Husky men handle Oregon State to earn first Pac-12 victory

SEATTLE – Keion Brooks Jr. scored 26 points, Sahvir Wheeler had 16 and the Washington men’s basketball team beat Oregon State 79-72 on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena to snap a three-game losing streak.

The Huskies (9-6, 1-3 Pac-12) also received 11 points from backup center Wilhem Breidenbach and 10 from reserve guard Koren Johnson, respectively.

After converting just 12 of 22 free throws in Thursday’s 76-74 loss to Oregon, Washington canned its first 15 foul shots Saturday and sank 29 of 33 at the line.

Oregon State led 11-4 when Washington used a 28-10 run to go up 34-21.

During the spurt, Moses Wood’s three-pointer from the corner gave UW its first lead at 24-21 with 8:41 left in the first half and at one point the Huskies scored 16 unanswered points while the Beavers missed 12 straight shots.

Wheeler’s fast break layup pushed Washington ahead 32-21, but Oregon State scored four straight points to end the first half, including a putback tip-in at the buzzer to cut UW’s lead to 38-33 at the break.

The Beavers closed to 45-42 early in the second half and the Huskies answered with a 15-7 run in which Brooks scored eight points and Wheeler had four, including a layup that gave UW a 60-49 lead with 9:31 left.

Minutes later, Wheeler got to the rim again for another layup that gave the Huskies a 71-59 lead with 3:36 remaining.

Oregon State made things interesting at the end and scored six straight points to pull within six in the final two minutes.

Beavers guard Jordan Pope, who finished with a game-high 29 points, drained back-to-back three-pointers to cut OSU’s deficit to 75-71 with 35 seconds left.

The Huskies canned four straight free throws to preserve the win.

Washington wraps up its three-game homestand against Arizona State on Thursday.