HOOPS: Beavs get back on winning side

CORVALLIS — Listless Utah proved to be the cure for Oregon State’s losing streak. Jared Cunningham had 17 points and six assists, Joe Burton added 13 points and seven rebounds, and the Beavers snapped a five-game slide with a 77-67 win over Utah on Thursday night.

Ahmad Starks added 13 points for the Beavers (16-13, 6-11 Pac-12), who boosted their hopes of posting a winning season for only the second time since 1990. Oregon State led by 21 at halftime and as many as 30 in the second half before a late Utah run.

“We needed that win and we needed to play the way we played in the first half,” Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said. “That set the tone for the game.”

The Utes did rally in the final 10 minutes, but couldn’t recover after committing 10 turnovers and shooting just 22 percent in the first half.

“I thought we took a lot of selfish shots,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said.

The Beavers won for the first time since beating the Utes on Feb. 4. Oregon State suffered subsequent defeats against the Arizona and Los Angeles schools before a heartbreaking 74-73 loss against Oregon.

The Utes have not been competitive in games away from the Huntsman Center this year, losing by an average of 22 points. But Utah did appear to have gained some confidence from a 58-57 win over Stanford on Saturday.

That confidence disappeared quickly. Down 20-14 in the first half, Utah went scoreless for nearly five minutes while the Beavers put together a 13-0 run, including a rim-shaking dunk by Eric Moreland and a three-pointer by Roberto Nelson.

The Beavers showed an advantage in athleticism and showed it during the fast-breaking, high-flying first half. Oregon State took a 36-15 advantage into halftime as the Utes made just five of 23 shots before the break.

“Once we got into transition, we made a lot of great plays,” Cunningham said.

The trouble continued in the second half for Utah, as the Beavers opened with a 15-5 run to lead 51-21. The Utes were much better down the stretch, finishing the game on a 23-9 run as the Beavers began to empty their bench.

Dijon Farr had 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals to lead the Utes (6-23, 3-14), who fell to 0-14 on the road. Leading scorer Jason Washburn had 14 points but was scoreless in the first half after going to the bench with two fouls. Chris Hines added 12 points.