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Josh Tarver scored seven points and snagged two steals in the Beavers' game Saturday and hopes OSU can carry the positives from the game to the Civil War at Oregon this coming weekend.

No. 9 Cougars steal win from Beavers in Gill

Washington State struggles against Oregon State much of game but pulls out late win

By: Frank Hoaglin

Posted: 2/26/07

After trailing by as much as eight in the second half, the No. 9 Washington State Cougars fought back and took their first lead of the game with 8:17 left and went on to defeat the Oregon State Beavers 58-54 Saturday night at Gill Coliseum.

"This is a tough loss for us because we know we should have won it," said Beaver guard Wesley Washington, who had nine points and four assists. "It's just minor details that we didn't execute in the second half."

Cougar center Aron Baynes came off the bench to lead Washington State with 14 points - all in the last 10:43 - while adding six rebounds. Baynes brought the Cougs within one with a thunderous inside dunk and tied the game with the extra foul shot after a foul by Marcel Jones.

"Aron Baynes elevated their entire team to this victory," said OSU coach Jay John. "Other guys did what they do. Aron Baynes won the game, and we helped with not converting opportunities that we got."

Oregon State shot just 52 percent from the free throw line and 38 percent from the field, with a dismal 27 percent from the field in the second half.

"We didn't convert our opportunities," John said. "We had some good looks at the basket. We had some layups, albeit, in traffic, but no conversions."

The Beavers were led by forward Marcel Jones' 16 points. Jones also grabbed six rebounds. Senior Kyle Jeffers, playing his last game at Gill Coliseum, added 10 rebounds, the fifth time this season he has recorded double-digit boards.

"We played hard and I think everyone gave it their all," Jeffers said. "We just had minor details that we needed to take care of that we didn't necessarily do throughout the game, and it caught up with us in the end."

Washington State center Robbie Cowgill added 12 points and six rebounds for the Cougs, while guard Derrick Low chipped in 10 points.

The Beavers took a quick 7-0 lead to open the game, while holding the Cougars scoreless for the first three and a half minutes. OSU would lead by no more than seven the rest of the game, and went into the locker room at halftime with a five-point advantage.

Baynes shot 8-for-11 from the free throw line, including four in the final minute and a half to seal the win for the Cougars, who are making a push for a high seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

"They are a very good team, we are a very good team," said John. "They close games, we still have work to do on that."

Oregon State has Thursday off, but looks to take down No. 24 Oregon in the Civil War Saturday at McArthur Court at 3 p.m.