WSU erases most of 19-point deficit before Beavers hold on

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Same show, different venue.

For the second time in as many games, the Washington State University men’s basketball team fell behind early. By a lot.

For the second time in as many games, the Cougars rallied. Quickly.

And for the second time in as many games, WSU lost.

Thursday night it was in the Willamette Valley, in venerable Gill Coliseum, mirroring last Saturday’s home loss to Washington.

This one was three points closer, with the Beavers holding on 59-55 before 6,507, but no less painful.

“It was just tough, the same thing as last week,” said senior Nik Koprivica, who helped WSU rally with a couple of second-half 3-pointers propelling him to 12 points. “We can’t get let ourselves get behind so much and chase teams back. … We proved we can come back, but it’s not easy. These teams are too good.”

The hole the Cougars dug was even deeper than the one against the Dawgs, as they trailed by 18 at the half and 19 just 41 seconds later. The deficit was built by turnovers, 15 of them in the first 20 minutes.

“When you turn it over 15 times in the first half, you kind of set yourself up (to lose),” WSU coach Ken Bone said. “And a number of those turnovers also led to easy baskets for Oregon State. It wasn’t just the turnover, it was the easy layup or dunk on the other end. That hurts.”

WSU didn’t play passively in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The biggest change was in the Cougars’ leading scorer, Klay Thompson.

“The first half I thought I was just way too passive,” Thompson said. “I don’t want to be selfish, but that’s just not being aggressive. I thought I was just standing around too much. … The second half, I thought I was looking for my shot more.”

He took seven shots over the next 6:20, hitting four, including three 3-pointers. When Koprivica followed a Thompson miss with 13:37 left, WSU was within 40-38.

But WSU couldn’t get over the hump, despite four chances.

A Thompson turnover and 1 of 2 free throws by DeAngelo Casto – cutting the OSU lead to 40-39 – preceded misses by Casto and Reggie Moore on back-to-back possessions.

Given space, Oregon State went on a 7-0 run and, with 8:21 left, WSU was forced to claw back once more.

“It was a pivotal time, because we had our opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of those opportunities,” Bone said.

But the Cougars did scratch back into it, putting together a defense-fueled six-point spurt to cut the lead to 53-52 with 59.4 seconds left.

Roeland Schaftenaar answered with a post move before Moore hit two free throws – he was 10 of 11 as WSU converted 19 of 23 from the line – with 33.6 seconds left.

The Cougars put Jared Cunningham, the freshman who ignited OSU’s first-half offense with six steals and 15 points, on the line with 27 seconds left. Cunningham, who finished with eight steals and a career-high 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, missed badly.

The 6-foot-11 Schaftenaar got two fingers on the hard carom, it bounded out to Seth Tarver and WSU had to foul again. The senior hit both for a 57-54 lead.

The Cougars tried to get Thompson free for a 3-pointer, but after 10 seconds of being unsuccessful, Moore started to drive. He was fouled by Seth Tarver with 9.3 seconds remaining.

He hit the first and missed the second. Joe Burton grabbed the rebound and quickly got the ball to Calvin Haynes. Haynes raced upcourt, avoiding a foul and by the time Marcus Capers fouled Cunningham, only 1.6 seconds remained.

Oregon State, which is 14-15 overall, moved to 8-9 in Pac-10 play.

Despite the loss, WSU (16-13, 6-11) can still avoid the Wednesday Pac-10 play-in game between the 8 and 9 seeds.

If Stanford (7-10) loses to California on Saturday, and WSU defeats Oregon, WSU would earn the seventh seed.

OSU 59, WSU 55

		FG	FT	Reb
Washington St. (16-13, 6-11)	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
Casto	32	2-7	4-6	1-4	0	3	8
Capers	20	0-1	1-2	0-3	0	4	1
Thompson	32	7-11	0-0	1-8	0	2	18
Moore	35	0-8	10-11	0-2	4	2	10
Koprivica	35	4-6	2-2	2-6	2	2	12
Thames	22	1-3	2-2	0-1	2	2	4
Motum	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Watson	9	1-1	0-0	1-1	0	0	2
Allen	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Harthun	4	0-1	0-0	1-1	0	0	0
Lodwick	3	0-0	0-0	1-1	0	1	0
Totals	200	15-40	19-23	8-30	8	16	55

Percentages: FG .375, FT .826. 3-Point Goals: 6-14, .429 (Casto 0-1, Thompson 4-6, Moore 0-3, Koprivica 2-4). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 5 (Thompson 3). Turnovers: 20 (Thompson, Moore 4). Steals: 7 (Thames 2). Technical Fouls: None.

		FG	FT	Reb
Oregon St. (14-15, 8-9)	Min	M-A	M-A	O-T	A	PF	PTS
S.Tarver	22	1-4	4-6	2-3	2	2	6
Deane	11	1-1	0-1	0-0	2	2	2
Schftenaar	33	4-9	2-6	0-2	3	1	10
Cnninghm	31	7-8	5-7	1-2	0	4	20
Haynes	26	1-8	1-3	0-1	2	2	3
McShane	7	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	2	0
J.Tarver	9	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	0
Burton	29	4-5	0-0	1-7	2	0	8
Johnson	18	3-10	0-0	5-8	1	1	7
Wallace	14	1-5	0-0	1-2	1	0	3
Totals	200	22-50	12-23	12-31	14	15	59

Percentages: FG .440, FT .522. 3-Point Goals: 3-16, .188 (S.Tarver 0-1, Schaftenaar 0-1, Cunningham 1-1, Haynes 0-4, Johnson 1-4, Wallace 1-5). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 2 (Johnson, Cunningham). Turnovers: 14 (Cunningham 6). Steals: 14 (Cunningham 8). Technical Fouls: None.

Halftime–Oregon St. 33, Washington St. 15. A–6,507.