CORVALLIS, Ore. — A pair of back-to-back 3-pointers with under three minutes left boosted Oregon State and resulted in another late letdown for UCLA.
Tres Tinkle had 16 points and the Beavers snapped a two-game losing streak with a 69-63 victory over the Bruins on Thursday night at Gill Coliseum.
Stephen Thompson Jr. and Drew Eubanks each added 12 points for Oregon State (11-7, 3-3 Pac-12), which finished with all five starters in double figures.
Aaron Holiday led UCLA (13-6, 4-3) with 22 points, and Thomas Welsh added 10 points and 13 rebounds but was 4 for 13 from the field. The Bruins have now lost as many games in league play as they did all of last season when a Lonzo Ball-led squad went 15-3 in the Pac-12.
UCLA erased an eight-point deficit to tie the score at 48-48 after a layup from Alex Olesinski with 9:37 left. Thompson answered with a layup for the Beavers to keep the Bruins from pulling ahead.
The Bruins took a 54-53 lead on Chris Smith’s layup with 6:40 to go and both teams wrestled for the advantage down the stretch. Kris Wilkes’ layup put the Bruins up 58-57, but Seth Berger’s basket put the Beavers back in front with 3:42 to go.
Tinkle’s 3-pointer gave the Beavers a 62-60 lead before Thompson added his own 3-pointer with 2:16 left.
“I think that maybe burst a bubble a little bit (for UCLA),” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. “But we didn’t lose our composure defensively. They were attacking. They’re such a talented team with so many weapons, that until that final five or six seconds, we knew we didn’t have it in the bag. ”
After Eubanks’ dunk for Oregon State, Wilkes hit a 3-pointer for UCLA to close the gap to 67-63 with 27 seconds left, but the Beavers closed it out with a pair of free throws.
UCLA coach Steve Alford agreed those two 3-pointers were crucial as the Beavers outscored the Bruins 10-5 over the last 3:42.
“I thought we did a good job on them all night long, but they made two clutch shots in the final three minutes,” Alford said.
The pace was slow throughout the first half, with the score knotted at 13 with 7:48 to go after a layup from UCLA’s Chris Smith. Kendal Manuel put Oregon State ahead with a 3-pointer.
Thompson and Eubanks hit back-to-back layups to put Oregon State up 31-26 at the break, and Berger’s basket to open the second half pushed the Beavers’ margin to seven points.
The pace favored Oregon State, which went into the game holding opponents to 65.2 points to lead the Pac-12. On the other side, UCLA was averaging 84 points per game, second in the Pac-12.
Holiday, who scored just four points in the first half, had seven in the first five minutes of the second. But UCLA struggled to close the gap until Holiday’s 3-pointer got the Bruins within 41-38.
Berger’s 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Thompson stretched Oregon State’s lead to 48-40.
Olesinski fouled out with 5:12 left in the game.
“We know in this conference we’ve got to win games at home, so we’ve got to do whatever it takes,” Tres Tinkle said afterward. “We have a great crowd that’s behind us, but that said, moving forward with games here and on the road we have to know what it takes, know what to do to close games out, and get a win.”
UCLA followed arguably its worst offensive outing of the season – a 68-59 home loss to Colorado last Saturday – with another frustrating effort. The Bruins made only 37.1 percent of their shots overall and were 7 for 23 from 3-point range. They were also outplayed inside, giving up 18 offensive rebounds and getting outscored 33-22 in the paint, and most importantly, they came up empty late.
“Loved our energy. Loved how we competed. We just didn’t finish either half,” Alford said.
The consecutive losses have come on the heels of a 19-point victory over Utah that Alford said was one of UCLA’s best of the season.
UCLA’s season has been inconsistent following the season-long suspension of Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, and the departure of LiAngelo Ball following a team trip to China where the three were arrested for shoplifting.
The Beavers lost 62-53 to then-No. 17 Arizona before a second loss to then-No. 11 Arizona State last Saturday.
BIG PICTURE
The Bruins were without Ike Okwarabizie because of a concussion. … Oregon State’s Tres Tinkle has scored in double figures in all the Beavers’ games this season. … Tinkle lso had six rebounds, while Eubanks finished with seven.
UP NEXT
The Bruins head south on Saturday to face Oregon, which lost to USC 75-70 earlier on Thursday.
The Beavers will host the Trojans on Saturday.