Oregon State escapes halftime hole, beats UC Davis

Field Level Media|published: Fri 1st December, 24:38 2023

Nov 22, 2023; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Oregon State Beavers head coach Wayne Tinkle at Barclay Center. credits: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Chol Marial recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds to help Oregon State break a three-game skid with a 71-59 victory over UC Davis on Thursday night at Corvallis, Ore.

Dexter Akanno scored 16 points and Jordan Pope added 15 for the Beavers (4-3), who overcame 22 turnovers. Oregon State trailed 32-27 at halftime but outscored UC Davis 44-27 in the second half.

Kane Milling had 11 points and three steals and Leo DeBruhl added 10 points before fouling out for the Aggies (3-3).

UC Davis connected on just 35.8 percent of its field-goal attempts and was 4 of 22 (18.2 percent) from behind the arc. Elijah Pepper entered the contest with a team-best 22.8-point scoring average, but he had just nine points on 2-of-13 shooting while also accumulating five steals.

Oregon State made 47.7 percent of its shots, including 5 of 13 (38.5 percent) from 3-point range.

Pepper knocked down a 3-pointer early in the second half to give UC Davis a 37-30 lead before Oregon State erupted with 14 consecutive points.

Pope began the run with a 3-pointer, and Marial followed with a dunk. After Pope split two free throws, Marial converted a three-point play to give the Beavers a 39-37 edge with 12:10 left in the game.

Akanno added a 3-pointer and Josiah Lake II stole the ball and drove for a layup to end the run and make it 44-37 with 10:15 left.

Akanno converted a three-point lead to make it 51-41 with 7:47 remaining.

Oregon State led by 11 before UC Davis received a 3-pointer from Milling and a putback from Ty Johnson to move within 54-48 with 5:55 left.

The margin was later seven before Akanno made two free throws and Christian Wright converted a three-point play to give the Beavers a 67-55 advantage with 2:10 remaining. Pope added a jumper 39 seconds later to make it a 14-point lead as Oregon State closed it out.

The Beavers led 25-17 with 6:44 left in the first half before the Aggies went on a 15-1 run.

Sam Manu's layup tied the score at 26 with 2:22 remaining. DeBruhl and Francesco Borra followed with baskets before Mauu's jumper with 26 seconds left made it 32-26 to cap the burst.

Michael Rataj split two free throws with one second left to leave the Beavers trailing by five at the break.

—Field Level Media

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