Los Angeles-Oregon State played the University of Washington in the first half of their Pacific Life Pac-12 Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game with a chip on their shoulders. Oregon State had lost twice to their conference rivals in league play this season. Both losses were hard defeats. One was a blowout loss; the other was a tough, three-point defeat to Washington in their own gymnasium.
Guard Jared Cunningham and his Oregon State teammates were determined not to let that scenario play out again. After losing that edge they had in the first half in which they led Washington by as many as 13 points at intermission, Oregon State rallied from being behind to clinch a tournament semifinal berth with a 86-84 win at Staples Center.
After Oregon State’s victory against Washington State in the first round, Coach Craig Robinson talked at length about his team having the mental note to win tough games down the stretch, something the Beavers lacked earlier in the season. Oregon State’s win against one of the tougher teams in the country showed that resiliency.
Oregon State led Washington by as many as 15 points before the Huskies showed their moxie and took control of the game and looked every bit as the conference’s No. 1 seed. Oregon State didn’t flinch, coming back from a six-point deficit in the second half to pull off the upset. Needless to say, Robinson had nothing but high praise for his team.
“Listen, you’ve got to excuse us,” Robinson said at a postgame press conference. “We have a very emotional team right now for a lot of different reasons. But I know I could not have been more prouder of a team any more than I’ve been proud of this team. It’s not just because of tonight; it’s because of all season…So this win is for these guys in that locker room, as well as our fans and our staff and all that kind of stuff. But it’s special and emotional for these guys because they’ve been working this hard since the end of the season last year.”
The last quarter of the game was an example of the good, bad and ugly of what it takes to win a college tournament basketball game. Cunningham, who scored 18 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished off eight assists, was the hero of the game for Oregon State, giving the Beavers the lead for good with 31 seconds left in the game with a driving layup.
But he could have just as easily become the guy who couldn’t help his team close out the game. In those last 31 seconds, Cunningham went to the free throw line five times. He converted only two of his five free throw attempts. But the two free throws that Cunningham did manage to make helped Oregon State (19-13) close out the game for their 19th win of the season.
Even bigger than that is the fact that Oregon State kept its chances alive of making it into the NCAA Tournament. After scoring just four points in Oregon State’s 69-64 victory against Washington State, Cunningham shot 50 percent from the field in leading his team to the stunning win. Oregon State’s two wins in this tournament marks the first time the team has been able to duplicate that feat since 1988.
Cunningham, whose big game offset Washington’ Tony Wroten’s 29-point, seven rebound performance, admitted he knew he couldn’t go out and have the same repeat performance he did against Washington State. It also helped Cunningham and Oregon State that Wroten, just a freshman, missed six out of 15 free throws during the contest, including several attempts in the waning moments of the game.
The difference with his play against the Huskies was the type of defense they applied, Cunningham said.
“It was a little more not as much pressure as Washington State,” Cunningham said. “They sent one man at me yesterday. But today I was able to use the ball screens and find my open teammates. They did a great job of finishing the ball. Once I got open, I didn’t really make as many shots as I wanted to, but I passed the ball really well and got everybody involved, and they held their part. In the end, I had to make those free throws to help us.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, social justice, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University.