Oregon State bounces Oklahoma State, Cunningham from NCAAs
AP
Mar 22, 2021
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Oregon State Beavers embraced the role of the Hickory Huskers - results and all.
Hours before their second-round NCAA Tournament game against Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Beavers' basketball Twitter account posted a video of center Roman Silva carrying guard Gianni Hunt to the basket on his shoulders to measure the rim's height.
It recreated a scene from the 1986 movie ''Hoosiers,'' in which small-town Hickory's coach tried to help his team relax about playing at massive Butler Fieldhouse. Hickory went on to win that fictional state title. On Sunday, the building now known as Hinkle Fieldhouse was the site of a real-life underdog story.
Ethan Thompson scored 26 points and No. 12 seed Oregon State neutralized Oklahoma State and star freshman Cade Cunningham, rolling to an 80-70 upset.
Oregon State (19-12) was picked to finish last in the Pac-12 and had to win the conference tournament just to make the NCAA field. The Beavers pulled that off, then cruised past No. 5 seed Tennessee in the first round. They became the third double-digit seed to reach this year's Sweet 16, joining 15 seed Oral Roberts and Syracuse, an 11.
''We've always had that confidence,'' Thompson said. ''But it kind of took us - we had to go to take a further step and kind of believe in ourselves and trust in each other. And as you can see, these wins that we've been having have been great team efforts.''
Maurice Calloo, who transferred from Oklahoma State, scored 15 points and Jarod Lucas also had 15 for the Beavers, who advanced to play eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago in a Midwest Region Sweet 16 matchup that few could have predicted. Loyola overmatched No. 1 seed Illinois earlier Sunday.
Cunningham, a first-team All-American and possible top NBA draft pick, scored 24 points for Oklahoma State (21-9), but the fourth-seeded Cowboys rushed shots down the stretch and at times failed to get him the ball.
Cunningham is prepared to move on to the NBA.
''It's been special,'' Cunningham said. ''I think that's the best way to describe it. I think the biggest thing is I surrounded myself around great people, more than anything that's the thing I'm most proud of. That's the thing, I feel like I've grown up the most by being around good people who pushed me to be somebody good on the court and off the court. I'm going to miss it, for sure.''
Avery Anderson scored 16 points and Keylan Boone added 13 for Oklahoma State in a game that was delayed for 20 minutes at the start by a power outage.
Oregon State went ahead 26-15 after an early 22-6 run.
A 3-pointer by Lucas rolled out, then in to give the Beavers a 32-19 edge. Minutes later, Lucas drove and took contact, drew a foul and scored in close, energizing the Oregon State fans. His free throw pushed Oregon State's lead to 38-22. The Beavers led 44-30 at halftime after leading by as many as 18 points.
Oklahoma State began pressuring late in the first half with some success, and it continued in the second half. Cunningham made two 3-pointers in the opening minutes - the second of which cut Oregon State's lead to 50-42.
The Cowboys got as close as two points on a basket by Cunningham before Oregon State responded and went up 11, leading the players to exhort their fans during an Oklahoma State timeout with about five minutes to play.
Oklahoma State made one last rally. Boone hit a 3-pointer, then Cunningham stole the ball and made a 3 to trim Oregon State's lead to 70-67 with 3:39 remaining. The Beavers pulled away at the free-throw line.
''Kind of just the same thing that's been getting us through these past few games,'' Thompson said. ''Just leaning on each other, believing in ourselves. We believe that we're capable of great things.''
POWER OUTAGE
People inside Hinkle Fieldhouse heard a pop as the building lost most of its power, shutting off arena lights and the scoreboard, as well as the postgame Zoom news conference for the teams after the Texas Tech-Arkansas game.
A Butler University spokesman said a car ran into a pole in an off-campus accident that led to the outage. The power switched from the main supply to the backup and back to the main, causing the lights to flicker.
There were no fans in the arena during the outage. The teams warmed up in the practice gym while the facilities teams checked the systems. The lights and power came back up quickly, with tournament officials gathering on the court before team staffers and a few players returned to the floor for the final game of the day. After that, things went on as normal.
INSIDE DOMINANCE
Oregon State outrebounded Oklahoma State 52-32 and blocked 11 shots. Silva, a 7-foot-1 center, had 12 rebounds and four blocks. Dearon Tucker, a 6-10 forward, had four blocks. Warith Alatishe, a 6-7 forward, also had 12 rebounds.
FOUL FEST
Oregon State made 32 of 35 free throws off of Oklahoma State's 29 fouls. Two Oklahoma State players - Bryce Williams and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe - fouled out. Oregon State committed 24 fouls, and Oklahoma State made 26 of 38 free throws.
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1st Half
ORST
Beavers
44
OKST
Cowboys
30
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
Roman Silva vs. Kalib Boone (Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe gains possession)
19:43
+2
Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe makes two point jump shot
0-2
19:11
Ethan Thompson misses two point jump shot
19:09
Roman Silva offensive rebound
19:09
Isaac Likekele personal foul
19:07
Jarod Lucas misses three point jump shot
19:05
Roman Silva offensive rebound
18:58
+2
Roman Silva makes two point layup
2-2
18:35
Zach Reichle personal foul (Kalib Boone draws the foul)
18:32
Cade Cunningham misses three point jump shot
18:31
Beavers defensive rebound
18:18
Roman Silva misses two point hook shot
18:16
Isaac Likekele defensive rebound
17:59
Roman Silva blocks Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe's two point jump shot
17:57
Roman Silva defensive rebound
17:52
Avery Anderson III personal foul (Ethan Thompson draws the foul)
17:46
Warith Alatishe misses two point jump shot
17:44
Cowboys defensive rebound
17:28
Warith Alatishe shooting foul (Avery Anderson III draws the foul)
17:28
+1
Avery Anderson III makes regular free throw 1 of 2
2-3
17:28
Avery Anderson III misses regular free throw 2 of 2
17:28
Warith Alatishe defensive rebound
17:12
Cade Cunningham shooting foul (Ethan Thompson draws the foul)
17:12
+1
Ethan Thompson makes regular free throw 1 of 2
3-3
17:12
+1
Ethan Thompson makes regular free throw 2 of 2
4-3
16:58
+2
Cade Cunningham makes two point jump shot
4-5
16:57
Ethan Thompson shooting foul (Cade Cunningham draws the foul)
16:57
+1
Cade Cunningham makes regular free throw 1 of 1
4-6
16:38
Warith Alatishe misses two point jump shot
16:36
Cowboys defensive rebound
16:12
Bernard Kouma misses two point hook shot
16:10
Jarod Lucas defensive rebound
15:56
Jarod Lucas misses three point jump shot
15:54
Avery Anderson III defensive rebound
15:49
+3
Cade Cunningham makes three point jump shot (Avery Anderson III assists)
4-9
15:36
Warith Alatishe misses two point layup
15:34
Cade Cunningham defensive rebound
15:25
Jump ball. Avery Anderson III vs. Ethan Thompson (Beavers gains possession)
15:25
Avery Anderson III turnover (lost ball) (Ethan Thompson steals)
15:26
TV timeout
14:55
Jarod Lucas misses two point jump shot
14:53
Beavers offensive rebound
14:53
Beavers turnover (shot clock violation)
15:40
Isaac Likekele turnover (out of bounds)
14:14
Maurice Calloo misses two point jump shot
14:12
Roman Silva offensive rebound
14:10
Bernard Kouma blocks Roman Silva's two point layup
14:08
Beavers offensive rebound
14:01
+3
Maurice Calloo makes three point jump shot (Roman Silva assists)
7-9
13:53
Bernard Kouma offensive foul
13:53
Bernard Kouma turnover
13:27
+2
Maurice Calloo makes two point jump shot
9-9
13:17
Kalib Boone offensive foul
13:17
Kalib Boone turnover
13:02
+3
Ethan Thompson makes three point jump shot (Dearon Tucker assists)
12-9
12:46
+2
Avery Anderson III makes two point jump shot
12-11
12:15
+2
Dearon Tucker makes two point hook shot
14-11
12:07
Ethan Thompson personal foul (Cade Cunningham draws the foul)