Oregon State battled back in the second half against Arizona on Saturday night at the McKale Center, but the Wildcats scored the final eight points of the game, and won by 17 points, 64-47. The final eight points all came after Craig Robinson was ejected from the game with 2:14 remaining.
Craig was infuriated with the fact that all the calls seemed to be going Arizona's way. On the particular play in which Craig was ejected, Omari Johnson and Daniel Deane were "shoved" out of bounds as an Arizona player was going for a rebound.
"When my two guys fell down and there was no call, that's what set me off" Craig Robinson told the press after the game. "And I think the fouls were 15-4 [in favor of Arizona] when I left. That was the point at which I wanted our guys to know that I wasn't allowing them to get pushed around any longer. I wanted to sort of stand up for them.''
As it turned out, officials called 16 fouls on Oregon State, and five on Arizona. The Beavers didn't attempt a free throw in the first half, and only attempted three during the game. Arizona attempted 20 free throws in the game, and made 17.
Lathen Wallace led the Beavers in the scoring column for the second straight game, scoring 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. He had 13 points against Arizona State, for a team-high 30 points on the roadtrip.
Oregon State was out-rebounded 33-25 on the game, and was more than doubled (16-7) on the offensive glass. Jordan Hill, who will find himself playing in the NBA next season, had 11 rebounds on the game. Hill had 15 points in the game, and Chase Budinger scored a game-high 24.
It's now been 27 years since the Beavers have won at the McKale Center, which, as Buker points out, was Craig Robinson's senior year at Princeston under Pete Carril.
The Beavers return home to Gill Coliseum this week, where they'll play the Washington schools.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)