Corvallis, OR – The Oregon State Beavers and Utah Utes faced off in Corvallis with both teams looking to get back into the winning column after road losses. Oregon State lost 75-73 to Arizona State while Utah was defeated 73-66 by Stanford. Oregon State ran past Utah 74-56 featuring a 17 straight point run. 6-5 senior guard Ethan Thompson led all scorers with his game-high 25 points (8-15 FG, 1-5 3FG, 8-8 FT) and added five rebounds and eight assists. He is currently the ninth player in Oregon State history to score over 1,500 (1,538) points.
Oregon State started off well with a 13-4 start, scoring eight of those points on second chances by four different players (Thompson, Reichle, Silva, and Alatishe). 7-1 senior center Roman Silva played 12 key minutes early on utilizing his size in the paint on both ends of the floor to grab six rebounds. After being down by nine points 6-6 junior forward Timmy Allen led Utah on a comeback scoring 10 points in converting two back-to-back three-point plays to cut their deficit to 15-14. Allen is a solid combo wing with a decent ball-handling and scoring skillset. 6-10 sophomore Lahat Thioune (Florida Prep) scored two of his six first half points to give Utah their first lead at 16-15. Thioune is a very intriguing prospect to keep on the radar over the next several seasons. Oregon State took a 30-24 lead into the break as 6-7 junior forward Warith Alatishe scored 11 of his 19 points (9-14 FG, 1-1 3FG) in the half. He also finished with nine rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and three steals. Alatishe is currently leading Oregon State in rebounds (172), blocks (37) and steals (27). No player in the Oregon State history has ever finished the season leading all three categories. Neither team shot the ball particularly well, the Beavers 38 percent (12-of-32), Utah 36 percent (8-of-22). Oregon State however won in other categories such as points off turnovers 12-4, second-chance points 11-4, and points in the paint 22-16.
At the start of the second half 7-0 sophomore center Branden Carlson began to really display his talent scoring 12 of his 16 points in five minutes to give the Utes a 39-38 lead, Carlson scored on a variety of dunks, free throws and a three-pointer. He’s a potential stretch big, is decent running the lanes and has shot-blocking athleticism. Oregon State would respond immediately with an attack starting on defense with getting stops, then aggressively attacking in transition. They got baskets from four players (Andela, Thompson, Hunt, and Alatishe) to open up its largest lead 55-39 with a 17-0 run. Utah closed within 10 points 61-51 with 4:30 left after a basket by Allen, however, the Beavers would go on a 13-5 run to close the game to secure their fifth Pac-12 home game in a row for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Oregon State received solid play from 6-8 junior forward Rodrigue Andela who did a nice job in his 13 minutes of play with three rebounds, toughness in the paint and added seven points (3-3 FG, 1-2 FT) and one assist.
Key Game Stats
FG%: Oregon State 44% (27-61) – Utah 38% (20-52)
Points off turnovers: Oregon State 26 – Utah 11
Points in the paint: Oregon State 44 – Utah 32
Assists: Oregon State 18 – Utah 11
Oregon State (11-10, 7-8) hosts Colorado (16-7, 10-7) on Saturday at 5 pm, while Utah (9-9, 6-8) travels to Eugene to play Oregon (13-4, 8-3) also on February 20th.
This article was written by Lorenzo Leaks, a scout and correspondent for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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