Washington State needs exceptional shooting performance to squeeze past Oregon State in overtime
Washington State compensated for a defensive low point with a peak performance on offense.
The Cougars needed every bit of a sterling shooting performance to eke out a 103-97 overtime victory against three-win Oregon State on Monday night at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.
WSU (16-13, 9-9 Pac-12) shot 58.5% from the floor – its best field-goal percentage in Pac-12 play this year and second-highest of the season.
The Cougs, who entered the night boasting the conference’s top scoring defense, faltered on that end throughout much of the night and gave up single-game season highs in opponent points and shooting percentage (56.5%).
“We’re going to have to defend better. We gotta find our mojo there,” Smith said.
Senior Cougar guard Michael Flowers led all scorers with 27 points (10 of 18), six coming in the extra period. He finished a traditional three-point play, hitting a foul shot after knocking down a falling midrange jumper, then drained a difficult step-back 3-pointer to lift WSU to a six-point advantage with a minute remaining.
“His leadership and confidence, other guys are feeding off him,” Smith said of Flowers, who piled up 30 points Saturday at Washington. Flowers added six assists and five boards vs. the Beavers (3-25, 1-17), who haven’t won since topping Utah on Dec. 30.
WSU trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, but rumbled back behind a teamwide hot-shooting spree and an uptick in defensive energy after an uninspired first half.
“We had a flat bench, had some sourpuss looks,” Smith said. “That’s what you get when you’re emotionally drained, and we were able to find something.
“We battled through and were able to find a way. That’s huge confidence for us to be able to win a close game.”
All nine Cougars to play scored and seven of them shot 50% or better. Mouhamed Gueye went 7 of 7 from the field and knocked down four game-sealing free throws in overtime, finishing with 19 points. Guards Noah Williams and TJ Bamba tacked on 11 apiece and center Dishon Jackson added 10 and six rebounds.
Guard Tyrell Roberts tallied 10 of his 12 points in the second half. A 95% foul shooter, he split a one-and-one at the line with 16 seconds to go, but tied the game. OSU’s Dashawn Davis missed a potential game-winning 3.
The Cougars surrendered 48 points in the first half – tied for their third-worst defensive scoring half of the season, just behind the 50 points they gave up at Washington on Saturday. They used an 11-2 run out of the break to erase a double-digit deficit before a seesaw final 10 minutes of regulation in which neither teams’ shooters flinched.
“We’ve struggled to win close games, but I think this is one of the first games we’ve been down by that much and came back, and won,” Flowers said. It marked WSU’s biggest comeback win in five years and its first win in Corvallis since 2013. “We showed a lot of growth.”
OSU was led by center Roman Silva’s 21 points and guard Jarod Lucas’ 20. Forward Maurice Calloo totaled 17 points and Davis had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists. He dissected WSU’s defense in the first half, amassing eight assists. The Beavs, a middling free-throw shooting team overall, went 19 of 20 from the stripe.
The two teams meet again at 8 p.m. Thursday in Pullman. Monday’s game had originally been scheduled to take place Jan. 22, but COVID-19 issues in WSU’s program forced a postponement.