LAS VEGAS (AP) — Maurice Calloo gave Oregon State an unexpected lift with 15 points and the Beavers won their first conference tournament title, holding off No. 23 Colorado 70-68 in the Pac-12 championship game Saturday night.
Needing three wins in three days to end a four-year NCAA Tournament drought, the Beavers (17-12) built confidence with each step along The Strip.
Oregon State opened it first conference title game in 33 years with a flurry of 3-pointers and withstood a late push by Colorado (22-8) to become the first Pac-10/12 team to win the conference title after being picked to finish last.
Calloo helped the Beavers overcome leading scorer Ethan Thompson’s foul trouble, making 6 of 11 shots after scoring 10 points the eight previous games combined.
Oregon State’s gritty display put a damper on Colorado’s bid for its first Pac-12 Tournament title since 2012. The Buffaloes should hear their named get called on Selection Sunday, but Pac-12 champions would have had a nicer ring to it heading to Indianapolis.
Colorado pulled within 68-66 on McKinley Wright IV’s 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left and had a chance when Oregon State’s Roman Silva hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1.7 seconds left. Wright’s halfcourt heave sailed over the backboard, sending the Beavers charging onto the floor.
Wright led Colorado with 18 points.
The underdog Beavers were given little shot outside of Corvallis, overlooked, underappreciated and picked to look up at the rest of the league.
Coach Wayne Tinkle promised his team wouldn’t finish last and they proved him right, winning 10 conference games to finish sixth.
The Beavers clawed their way out of a 16-point hole to beat UCLA in the conference tournament opener and reached their first Pac-12 title game since 1988 by upending top-seeded Oregon.
Oregon State opened the title game with a 3-point spree, hitting six of its first nine and had an early nine-point lead. A cooling trend followed, yet the Beavers still made half their shots for 33-28 halftime lead.
Oregon State kept making shots — mostly inside — and survived a six-minute stretch with Thompson on the bench to stay in front. The Beavers had some tense moments late, but can call themselves conference tournament champions for the first time.
Colorado was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll despite the return of Wright, one of the toughest, steadiest guards in college basketball.
Behind Wright and big man Evan Battey, Colorado finished third in the Pac-12, then had a pair of down-to-the-wire wins over California and No. 23 USC in the conference tournament.
The Buffaloes had a hard time slowing the Beavers in the first half of the title game, but also hit half their shot (13 of 26) to stay within reach at halftime.
Wright helped keep Oregon State within reach down to the wire, but came up one shot short.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State completed an unexpected run to its first conference title with confident offensive game against one of the Pac-12’s best defensive teams.
The Buffaloes kept hanging around after falling behind early and nearly pulled off the comeback.
UP NEXT
Oregon State will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.
Colorado also should get an NCAA Tournament nod.
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