Oregon State Implodes in Second Half.

Oregon State saw a game they lead for almost 38 minutes disappear after a lackluster second half performance. The Beavers lost 59-53 to the Utes in a game they really should have won. Oregon State came out flat in the second half that saw Utah outscore them 36 to 19. After controlling the first half, the Beavers went into the locker room with a 34-23 lead at the half.

Coming out after halftime it looked like the Utes were the fresher team. Oregon State missed a pair of free throws and three shots in a row before scoring, off of a driving Gary Payton ll. The Utes looked to be the more aggressive team as they contested passing lanes, drove to the basketball, fought for rebounds, in a physical second half.

Freshman Tres Tinkle and Drew Eubanks looked to keep the Beavers in it, trying to fight off the Utes run. Tinkle hit a three, on the next Beaver drive, Eubanks used a beautiful jump hook to score. Tinkle hit another three, this time a wide open one between Utes baskets to extend the lead to ten. Utah used a seven point run to cut the lead to 48-45 with 7:03 left.

After a Beavers' timeout, a dunk from Gary Payton ll seemed to quiet the crowd. It however, was only temporary as Utah used a driving layup and a three to tie the game at 50. A Tres Tinkle layup extended it to two again for the Beavers, at the other end, Utah would make two free throws to tie the game up again.

Then things took a turn for the worst for the Beavers. Jarmal Reid made a great defensive stop as he stripped the ball from a driving Utes Jakob Poelti, Reid started to run down the court, but looked to get tangled up with Poelti. After falling he passed the ball, he complained to the ref he had been tripped. The ref who ignored him, Tom Nunez, seemed to cause Reid to loose his cool as he tripped the ref who was running up court. A flagrant 2 was immediately called and Reid was ejected from the game.

Utah's Brandon Taylor gave the Utes their first lead of the game, as he went one of two on the technical fouls shots at the 2:56 mark. Oregon State couldn't seem to make a shot in the final two minutes, as the clock continued to get closer to zero, the Beavers had to foul. Which in turn gave up five easy points to the Utes. Payton went one of two from the line as he was the last Beaver to score.

It was really a heartbreaking loss after such a good first half, the Beavers just flatlined in the second half and the offense was no where to be found. Jarmal Reid could be looking at a suspension for his trip. Tres Tinkle and Gary Payton ll both had 11 for the Beavers. Who dropped to (11-5, 2-3 Pac-12), Utah improves to ( 13-5, 2-3). The Beavers host UCLA, Wednesday at 8 P.M. on ESPNU