Recap and highlights: Oregon State takes down No. 16 Gonzaga in overtime 97-89, Zags’ third OT loss
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Gonzaga hasn’t had much luck in close games. Neither has Oregon State.
So something had to give Thursday night in an entertaining, back-and-forth West Coast Conference contest in front of a full house of 9,301 a Gill Coliseum.
It was initially the 16th-ranked Zags giving up another late lead, but then they fought back to force overtime.
Gonzaga played from behind most of the extra session and fell 97-89, prompting OSU students to storm the court.
Gonzaga led 76-71 with just under 6 minutes left, but its offense dried up and the Beavers capitalized.
They surged ahead with a 10-1 run, capped by a pair of Michael Rataj baskets. The first needed a soft bounce off the iron before falling. The second was an improbable finish underneath high off the glass.
Rataj put OSU on top 81-77 with 36.7 seconds left. That seemed like it might be enough with Gonzaga’s last field goal coming on a Ben Gregg putback with 6:40 remaining.
Instead, Gregg calmly hit a 3-pointer from the wing. After two free throws by OSU’s Josiah Lake, Graham Ike connected on a clutch 3 to even the score at 83 with 4.2 ticks left. Khalif Battle deflected Damarco Minor’s long 3-point attempt, sending the game to overtime.
Rataj opened the extra session by banking in a 3-pointer, but GU countered with two free throws by Battle and Ike to take an 87-86 lead. Rataj again stung the Zags, hitting a 3-pointer to give OSU the lead for good, 89-87.
Rataj made two free throws on Ike’s fifth foul to give Oregon State a 91-87 edge with 2:01 remaining. The Zags cut it to two on Braden Huff’s basket, but Liutauras Lelevicius scored his only basket of the game and Gonzaga turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass.
The Beavers tacked on four free throws to put the game away.
First half
19:40 – OSU 3, GU 0: Beavers win the tip and Kingz hits a 3-pointer to get the game started at Gill Coliseum.
15:56 – OSU 13, GU 7: Beavers off to a hot start, 5 of 5 from the field to take a nice lead at the first media timeout.
Zags just 3 of 11 from the field, but getting a few extra looks with six offensive rebounds.
Kingz has five points for OSU. Nembhard leads GU with three.
11:15 – GU 16, OSU 15: Stormer makes a layup in transition to give the Zags their first lead, but he commits a foul on the other end and the Beavers will shoot free throws after the U12 media timeout.
Nembhard leading GU with six points. OSU has missed five straight shots after making their first five from the field.
7:33 – OSU 25, GU 21: Couple of rapid steals give the Beavers a 6-0 run and the lead at the U8 media timeout. Face pace in this one.
OSU 9 of 17 from the field, GU 8 of 23. Kingz leads OSU with seven points, Nembhard has six for GU.
4:11 – OSU 35, GU 29: Kingz hits a 3-pointer in transition to give the Beavers a 7-0 run in less than a minute and the Zags call a timeout with the home crowd fired up.
Kingz up to 14 points and is yet to miss.
Nembhard, Battle and Ike lead GU with six apiece.
1:23 – OSU 44, GU 40: Beavers stay hot, but Hickman hits his third 3-pointer to keep the Zags in it. Hickman now leads with nine points.
Kingz up to 17 points on 6-for-6 shooting. Fallah joins him in double figures with 10.
Halftime
Khalif Battle hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but Gonzaga trails Oregon State 46-45 at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.
The Beavers led for most of the half, but there were eight lead changes. Nate Kingz is a perfect 6 of 6 from the field with 17 points, leading the way for the Beavers, who are shooting 59% from the field.
Bulldogs yet to have a scorer reach double figures. Battle and Nolan Hickman lead with nine apiece.
Second half
15:45 – GU 56, OSU 51: Zags storm ahead to start the second half with five points from Ike and four from Battle.
Zags up to 10 second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds, outscoring the Beavers 10-0 in that category.
11:19 – GU 63, OSU 60: Ike snaps a scoring drought for the Zags at the U12 media timeout. Beavers have possession.
Ike leads with 15 points, Battle (13) and Nembhard (10) join in double figures.
Kingz yet to score in the second half for OSU, he’s missed two shots after going 6 of 6 in the first half.
8:45 – GU 69, OSU 65: Beavers briefly tie it up, but Ike makes back-to-back baskets and OSU calls a timeout. Ike up to 19 points and seven rebounds.
7:42 – GU 71, OSU 67: Nembhard makes a jumper at the end of the shot clock. Ajayi called for a foul and the Beavers will shoot two free throws on the other side of the U8 media timeout.
Not much separates the two teams in the second half. Zags have the rebounding edge, but Beavers still scoring at a high enough clip to keep up.
3:11 – GU 77, OSU 74: Ike called for his third foul at the final media timeout. Beavers in the bonus when play resumes. Going down to the wire in Corvallis and the Zags haven’t hit a field goal in 3:29.
1:31 – OSU 79, GU 77: Minor and Rataj hit back-to-back shots to give the Beavers the lead and Gonzaga calls a timeout. Couple of sloppy possessions for GU, which hasn’t scored in 2:37. Trouble closing out games coming back for the Zags.
0:20 – OSU 81, GU 80: Gregg hits a 3-pointer to give the Zags life, they call a timeout and have one remaining.
0:05 – GU 83, OSU 83: Lake hits both at the line and Nembhard kicks it out to Ike for a stunning 3-pointer to tie it up. Beavers call timeout and have one shot to win before overtime.
0:00 – GU 83, OSU 83: Minor’s final 3-pointer misses with good defense from Battle and we’ll head to overtime. Incredible stuff in Corvallis.
Overtime
4:15 – OSU 86, GU 85: Rataj banks in a 3-pointer to open overtime and Battle makes two free throws on the other end.
2:01 – OSU 89, GU 87: Ike fouls out after Rataj hit another 3-pointer and the Beavers will shoot two free throws.
1:12 – OSU 91, GU 87: Rataj hits two free throws, he has eight points in overtime. Battle turns it over, but the Beavers are called for an offensive foul on the other end. Zags ball after a timeout.
0:27 – OSU 93, GU 89: Lelevicius hits a layup and Gregg turns it over on the inbound. Beavers heading to the line and looking to win. Zags likely to move to 0-3 in overtime.
Starting fives
Gonzaga: Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Khalif Battle, Ben Gregg, Graham Ike.
Oregon State: Damarco Minor, Nate Kingz, Liutauras Lelevicius, Michael Rataj, Parsa Fallah.
Pregame
The Gonzaga men’s basketball team has been on a roll to start West Coast Conference play.
The No. 16 Zags (14-4, 5-0) ran away with a win over Washington State on Saturday and turn to a game against another former Pac-12 team, Oregon State. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Corvallis on CBS Sports.
The Beavers (13-5, 3-2), playing the first of two seasons in the WCC, before returning to the Pac-12 with Gonzaga, have wins over Portland, San Diego and Pacific. They lost to Santa Clara in overtime and were thumped by Loyola Marymount.
Series history
Oregon State holds a 12-0 all-time series lead over Gonzaga, winning the last meeting in 1991.
Team stats
Individual leaders
Game preview
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