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Low, Washington State beat Oregon for third time

Mar 14, 2008 - 6:07 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Washington State ended Oregon's Pac-10 tournament defense as well as its possible NCAA Tournament hopes.

Derrick Low scored 18 points and Taylor Rochestie added 16 as No. 21 Washington State held on for a 75-70 victory over Oregon in a Pac-10 Conference quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.

Kyle Weaver chipped in 14 points and seven assists for the Cougars, who defeated the Ducks for the third time this season after losing the previous 13 contests in the series.

With the win, Washington State will move on and face No. 11 Stanford in the semifinals on Friday. The Cardinal swept the season series from the Cougars, winning the two games by a combined nine points.

The Cougars (24-7) had led by as many as 17 points early in the second half, but the Ducks went on an 11-2 run - the last seven points scored from Tajuan Porter - to cut the deficit to 56-48 with 9:38 remaining.

Oregon continued to hang tough and a 3-pointer by Churchill Odia cut the deficit to 64-59 with 4:16 to play. The five-point margin was the closest the Ducks had been since it was 10-5 early in the first half.

Porter's 3-pointer pulled the Ducks within 68-64 with under 1 1/2 minutes remaining but Oregon could get no closer as Washington State made 9-of-13 free throws down the stretch.

The loss could prove to be devastating for Oregon (18-13), which was looking to enhance its NCAA Tournament chances with a marquee win.

The defeat also ended Oregon's streak of appearances in the Pac-10 semifinals. The Ducks, who won the conference tournament last season, had made it past the quarterfinals every year since 2002.

The Cougars used an early 8-0 run to take a 16-5 advantage less than six minutes into the game.

Washington State later went on an 11-1 spurt to take a 42-22 bulge before Oregon closed within 15 at the break.

The Cougars shot 62 percent (16-of-26) from the floor in the first half and the 42 points were the most they had scored in the first half this season.

Porter and Malik Hairston each scored 20 points to lead the Ducks, who shot 53 percent (25-of-47) from the field for the game.