Oregon State Beavers win Pac-12 Championship, advance to NCAA Tournament

The Oregon State Beavers, picked to finish last in the Pac-12 preseason media poll, won the Pac-12 Tournament Championship for the first time in program history Saturday night, edging Colorado 70-68.

The Beavers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.  They were playing in the conference title game for the second time in program history and the first time since 1988.

Roman Silva made a free-throw with 1.2 seconds left, and a Colorado desperation three-point heave missed, sending the Beavers to the Big Dance.

The Beavs got an Ethan Thompson jumper to lead 61-57, then capitalized on an offensive rebound from a missed free-throw that ended up with a Lucas three-pointer for a 64-57 lead with 3:40 remaining.  But the Buffs responded with a three-pointer of their own after an OSU missed layup to cut the deficit to 64-61 with 2:17 left.

Oregon State led Colorado 33-28 at halftime thanks to hitting on 6 three-pointers, while the Buffs didn’t make a single triple in the opening half.  Colorado, an elite free-throw shooting team all season, was just 2-for-6 from the line in the first half, and finished making only 12 of their 20 free throws for the game.

More to come.