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Taylor helps Oregon edge Kansas State in overtime

Nov 30, 2007 - 6:50 AM MANHATTAN, Kansas (Ticker) -- Bryce Taylor and Oregon survived a wild crowd and the great freshman Michael Beasley.

Taylor scored 18 points, including a huge 3-pointer in overtime, as No. 17 Oregon edged Kansas State, 80-77, on Thursday.

Joevan Catron scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Maarty Leunen and Tajuan Porter each scored 14 for the Ducks (6-1), who rebounded from a 99-87 road loss vs. unranked Saint Mary's on November 20.

"The reality of it is the Saint Mary's road trip set up this road trip, because that place was hostile, too," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "I thought that we were a lot more composed. ... What a great job by this team and this coaching group just responding to big buckets and defensive stops."

Oregon also survived the play of Beasley, the second leading scorer in the nation, who had 24 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

"I thought there were several guys in the second half that stepped up and hit big shots, got big rebounds and got stops," Kent said. "The game, the atmosphere and the environment challenged us and allowed us to grow."

Beasley gave the Wildcats a 73-71 lead four seconds into the extra period, but Taylor drilled his fourth 3-pointer with 4:18 left.

"Beasley is a great player," Taylor said. "They will pound you and they play physical."

Kansas State's Jacob Pullen made a shot from the arc that tied the score at 76-76 with 2:55 remaining, but Porter made a jumper and a free throw and freshman Kamyron Brown split a pair from the charity stripe to give Oregon an 80-77 lead with 14 ticks on the clock.

K-State got the ball to Beasley, who missed an off-balance 3-pointer with nine seconds left. The Wildcats had one more chance after Oregon's LeKendric Longmire missed both of his free-throw attempts with six seconds remaining.

"That is how it goes," Taylor said. "We had some guys that hadn't been in the situation before and they will learn from those misses."

However, Andre Gilbert drove to the hoop instead of pulling up for a 3-pointer and time expired.

"We've spent so much time working on how we want to play that we have not had enough time to practice end of game situations," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "There is no way we don't shoot a three there. We should have got a 3-point shot off, but that's completely on my shoulders."

Beasley was 10-of-17 from the field and Gilbert scored 16 points for the Wildcats (5-2), who entered 3-0 at home and with wins in two previous matchups with the Ducks.