Oregon State
Utah
Utah Snaps OSU's Home Winning Streak at 14
February 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Oregon State's 14-game Gill Coliseum winning streak was snapped but the Beavers gave No. 9 Utah all it could handle on Thursday night in a 47-37 setback before a vocal crowd of 6,124.
The Beavers (16-10, 7-7 Pac-12) had won their first 14 home games this season before Thursday. The Utes (21-4, 11-2) captured their fifth game in a row to remain in the chase for the Pac-12's regular-season title.
Junior guard Malcolm Duvivier had 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block to lead the Beavers. Junior center Daniel Gomis added seven points but the Beavers struggled offensively against a tough Ute defense and were held to their second-lowest scoring total of the season.
“Our guys were great, I am really proud of them to start 14-0,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. “We had opportunities but you have to make shots.
“We missed shots at the rim, we missed open threes … it was just one of those deals. Our guys played their butts off and if we make shots it's a whole different deal.”
OSU was 16-of-48 (.333) from the field, 2-for-15 (.133) from deep and an uncharacteristic 3-for-8 (.375) from the free-throw line. It had just four turnovers overall, none in the second half. Utah won the rebounding battle 33-25 and had 20 points off the bench to OSU's six.
“Our guys battled,” Tinkle added. “That's the deepest team in the conference, they are big and strong and our guys stood toe-to-toe with them. They took advantage of our breakdowns and made us pay.”
The Beavers had just four turnovers overall, none in the second half. Utah outrebounded the Beavers 33-25 and had 20 points off the bench to OSU's six.
OSU battled the Utes toe-to-toe for much of the night, holding them to a season-low in scoring. However, the Utes heated up somewhat and pulled away midway through the second half to secure the win. Utah was 5-of-9 on 3-pointers in the second half, when it outscored OSU 31-21.
“Give them credit, they hit five 3-pointers in the second half and they were all big ones,” Tinkle said.
Utah led 16-14 at halftime. The Beavers drew within 24-22 on a 3-pointer by Olaf Schaftenaar but Utah's Dakarai Tucker answered with a 3-pointer on the other end for a 27-22 lead.
Tucker added another 3-pointer to put Utah in front 30-23 with 12:07 to play and the Beavers could get no closer than six points thereafter. The Utes eventually led by as many as 12 on two occasions.
OSU junior guard Gary Payton II had one steal and remained the only player in the conference with at least one in every game. He had six points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Beavers conclude their homestand at 8 p.m. Saturday against Colorado, which lost 73-60 at Oregon on Wednesday night. The game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
