Oregon State
Arizona
Beavers' Pac-12 Tournament Run Ends With 72-61 Loss to Arizona
March 09, 2012 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2012
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Roberto Nelson scored 19 points, but No. 9 seed Oregon State fell in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Pac-12 Tournament to the No. 4 seed Arizona Wildcats, 72-61, on Friday night at the Staples Center to end an outstanding tournament run by the Beavers.
Oregon State led 34-27 at halftime, erasing an early nine-point deficit with a 20-4 run over the final 7:40. But in the second half the Beavers showed signs of being fatigued, playing their third game in as many days, and could muster just a 27 percent field goal percentage in the final 20 minutes, making just 9-of-33 shots. In contrast, Arizona hit 14-of-23 for 61 percent.
"I spent most of the time in there (locker room) consoling guys who are completely beside themselves in grief, and I tried to tell them they shouldn't be, because given how hard they worked and how much they play together," fourth-year Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. "I thought we ran out of gas."
Arizona used a 20-3 run to start the second half to seize control of the game at 47-37 with 12 minutes to play. The lead grew to as many as 14 points down the stretch.
"We were just hoping to weather the storm and be able to finish it out and just couldn't do it," Robinson said when asked about Arizona's run. "My hat's off to those guys. They really shot the ball well in the second half. I thought we did a great job against them in the first half, but in the second half, we just could not stop them."
Forward Devon Collier continued his consistent play by scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Collier averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds for the three games and made a strong case for inclusion on the all-tournament team. Jared Cunningham, who played all 40 minutes for the second consecutive game, added 14 points.
Nelson made 6-of-13 shots, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, to finish with a team-high 19 points a day after playing one minute against Washington due to a sprained left thumb.
Oregon State boosted its resume for a postseason berth with victories over the top-seed Washington Huskies Thursday and Washington State Wednesday. The Beavers could learn their postseason fate as early as Sunday evening.
"I'd like to think that people would look at our team and feel we'd be a good participant in their tournament, but you never know," Robinson said. "We'll just wait and see. We'd love to keep playing."
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