Oregon dominates second half, beats OSU 85-75

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 an 85-75 win over Oregon State on 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, a half-game ahead of UCLA (11-4).

"That's a good win for our team," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "We really battled back in the second half and made some plays. Oregon State's effort was outstanding in the first half, and in the second half they just didn't hit the shots they made in the first half."

Carlos Emory led the Ducks (23-6) with 21 points while Arsalan Kazemi had 17 points and 12 rebounds. Tony Woods added 16 points and Johnathan Loyd had 12.

Roberto Nelson finished with 31 points for the Beavers (13-16) while Devon Collier added 14.

Oregon State built a 41-34 halftime lead when Nelson beat the buzzer with a three-pointer.

"At halftime, you could see how disappointed the guys were," Altman said. "We weren't very sharp. We are still in the conference race and I reminded them that we had a lot to play for."

Early in the second half, Emory hit a three-pointer and then three free throws when he was fouled attempting a three-pointer. That pulled the Ducks within 46-44 with 15:36 left.

The Beavers took a 52-48 lead on a free throw by Nelson with 13:12 left before Oregon scored seven straight to regain 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.

Woods had a dunk to push Oregon's lead to 57-52 before 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 to play.

Woods added a free throw and E.J. Singler made a layup to stretch the lead to 64-54 with 8:54 left. Oregon State closed within 72-64 on a pair of free throws by Collier with 4:49 to play, but Emory answered with a three-point play for the Ducks with 4:18 remaining.

"When you are playing a team in the Top 25 and going for a Pac-12 championship, you can't play just one half in the game," OSU coach Craig Robinson said. "We played a good first half, but in the second half we were tentative and turned the ball over."

Oregon took an early 12-7 lead on a basket by Emory, but Eric Moreland followed with a basket for Oregon State before Nelson hit a jumper. Dotson answered with a jumper for Oregon, but Moreland made a free throw and Nelson tied the game 14-14 with 12:38 left in the half.

The 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 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 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 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 he beat the halftime buzzer with a three-pointer to put Oregon State ahead 41-34 and finish the half with 22 points.

"Down seven, I had full confidence in our guys," Singler said. "I knew we would regroup in the second half, and we did. We came out and played real good on defense in the second half and got turnovers and executed on offense."

NOTES: Artis had missed nine games with a foot injury. After starting Oregon's first 19 games, Artis came off the bench against OSU. ... Dotson went down hard after a foul in the first half and had to be helped to the locker room. He did not return ... 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. ... Nelson, whose 18.6 points in Pac-12 games leads the conference, became the 38th player in school history to surpass 1,000 points.