Despite their final efforts, Oregon State Men’s Basketball was not able to keep Arizona State at bay, ending the game at 73-74 in favor of the Sun Devils, on Feb. 22 in Tempe, Ariz. 

This is the seventh consecutive game win for Arizona State, propelling them into the first-place seed in the PAC-12 with a season record of 19-8 and 10-4 in the PAC-12. It is the first time since the 1980-81 season that Arizona State has kept a conference game winning streak this deep into the season. 

Oregon State was able to hold Arizona State to one field goal during the last six minutes. A three-pointer in the last minute from Oregon State freshman guard Jarod Lucas closed the gap to only one point, giving the Beavers a chance to win. Yet, Arizona State survived as OSU’s three-point final attempt by Lucas’ in the last 2 seconds of the game rimmed out.

“I’m super proud of the guys,” Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle said in a post-game Beaver Sports Network radio interview. “It just hurts. I hurt so bad for these guys. Great effort, though.”

Oregon State had two players in double digits, OSU senior guard Tres Tinkle had 25 points and nine rebounds and OSU junior guard Ethan Thompson had 20 points and seven assists. 

Oregon State is now ranked 11th in the PAC-12 with a record of 15-12 for the season and 5-10 in the PAC-12.

Arizona State had five players in double digits in junior forward Kimani Lawrence, redshirt junior forward Romello White, junior guard Remy Martin, redshirt senior guard Rob Edwards and junior guard Alonzo Verge Jr. 

The Sun Devils were led by Martin and Verge with 17 points each. 

“I got my teammates pushing me, I got them instilling confidence in me. I don’t even think about it no more, soon as I catch it I can just let it go,” Arizona State junior forward Kimani Lawrence said.

A strong performance by the Sun Devils left head coach Bobby Hurley hopeful for the rest of the season. 

“We have not peaked yet,” Hurley said. “That’s a good feeling this time of year. When you see that type of energy and effort, and how hard the guys played, and the shot-making, you know how desperately they want to win.” Bobby Hurley said.

The Beavers hit 10 three-pointers, an all-time high during a conference game this season.

“Jarod is hurting right now because he wants to make that shot. We just said, ‘Jarod, we win as a team and we lose as a team,” Tinkle said.

The Beavers will be looking for redemption Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. at Oregon for the final matchup of the season’s Civil War series.