No. 24 UCLA gives OSU fourth straight loss

For the third game in a row, the Oregon State men’s basketball team played well enough not to get embarrassed, but not well enough to come away with a win.

It looked like No. 24 UCLA was about to blow the game wide open several times during the second half, but the Beavers (10-7, 0-4 Pac-12) hung in there, only losing to the Bruins (15-3, 5-0), 74-64, Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Although the Beavers came out hot, hitting five of their first six shots, they went 5-for-26 to finish out the remaining 16 minutes of the first half. The Bruins took advantage of the Beavers’ shooting drought and never looked back.

On offense, Oregon State was led by junior guard Roberto Nelson, who finished with 17 points while shooting 50 percent from the field.

There were several opportunities for Oregon State to cut into UCLA’s lead but the Oregon State offense often looked stagnant, and the defense just couldn’t do enough to stop UCLA — the best scoring offense in the Pac-12 at 78.5 points per game.

Junior forward Devon Collier had one of his worst games of the season — scoring only nine points and committing five turnovers. That is his lowest point total since  Nov. 25, when he scored seven against Montana State. Collier, along with other starting big man Joe Burton, will surely benefit from the return of sophomore forward Eric Moreland on Saturday against USC.

 

Notable statistics from OSU’s 74-64 loss to No. 24 UCLA on Thursday night:

64 – Total points scored by the Beavers, the third time in four Pac-12 games they’ve failed to reach 70 points. Last year, OSU scored at least 70 points in 15 of 18 regular season Pac-12 contests.

26 – Points scored by OSU in the first half, the Beavers’ lowest total at halftime of any game this season.

14 – Combined points scored by Ahmad Starks and Devon Collier, their lowest total of the season. They entered the game averaging 27.7 points between the two of them.

7 – Number of field goals made by Roberto Nelson (7-14 FG), his third game this season with at least seven field goals made. All three of those games he’s shot 50 percent or better from the field.

6 – Number of Beavers with at least two turnovers. OSU finished the game with 17 turnovers total.

10 – Points scored by Olaf Schaftenaar, a career high.

9 – Three-pointers attempted by Olaf Schaftenaar in 18 minutes of action. Schaftenaar is shooting 30.8 percent from beyond the arc this season.

8 – Combined number of 3-pointers attempted by Roberto Nelson and Ahmad Starks. Nelson is shooting 45.3 percent from beyond the arc this season, and Starks is shooting 41.7 percent.

18 – Minutes played by Langston Morris-Walker, one game after playing 24 minutes versus Arizona. He played more than 13 minutes in just one of OSU’s first 14 games.

2 – UCLA outrebounded OSU by two, making it the fourth straight game the Beavers have been outrebounded.

57.1% - The Beavers’ free throw percentage (8-for-14). OSU entered the game second-to-last in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting at 65.5 percent.

14-9 – OSU’s lead with 4:58 into the game, before UCLA went on an 18-5 run over the next 7:44 to open up an eight-point lead.

19:45 – How much time was remaining in the game the last time OSU trailed by less than 10 points.