for Oregon State, and the Beavers have cut the Houston lead to six, at 52-46. The Beavers get it back. Roman Silva’s putback of a Thompson miss cuts the lead to four, at 52-48. Timeout Houston with 6:15 left. The Beavers are on a 10-0 run.
— Maurice Calloo hits a long two to cut the Cougars’ lead to 48-37. Now 10:31 to play in the game. Ethan Thompson has his layup attempt blocked by Dejon Jarreau. Maurice Calloo is fouled shooting a three. He hits just 1 of 3 free throws, though. Houston leads 50-38 with 9:47 left now. Jarreau hits a jumper for Houston. Calloo misses a three. Gianni Hunt scores on a fast-break layup for OSU. Houston’s lead is 52-40 with 8:05 to play. Calloo makes two free throws to cut the Cougars’ lead to 52-42. Ethan Thompson with a steal, but he kicked the ball. Timeout on the floor with 7:49 left. Houston leads 52-42.
— Oregon State cuts the lead to 45-33 on a Jarod Lucas three. Then Houston answers with a three. Now Ethan Thompson scores on a driving layup. Timeout on the floor, with 11:54 to play. Houston leads it 48-35.
— The Beavers score four quick points to start the second half to cut into the Cougars’ lead a bit, at 34-21. After Marcus Sasser hits two free throws for Houston, Oregon State’s Zach Reichle is fouled on a three attempt, and he makes all three. But then Sasser hits a three for Houston. Jarod Lucas answers with a three for OSU. Houston leads it 39-27. Houston continues to get offensive rebounds. Sasser hits another three. The Cougars lead it 42-27 with 14:54 to play. Sasser gets shaken up.
HALFTIME: HOUSTON 34, OREGON STATE 17
— After the timeout, Sasser makes the second free throw for Houston. The Cougars are up 32-17. Reichle misses a three. Houston’s Fabian White Jr. draws a foul and hits two free throws. Houston leads 34-17 with 46.5 seconds to go in the half. The half ends, and Houston leads 34-17.
— Warith Alatishe draws a foul on his missed jumper. He misses both free throws, though. White’s jumper is good for Houston, and the Cougars lead it 30-17 with under 3 minutes to go in the half. After an OSU turnover, Houston misses, gets an offensive rebound and finally the Beavers get it back on another miss. Maurice Calloo puts up an airball on his jumper. Houston’s Marcus Sasser draws a foul and earns free throws. Sasser hits the first, and there’s a timeout with 1:52 left in the first half. Houston leads 31-17.
— Chaney converts the free throw to put Houston up 22-10. Roman Silva scores on a jumper, and the Beavers trim the lead to 22-12. Jarod Lucas’ jumper is down, and it’s 22-14 with 6 minutes to play in the half. The Beavers force a turnover, but Gianni Hunt’s three doesn’t fall. Quentin Grimes nails a three and Houston goes back up by 11, at 25-14. Tariq Silver answers with a three for OSU. Houston’s lead is 25-17 with 4:30 to go in the half. Houston hits another three, this one by Dejon Jarreau. A timeout with 3:46 left in the first half. Houston leads 28-17.
— Maurice Calloo hits a jumper to cut the Houston lead to 12-6. On Oregon State’s next trip down, Calloo misses a three. Houston’s Fabian White Jr. hits a layup. Now Calloo hits a three with about 9:30 to play in the half, and that trims the Cougars’ lead to 14-9. White scores inside again for Houston. Ethan Thompson draws a foul and hits 1 of 2 free throws. Houston is getting lots of offensive rebounds so far. The Cougars pay one off with a three-pointer to go up 19-10. Reggie Chaney gets a layup and gets fouled by Rodrigue Andela. Chaney will shoot a free throw after the media timeout, with 7:18 to go in the half. Houston leads it 21-10.
— At the first media timeout, the Houston Cougars hold the early 5-2 lead. Warith Alatishe has the basket for the Beavers. Now Houston with a quick 7-0 spurt to take a 12-4 lead with 13:24 to go in the first half. Rodrigue Andela gets fouled on his way up for a layup, and he earns two free throws with 12:03 to play in the half. Andela has a cut on his hand, so he will get that treated first. Andela misses both free throws, so Houston’s lead stays at 12-4. A Houston airball, and a shot-clock violation, and there’s a timeout on the floor with 11:31 to go in the half.
LIVE UPDATES
Oregon State (20-12) vs. Houston (27-3)
Time: 4:15 p.m. Monday
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
On air: KOIN 6
KenPom ranking: Oregon State 43, Houston 3
Betting line: Cougars by 8
Projected starters for Oregon State
G – Ethan Thompson (6-5 senior)
G – Zach Reichle (6-5 senior)
G – Jarod Lucas (6-2 sophomore)
F – Warith Alatishe (6-7 junior)
C – Roman Silva (7-1 senior)
Previous meetings: Oregon State and Houston have previously played twice. OSU won 63-60 in 1966, and 49-45 in 2009. Both were postseason games, the 1963 meeting in the NCAA Tournament, and 2009 in the CBI.
Notable: Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel are calling the game, with Jamie Erdahl on the sideline. … Houston is the 2-seed. This is just the second time in NCAA history a 12 seed has played a 2 seed. … The Beavers have five wins over top 25-ranked teams this season, tying the most since 1975-76. … Houston is ranked No. 6. The last time OSU beat a top 10 team was No. 7 Arizona on Jan. 11, 2015. … Shooting has carried Oregon State throughout the NCAAs. The Beavers are shooting .437 from the floor through three games, while opponents are .313. … Jarod Lucas is shooting .896 from the free throw line, which ranks 13th nationally. … Tariq Silver has played 162 minutes this season, with 13 assists and no turnovers. … OSU is 15-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. … The last 11 times Oregon State has led at halftime, it won the game.
— Nick Daschel | [email protected] | @nickdaschel
