LAS VEGAS — Ethan Thompson scored 16 points, Rodrigue Andela added 13 and Oregon State withstood a late rally to beat top-seeded Oregon 75-64 in Pac-12 Tournament semifinals Friday night.
The fifth-seeded Beavers (16-12) reached the conference semifinals for the first time since 2012 and dominated early, building a 19-point lead by the midpoint of the second half.
The Ducks (20-6) stormed back, going on a 15-3 run to pull within 61-56 with 4 1/2 minutes left. Oregon State’s Jarod Lucas hit a 3-pointer to stop the run and the Beavers quickly pushed the lead back to 12.
Picked to finish last in the Pac-12, Oregon State will play in its first Pac-12 title game since 1988. The Beavers will face the winner between Colorado and No. 23 Southern California in Saturday’s championship game.
Oregon had a hard time with Oregon State’s pressure early and struggled from the perimeter all night, going 6 for 25 from the arc after making 15 3-pointers in a win over the Beavers on Sunday.
Chris Duarte, LJ Figueroa and Eugene Omoruyi had 14 points each for the Ducks.
The rivals split the season series, with the Ducks beating the Beavers by 13 in the regular-season finale to win their second straight Pac-12 title.
Oregon beat Arizona State by 18 to get to the tournament semifinals and Oregon State outlasted No. 4 seed UCLA by four.
The rivals traded runs throughout the first half of the third go-round.
The Beavers had the early advantage Friday night, holding the Ducks without a field goal for 5 1/2 minutes to build a seven-point lead.
Oregon scored 10 straight points, then Oregon State went on a 12-3 run to go up 38-26.
The Beavers led 38-28 at halftime and kept building from there.
Thompson hit a pair of early 3-pointers in the second half and Oregon State made six of its first 10 shots to push the lead to 55-36.
UP NEXT
Oregon State will play the Colorado-USC winner in Saturday’s championship game.
Oregon should be in good shape to make the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
