HOOPS: Beavs end regular season on down note

ROBERTO NELSON WAS so far into the zone, he nearly couldn't be seen from the ground. But his 34 points didn't help the Beavs on defense, and it couldn't overcome the benching of several Beav players, and Oregon State ended the regular season with a 80-66 loss at the hands of Arizona State.

Oregon State started a lineup of Kevin McShane, Angus Brandt, Omari Johnson, Joe Burton, and Roberto Nelson Saturday against Arizona State. The only other Beav to see action was walk-on center Daniel Jones. Why did the Beavs use only six players for the entire game, and why start a lineup of three forwards, a shooting guard and a center? A number of OSU players broke curfew Thursday night after the 70-59 loss to Arizona. So head man Craig Robinson let them sit on the bench, for the whole game. He said after the game that the experience will turn into a positive one for the Beavers.

Arizona State opened the game with a 10-2 run and held a 41-28 lead by halftime. The Beavers turned the ball over 20 times, 11 more than the Sun Devils.

Still, Roberto Nelson kept filling up the hoop, and then he filled it up some more, finishing with a monster career high of 34 points.

Omari Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Beavers, while Angus Brandt added 11 points and nine boards.

But every time Oregon State tried to make a run, the Sun Devils went deep. ASU drilled eight three-pointers in the second half, ensuring that Oregon State would stay stuck on five Pac-10 victories.

Oregon State plays next on Wednesday in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament.