OSU Pac-12 tourney run comes to an end

OREGON STATE finally ran out of gas. The Beavs closed the first half on a 20-4 run to forge a seven point lead, but they came out of the locker room flat and Arizona put together a 20-3 run of their own out of the gate. And OSU just didn't have enough in the tank to make one more comeback, falling 72-61.

The Beavers in the second half just looked a step slow. The lift wasn't there on their jumpers.

And unlike the first two tournament games, Oregon State (19-14) seemed to never quite finish close to the basket, with basketball after basketball rolling around and refusing to drop through the cord.

Beaver players seemed to disappear for stretches, something you see when the legs tire. Eric Moreland made some noise early in the first half, but was rarely heard from in the second -- he played only 15 minutes. Ahmad Starks never found his rhythm, with four points on 1-7 shooting.

The guy who looked the freshest, not surprisingly, was Roberto Nelson. After sitting out much of the first two games, Craig Robinson sent Nelson out against Arizona to the tune of 32 minutes.

And Nelson responded, scoring a team high 19 points.

Jared Cunningham and Devon Collier helped lead the Beavs, with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

But the collective effort wasn't enough to stop the onslaught Arizona dropped on the Beavs in the second half. UA outscored Oregon State 45-27 in the second half.

OSU will now wait to see if the NIT or another postseason bid is forthcoming.