Beavs come up short in OT loss

OSU CAME TANTALIZINGLY close in the 61-57 loss to Washington State in Gill Coliseum on Thursday. Oregon State started out hot, hitting five of their first six. Then they went cold, missing their next nine. Still, OSU led at the half even though the Cougars were shooting 64.7 percent at the field, mostly because of OSU's prowess on the offensive glass. But a second half lead slowly slipped away.

Oregon State pulled down a heady 10 offensive rebounds out of 30 boards. And they held a nine-point lead with a little over 12:20 to go in the game.

But the Beavs went cold from the field and seemingly settled for too many long distance shots -- they attempted 28 from beyond the three point arc in the game, connecting on eight and were just 2-11 in the second half.

"We started playing our offense defensively," said OSU coach Craig Robinson. "We were playing not to lose the game, and you can't do that."

Turning around a program is a process and so is winning tight games down the stretch. One of the necessary steps is learning how to handle tight, hard fought losses that could have been wins.

Oregon State will likely go through more of that during Robinson's first year at the helm. But given how Oregon State has competed this year, they are just as likely to pull off some big upsets as well. They already have one big upset win under their belt with the victory over USC, who beat No. 15 ASU on Thursday.

Calvin Haynes was the game's leading scorer against Washington State, pouring in 19 points while Lathen Wallace added 13. Robinson changed up his starting lineup, going with Wallace instead of Omari Johnson, who played 22 minutes and had six points and four rebounds. Wallace played 39 minutes and was the Beavs' most consistent from the field, shooting 50 percent on the night.

Oregon State hosts Washington on Saturday night in a game televised by FSN NW.