The Beavers dropped to 7-7 (2-1 in Pac-10 play) on Thursday after a 84-70 loss against the Washington State Cougars. The game was played in front of 5,850 people at Beasley Coliseum.
Jared Cunningham led the Beavers with 18 points. Lathen Wallace followed him with 12 points and five rebounds.
The game was close early on, with the teams tied at eight going into the first media timeout. But the Cougars exploded out of that timeout, going on a 14-4 run that got the Beavers in an early hole that they would never dig out of. The Beavers trailed by as many as 19, but a good final three minutes helped Oregon State claw their way back. The Beavers went on an 8-1 run to close out the first half, and only trailed 42-30, a result that could have been much worse.
11 of 13 Beaver players got into the game, not counting Rhys Murphy and Eric Moreland, who are out for the year with injuries. Cunningham, Omari Johnson, Calvin Haynes, Angus Brandt, and Devon Collier got the start for the Beavers. Following Wallace off the bench, Joe Burton and Roberto Nelson each had eight points. Calvin Haynes, coming off a wonderful performance against Arizona on Sunday, added nine points. Freshmen Devon Collier had a disappointng outing, only playing 14 minutes and recording zero points.
For the Cougars, Klay Thompson led the way minutes-wise with 37. Thompson led Washington State with 29 points, followed by Fasial Aden with 15. The Cougars came into this game with a record of 10-4, but 0-2 in the Pac-10.
Roberto Nelson Watch
Nelson had a mediocre game, scoring 8 points off the bench. Roberto went 3 for 7 from the field, 1 for 3 behind the arc, and 1 for 2 from the free throw line.
The Beavers actually led the Cougars in the major statistical categories, including bench points. Oregon State had 33 to Washington State's 23, a sign of some good depth off the bench.
Trailing by twelve at Halftime, the Beavers tried to use the momentum they got at the end of the first half. The Beavers pulled within six a couple of times at 49-43 and 52-46, but every time Oregon State made a run, the Cougars responded. The game slowly became out of reach for the Beavers, with Washington State pulling away. The Cougars used a quick flurry of points to extened the lead at 81-65, and any hopes of a comeback was erased.
With the loss, the Beavers dropped to 7-7 (2-1) and Washington State improved to 11-4 (1-2).
As far as the crowd goes, the Washington State students weren't deafening, but they were loud at times. Of course, next up is the Dawg Pack, Washington's loud and raucous student section.
Next up for the Beavers is 23rd ranked Washington, Saturday at 3:30 PM in Seattle, Washington. The Huskies broke open a close game with Oregon, going on a 6-0 run to break a tie, and take a 39-33 halftime lead. The burst propelled Washington to a going away 87-69 win over the Ducks.