Oregon State Basketball: Slow Start Dooms Beavers Against #9 Arizona, 86-74

Jan 13, 2023 - 12:15 PM

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Despite a forty-point display from their bench, which was largely anchored by dual 18-point outings from forwards Michael Rataj and Tyler Bilodeau, Oregon State came up short at home against top-ten ranked Arizona on Thursday, 86-74.

The Beavers were thoroughly outplayed through the first half of action, facing a 44-26 deficit at the break, before a second-half run push cleaned the score line up for the morning papers. Overall, Oregon State was spearheaded by Rataj and Bilodeau in scoring, with Jordan Pope (14 points) and Glenn Taylor Jr. (13 points) also finding double-figures.

As for Arizona, the Wildcats were led by a trio of double-doubles, including Azoulas Tubelis’ 25 points and 10 rebounds on an 11-15 day from the field, big man Oumar Ballo adding 15 points and 14 rebounds and guard Kerr Krissa dropping 13 points, while dishing out a mind-boggling 11 assists.

With the loss, Oregon State now moves to 7-10 overall and 1-5 in conference play, sitting a game above Stanford for last place in the Pac-12.

The Wildcats pushed themselves to 15-2 with a 4-2 mark in the conference and have now won nine of their last ten, including victories over Indiana, Tennessee and Arizona State in that stretch.

Up Next: The Beavers will try to snap their four-game losing skid when they host Arizona State on Saturday (1/14) at 1:00 PM PT. The Sun Devils are currently on a three-game winning streak and boast a 5-1 mark in conference play.