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Gonzaga Basketball

Buzzer breakdown: Gonzaga’s overtime woes continue in loss to Oregon State

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman (11) reacts after a shot clock violation coming out of a timeout against the Oregon State Beavers during the first half of a college basketball game on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore.  (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson The Spokesman-Review

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Here are three observations from No. 16 Gonzaga’s 97-89 overtime loss to Oregon State on Thursday night at Gill Coliseum.

Zags deliver, falter in the clutch

Gonzaga led by as many as six points in the second half, but the Bulldogs still found themselves in an eerily familiar – and ultimately uncomfortable – situation with roughly 90 seconds remaining in regulation.

Oregon State’s Parsa Fallah knocked down a short jumper off the glass to give the Beavers a 79-77 lead – their first advantage since early in the second half. Gonzaga’s Graham Ike was blocked by Fallah on a layup attempt and the Beavers’ Michael Rataj converted a circus layup to put the hosts up four points.

Ben Gregg followed up with an impressive sequence, pulling down a rebound on Nolan Hickman’s missed 3-pointer, then hit a trey of his own to make it 81-80.

OSU’s Josiah Lake II made two free throws at the other end, but Graham Ike delivered a clutch, game-tying 3-pointer at the other end and Damarco Minor’s last-effort 3-pointer was blocked by Khalif Battle.

Another overtime period came with heartbreak for Gonzaga, which lost its top scorer, Ike, to foul trouble with two minutes remaining and the Beavers outscored the Bulldogs 14-6 during the extra frame to secure the upset win.

It was the third overtime loss of the year for GU, which also dropped overtime decisions to West Virginia and Kentucky.

Ike produces before fouling out

Gonzaga had offensive contributions up and down the rotation, but playing through Ike was still the most effective strategy on Thursday night, no different than it’s been the last three weeks.

Ike scored at least 20 points for seventh time in 11 games, delivering in a big way for Gonzaga in the second half after the Bulldogs entered the break trailing by one point.

Mostly working against Oregon State’s Parsa Fallah, a 6-9 transfer from Southern Utah, Ike scored on layups, hook shots and free throws, recording 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half and overtime.

Ike, who finished 9 of 14 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line, also pulled down nine rebounds.

The forward was whistled for his fourth and fifth fouls of the game in overtime, sending him to GU’s bench for the final two minutes.

Gill fills up for GU visit

Gonzaga’s first visit to Gill Coliseum since 1989-90 drew Oregon State’s first sellout crowd to the historic arena in six years.

The Beavers anticipated a capacity crowd for the first-ever West Coast Conference meeting between the schools and announced a sellout crowd hours before tipoff on Thursday.

Gill Coliseum, which lists a seating capacity of 9,301, hadn’t sold out since before the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Beavers packed their arena for a 63-53 win over No. 14 Oregon in 2019.