Gianni Hunt fired in 17 points off the bench, Jarod Lucas scored 16 and Oregon State won its third straight Pac-12 road conference game for the first time in 18 years with a 75-70 win over Utah on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
Oregon State continued to defy preseason prognosticators who picked the Beavers to finish last in the conference. This clutch win improved OSU's record to 14-11 overall and 10-9 in Pac-12 play.
The Beavers had to hold for dear life after going up 67-60 in the final minutes. Thanks to some stifling defense and three free throws by Lucas in the final 23 seconds, the Beavers escaped Utah with the victory.
Timmy Allen scored 23 points to lead the Utes on 10-of-15 shooting while also dishing out six assists with five rebounds, but the Beavers helped keep the ball away from him down the stretch.
Alfonso Plummer scored 15 points, Pella Larsson added 12 and Branden Carlson chipped in 10, but the Utes squandered opportunities when it mattered most while falling to 10-12, 7-11.
Allen brought the Utes back to within two at 67-65 with five straight points, but Roman Silva scored a three-point play after one of his five offensive rebounds and the Utes threw the ball away twice in the final 30 seconds.
Oregon State returns home after sweeping the Bay Area teams and this win at Utah to wrap up its conference regular season Sunday against Oregon.
The Utes, playing without injured point guard Rylan Jones, finish at home Saturday vs. Arizona State. Utah has lost five of six games, with the only win coming against No. 19 USC last Saturday.
--Field Level Media
Oregon St. | Utah | |
Gianni Hunt 17 | Scoring | Timmy Allen 23 |
Warith Alatishe 4 | Assists | Timmy Allen 6 |
Warith Alatishe 10 | Rebounds | Mikael Jantunen 7 |
Jarod Lucas 3 | Free Throws Made | Pelle Larsson 4 |
Warith Alatishe 4 | Steals | Pelle Larsson 1 |
Ethan Thompson 1 | Blocks | Branden Carlson 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Oregon St. | 75 | 52.7 | 10-22 | 7-11 | 13 | 30 | 1 | 7 | 15 |
Utah | 70 | 54.3 | 8-19 | 12-13 | 16 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 15 |