|
 The Beavers upset No. 7 Arizona 58-56 Sunday, thanks to guard
Langston Morris-Walker driving the lane for the winning points with
26 seconds left. When the Wildcats missed their final shot, the
crowd at Gill Coliseum poured out of the stands in celebration.
"They all came out and rushed the court," Morris-Walker said. "It
was amazing."
Oregon State (11-4, 2-1 Pac-12) last defeated a top-10 team on March
2, 2000, a 70-69 decision over third-ranked Arizona.
"What can I say?" Tinkle said to open his postgame press conference.
"They showed unbelievable toughness and resiliency from start to
finish."
Arizona point guard T.J. McConnell attempted to tie the game on the
final possession, but his leaning 10-footer off the glass went off
the rim. Wildcats forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson grabbed the
rebound, but time ran out before he could get off a shot.
 The Beavers followed a stifling defensive effort in the first half
with hot shooting in the second half, when they made 11 of 17 shots
from the field and got to the line 17 times. Morris-Walker led
Oregon State with 12 points; he also had eight rebounds.
Neither team led by more than four points, and the game featured 20
lead changes and 15 ties, including at 56-all after Hollis-Jefferson
made one of two free throws with 49.9 seconds left. Morris-Walker
scored the winning points on the next possession. The lane opened up
as he drove from the right for an easy layup.
"I knew they were kind of in panic mode and scrambling mode, so I
just took advantage," Morris-Walker said.
Oregon State guard Gary Payton II added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Hollis-Jefferson led the Wildcats (14-2, 2-1) with 14 points, making
10 of 13 fouls shots. McConnell had 13 points, six rebounds and six
assists.
Arizona was ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 for 29 consecutive
weeks, a streak that likely will end Monday.
"In the second half, we could not get a stop," Wildcats coach Sean
Miller said. "If we had been able to get a stop, we would have won
the game. They just picked on individual defenders, and we had a
couple of guys had really bad, bad nights defensively. They just
couldn't guard their man."
The Beavers improved to 10-0 at Gill Coliseum this season, matching
their best home start since 1999.
Often using four guards and a stifling 2-3 zone defense, Oregon
State was able to cut off Arizona's transition attack and turn the
game into a half-court grind. The Beavers also were able to
outrebound the bigger Wildcats, 32-26, and they didn't allow
7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski to grab one rebound in 23 minutes.
[to top of second column] |
It was an overall balanced effort from Oregon State, including nine
points from forward Olaf Schaftenaar (all on 3-point shots), eight
from forward Victor Robbins (including a spinning jumper after
Arizona took its biggest lead at 45-41) and seven from Malcolm
Duvivier, whose three-point play with 1:33 to go gave Oregon State a
56-52 edge.
"They deserve all the credit in the world," Miller said. "We didn't
deserve to win the game."
Tinkle, who spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach of
Montana, took over an Oregon State program that lost its top five
scorers from a 16-16 team. He is rebuilding around a defense-first
mentality.
"That's the No. 1 thing," Robbins said. "That's the thing we've
talked about this year -- picking up the defense. It's been working
for us, just being able to grind out defense and getting stops the
whole game. As you can see, we can guard anybody if we play hard."
Oregon State used a 7-0 run to take a 14-10 lead at the 9:08 mark of
the first half. The Wildcats went almost six minutes without a
basket before McConnell, attempting to throw a pass near the rim,
had the ball go in to end the home team's run with 7:50 to go.
The Beavers held the Wildcats to 26.1 percent shooting (6-for-23) in
the first half but still trailed 21-20 at the break because of
Arizona's edge at the free-throw line. The Wildcats were 8-for-10 on
first-half foul shots; Oregon State had no attempts.
Overall, Arizona made 18 of 27 free throws, while Oregon State hit
13 of 17.
NOTES: Arizona started Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Stanley Johnson
on the wings for the second consecutive game. ... Oregon State wore
all orange, down to its shoes and shocks. ... Former Arizona
All-America F Sean Elliott called the game as an analyst for FOX
Sports 1. His former Pac-10 rival, Oregon State G Gary Payton, the
father of Beavers junior G Gary Payton II, joined the telecast in
the first half. ... Payton II, who entered the game fourth
nationally in steals and the Pac-12 leader at 2.9 per game, had two
steals vs. Arizona, his eighth consecutive game with multiple
thefts.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
