Pac-12 basketball: Ducks take down Sun Devils in overtime

Oregon’s trip to the desert had been a nightmare. A blowout loss to Arizona followed by an extra-long ride in a rickety bus.

Then Joseph Young and Elgin Cook turned the Ducks’ fortunes, sending them into the second half of the Pac-12 season with a winning conference record.

Young shook off a poor shooting night to hit a jumper with 25.6 seconds left in overtime, Cook added 23 points and Oregon pulled out a 68-67 victory over Arizona State on Friday night in Tempe, Arizona.

“It was gut-check time,” Cook said.

Young was 3 of 11 from the field before his mid-range jumper gave him 14 points as the Ducks bounced back from a 90-56 rout at No. 6 Arizona – coach Dana Altman’s worst loss in his five seasons – two days earlier.

That was followed by a lengthy trip to Tempe on an old bus that made Oregon late for practice on Thursday afternoon. Buses were at a premium with the Super Bowl and PGA Tour in the state.

Shaquielle McKissic scored a career-high 24 points, including an off-balance, 24-footer with 1.2 seconds left in regulation to tie it for Arizona State.

Tra Holder added 16 points for Arizona State.

(6) Arizona 57, Oregon State 34: Brandon Ashley scored 12 points and T.J. McConnell had a career-high eight steals to spark Arizona’s smothering defense, lifting the Wildcats to a victory over the Beavers in Tucson, Arizona.

Arizona held Oregon, the Pac-12’s top-scoring team, to 56 points on Wednesday night and was even better against the methodical Beavers.

The Wildcats limited Oregon State to 28 percent shooting.