Oregon State pulls off overtime upset to knock UCLA out of the tournament

LAS VEGAS –– The 4th seed UCLA Bruins had a steady start to their first game of the tournament while the 5th seed Oregon State Beavers played sloppy offense and struggled to stop UCLA’s scoring drives.

Following a period of rapid lead changes, the Bruins were able to push away from the Beavers opening their lead to 11 points with just under nine minutes remaining in the half. The UCLA defense was able to hold OSU to just 16 points until the 18th minute of the game.

Oregon State’s inability to close on offensive opportunities allowed for UCLA to maintain a steady lead over them for most of the 20 minutes. The Beavers were forced to throw up a last second shot multiple times as the Bruins’ defense forced them to dwindle down the shot clock throughout the half.

Play got sloppy on both sides of the ball as neither team scored for over three out of the last five minutes – the Beavers having a nearly four-minute long scoring drought until guard Jarod Lucas knocked down a shot from beyond the arc.

At the buzzer, UCLA was beating OSU 24-34, leading the way in scoring was Bruin sophomore guard Johnny Juzang with 9 points.

Oregon State senior guard Ethan Thompson struck first in the second half, nailing a three pointer in the corner for Beavers. OSU was able to chip away at UCLA’s ten point lead as the Bruins struggled to sink shots.

The pace slowed down as players settled into the game once again, the teams traded baskets which kept the score gap small. Oregon State tied up the game when Lucas sank a three from deep. The Bruins were able to maintain a small yet steady lead following the game-tying shot.

Zach Reichle, senior guard for the Beavers, put up a few impressive three-point shots to keep UCLA within reach of OSU. Each team traveled into the double bonus to collect points from free-throws as multiple players on both sides fouled out of the game.

After Oregon State took control of the lead with 11 seconds left, UCLA’s junior guard Jules Bernard knocked down a free-throw to tie the game 70-70 with 3 seconds remaining in the half. The Beavers were unable to connect on a hail mary shot and the game entered into overtime.

“Very proud of our guys; for the resiliency and the buy-in when things weren't going our way early and in the middle of the game and then late,” OSU Head Coach Wayne Tinkle said of his teams play today. “We just kept rolling through it. We never stopped believing.”

Despite the Bruins’ attempts to hold off the Beavers, OSU was able to come back from behind and upset UCLA. Down the line, Oregon State was led to victory by junior forward Bernard’s 19 points and 10 rebounds. They will face off against their in-state rivals, the Oregon Ducks in the semifinal game tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.