Oregon 85, Oregon State 75
EUGENE, Ore. -- No. 24 Oregon rallied in the second half to move back into sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 Conference with a 85-75 win over Oregon State Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks trailed by seven at halftime, but outscored Oregon State 51-34 in the second half despite playing without starting guard Damyean Dotson, who left with an injury in the first half. Oregon improved to 12-4 in the conference, one-half game ahead of UCLA (11-4).
Carlos Emory led the Ducks with 21 points while Arsalan Kazemi had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Tony Woods added 16 points for the Ducks while Johnathan Loyd had 12 points.
Oregon State built a 41-34 halftime lead when Roberto Nelson beat the buzzer with a three-pointer and the Beavers stretched the lead to 46-38 on a free throw by Nelson early in the second half.
Emory answered with a three-pointer for Oregon and then he was fouled attempting a three-pointer and made all three shots to get the Ducks within 46-44 with 15:36 left to play.
The Beavers took a 52-48 lead on a free throw by Nelson with 13:12 left in the game before Oregon scored seven straight to go back into the lead.
Emory made a jumper before Kazemi made a pair of free throws to tie the game 52-52. Dominic Artis followed with a three-pointer to put the Ducks ahead 55-52 with 11:29 left to play.
Woods had a dunk to push Oregon's lead to 57-52 before Devon Collier made a pair of free throws for OSU. Woods and Kazemi followed with back-to-back dunks that gave Oregon a 61-54 lead with 9:46 left to play.
Woods added a free throw and E.J. Singler made a lay-up to stretch the lead to 64-54 with 8:54 left to play. Oregon State closed within 72-64 on a pair of free throws by Collier with 4:49 left to play, but Emory answered with a three-point play for the Ducks with 4:18 remaining.
Oregon took an early 12-7 lead on a basket by Carlos Emory, but Eric Moreland followed with a basket for Oregon State before Roberto Nelson hit a jumper. Damyean Dotson answered with a jumper for Oregon, but Moreland made a free throw and Nelson added a basket to tie the game 14-14 with 12:38 left in the half.
The two teams traded the lead a few times as Oregon State went ahead 19-18 on a jumper by Ahmad Starks, but Oregon answered with baskets by Johnathan Loyd and Dotson to go ahead 22-19. Oregon State went back into the lead at 23-22 when Moreland made two free throws and dunk.
Emory made another jumper to give Oregon the lead, but Devon Collier answered with a rebound basket to put OSU ahead 25-24.
Oregon took its last lead of the half at 29-25 on a basket by E.J. Singler, but Oregon State answered with nine straight points. Nelson converted a three-point play and added a jumper before Collier scored inside. Nelson added a lay-up to put Oregon State ahead 34-29 and later he beat the halftime buzzer with a three-pointer to put Oregon State ahead 41-34 and finish the half with 22 points.
NOTES: Oregon freshman point guard Dominic Artis returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a foot injury. After starting Oregon's first 19 games, Artis came off the bench against OSU. ... Oregon freshman Damyean Dotson went down hard after a foul in the first half and had to be helped to the locker room. ... Oregon senior forward E.J. Singler moved into second place in school history by playing in his 134th game. If he stays healthy, he will break the record of 136 set by Garrett Sim last year. ... Oregon State junior Roberto Nelson, whose 18.6 points in Pac-12 games leads the conference, became the 38th player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points during the first half.
