In what started as a lopsided game favored towards the Houston Cougars, the Beavers’ 17-point comeback run fell short in a 67-61 loss that eliminated the team from the 2021 NCAA Tournament on Monday.

It was an improbable run for this year’s Beaver Men’s Basketball team as they were originally projected to finish last in the PAC-12 during the pre-season, and then made it to finish as a top eight seed in the nation.

Houston defended the Beavers the toughest out of anyone this tournament throughout, as the Cougars forced Oregon State into 10 turnovers, while the Beavers gave up over double the amount of the offensive rebounds in the game, which resulted in double digit second chance points from Houston’s offense.

Senior guard Ethan Thompson ends his season scoring 11 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and dishing out six assists in what could be his last game in a Beaver uniform. Finishing seventh in the all-time scoring for Oregon State, Thompson has made more than an impact on the team for four seasons.

Houston was led in the contest by their two starting guards, with sophomore Marcus Sasser leading the game in scoring with 20 points and his backcourt-mate DeJon Jarreau right behind him scoring 18 points of his own.

This ends the improbable run that Oregon State had going on to end their season, winning the PAC-12 Tournament for the first time in school history, and becoming the second 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament to make the Elite Eight.