Oregon State’s furious 2nd-half rally is not enough, as Houston overtakes Beavers 67-61 in Elite Eight



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INDIANAPOLIS – The incredible and spellbinding Oregon State men’s basketball run, which spanned over a month and included wins in six consecutive elimination games of the season, ended Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It was not without a fight, with OSU erasing a 17-point second-half deficit before falling short, as Houston claimed a 67-61 victory in the Midwestern region final of the men’s tournament. NCAA.

Houston hit 11 three runs, including the go-ahead from Quentin Grimes with 3:21 left. The Beavers’ loss was the first half, when they hit a season low of 17 points.

Houston (28-3) qualifies for the Final Four, where the Cougars face winner Baylor-Arkansas on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game time is 2 or 5:30 p.m. The national championship game will be held on Monday, April 5 at 6 p.m.

Maurice Calloo scored 13 points and Ethan Thompson had 11 points and seven rebounds to lead Oregon State (20-13).

Marcus Sasser hit five three-pointers and scored 20 points for Houston.

OSU missed out on third place in the school’s Final Four, the last being in 1963. It was the Beavers’ first appearance in Elite Eight since 1982, when Oregon State lost 69-45 to Georgetown. in the final of the Western region.

The Beavers have won 20 games this season for the first time in coach Wayne Tinkle’s seven-year tenure. The title of the lecture was the first in the history of the school.

The state of Oregon took a long, winding path to Monday’s regional final.

The Beavers were away to watch the NCAAs throughout the regular season. But the state of Oregon caught fire during the playoffs, winning the Pac-12’s automatic place in the NCAA tournament by winning the school’s first-ever conference tournament title. Then, as the No.12 seed, the Beavers broke through the Midwest tier, beating No.5 from Tennessee, No.4 from Oklahoma State and No.8 Loyola from Chicago by a collective margin of 31 points to land in the Elite Eight.

As was the case in Saturday’s regional semi-final against Loyola, the Oregon state offense stumbled early. The Beavers had five turnovers in the first seven minutes. OSU only had six points in the first 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, Houston was cooking from the perimeter. Led by Sasser, the Cougars hit five threes in the first 16 minutes to take a 28-17 lead. OSU found some rhythm at the end of the offense, as Maurice Calloo and Tariq Silver hit three. But the Beavers couldn’t stop the Cougars and were just trading points.

Houston finished the halftime 9-0 run for a 34-17 halftime lead. The Cougars shot just 35% in the first half, but held OSU scoreless in the 4:48 final. The Beavers scored just seven field goals in the first half and managed 1 of 6 free throws.

However, the state of Oregon was not hopeless, as the Beavers have won five times this season after calling in double digits.

The state of Oregon had a chance to cast doubt on Houston. The Beavers started the second half with a 7-2 run. But the Cougars hit the boards and hit three points twice after several offensive rebounds to keep a strong 42-27 lead with 14:54 to go.

Eight minutes after the start of the second half, OSU has scored more points than during the entire first half. Still, the Beavers were only able to reduce the deficit by four points as Houston continued to make three.

Trailing 48-33, Oregon State finally began to get saves by changing the defenses to a 1-3-1 zone. The Beavers moved closer, reducing the deficit to 10 when Calloo hit two free throws with eight minutes remaining.

The state of Oregon continued to soar with Houston struggling. The Beavers went on a 10-0 run, capped by a setback by Roman Silva, to reduce Houston’s lead to 52-48 and 6:15 to go.

Following a three run from Kiyron Powell of Houston, Oregon State came in 55-52 on baskets from Hunt and Alatishe.

Oregon State even shot 55-55 on a three-pointer by Hunt with 3:46 left. But the Cougars responded with their next possession, when Grimes knocked down a three to give Houston the lead.

The magic ended in the stretch. The Beavers were unable to block Grimes’ starting field and the Houston defense put the game aside.

– Nick Daschel | [email protected] | @nickdaschel



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