OSU ends 27-game losing skid in Tucson
Oregon State beats Arizona for the first time at the McKale Center since 1983.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Long ago, in those distant days before silver-haired Lute Olson prowled the Arizona sidelines in one victory after another, Oregon State beat the Wildcats in Tucson.
On Saturday, it finally happened again.
The Beavers' 63-55 stunner was accomplished with a methodical offense and a hard-nosed 1-3-1 zone defense that frustrated the young talent of first-year Wildcats coach Sean Miller.
It was the Beavers' first victory in Tucson in 27 years.
"It feels good," Oregon State's Calvin Haynes said, munching on a post-game snack. "It makes the gum in my mouth feel better, it sure makes this pizza taste a lot better."
Second-year coach Craig Robinson called it perhaps the biggest win yet for a program he is trying to restore to the greatness it enjoyed two decades ago.
"Our fans remember" Robinson said. "We are trying to get back to those days."
With a road win like this, maybe Robinson can expect a congratulatory call from his brother-in-law President Obama.
"This place is so hard to win at on an ordinary day, let alone with a 27-year streak or whatever it is going against you," Robinson said. "They should really savor and enjoy this win. This place has been one of the best homecourt advantages in college sports and in the history of college basketball."
The loss knocked the Wildcats (13-12, 7-6 Pac-10) out of a second-place tie with Arizona State in the Pac-10.
"From a coaching standpoint this is probably the worst I've ever felt," Miller said. "It's our job to get our guys ready and make sure everyone is on the same page. Today, that didn't happen. It's as disappointing as can be."
Roeland Schaftenaar led Oregon State with 14 points, while
Jamelle Horne led Arizona with 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Derrick Williams added 13 points and Kevin Parrom 12. The
Wildcats' senior leader Nic Wise made 1 of 11 shots, 1 of 8 on 3-pointers, and managed five points.
Playing against the best 3-point shooting defense in the conference, Arizona made 4-of-23 3s in its second Pac-10 home loss of the season.
"I really felt we reverted to the team we were back in November or December," Miller said. "There was a big lack of effort from a number of players today."
The last Oregon State victory at Arizona came on Jan. 27, 1983, when the Ralph Miller-coached Beavers beat the Wildcats 72-54.
Olson became the Arizona coach one season later.
"It's huge, obviously," said who scored 22 points in the Beavers' 67-64 home victory over Arizona on Jan. 14. "We will probably realize what we did right and wrong later on, but it was just a really big win for us. We played the same good defense we played on Thursday, but tonight we just made a few more shots."
Oregon State (11-13, 6-7) shot a season-low 25 percent in its 56-46 loss at Arizona State on Thursday night.
On Saturday, the Beavers improved to 43 percent, 48 percent (13 of 27) in the second half. Arizona shot just under 40 percent.
"We played with a lot of toughness," Robinson said, something the inconsistent Beavers have lacked at times this season.
Oregon State led 35-25 after Tarver's jumper 4½ minutes into the second half, when the Wildcats finally mounted a rally.
Wise started it with a 3-pointer, his only field goal of the game, in a 12-2 run that tied the score at 37-37 on Parrom's layup with 10:07 to play, and the raucous, standing-room-only crowd at McKale Center was roaring.
But Tarver responded with a short jumper, and the gritty Beavers went on a 13-3 outburst to restore the 10-point lead, 50-40, on Jared Cunningham's inside basket with 5:18 to go.
"We didn't panic," Haynes said. "Coach does a good job of keeping us composed, even thought it got pretty loud in there."
The mistake-prone Wildcats cut the lead to 56-51 when Horne dunked a rebound with 39 seconds left but could get no closer.
Oregon State never trailed after taking a 19-18 lead and led 26-20 at the break.
"It was tough because we couldn't put it together on the defensive end when we needed to," said Parrom, one of five freshmen who are in the Arizona rotation. "It was frustrating when they kept going backdoor, but they just wanted it more than we did."
