Oregon edges Washington State
Aaron Brooks returned from a suspension to score 31 points and help No. 7 Oregon defeat No. 20 Washington State, 77-74, in overtime Saturday night at Pullman, Wash., to claim sole possession of second place in the Pacific 10 Conference.
Brooks, the conference’s leading scorer, surpassed his 18.4-point average as the Ducks (19-2, 7-2) battled back in overtime after trailing for all but the final second of regulation. He was benched for disciplinary reasons when Oregon lost to Washington, 89-77, on Thursday night.
Maarty Leunen made two free throws with 0.5 of a second left to tie the score at 64-64 and force overtime. The Ducks ran off 10 unanswered points in the extra period to take a 74-64 lead.
Oregon trailed, 60-51, with four minutes remaining in regulation, but Brooks and Tajuan Porter made three-point baskets to bring the Ducks to within two before Aron Baynes fouled Leunen, who was the game’s leading rebounder with 10.
Derrick Low led the Cougars (17-4, 6-3) with 37 points. It was the first game in which Washington State was ranked and hosting a ranked opponent since 1950.
Oregon trailed, 61-53, when Washington State’s Ivory Clark fouled out with 3:15 remaining in regulation, and the Ducks went on a 9-3 run, capped by a three-pointer by Porter.
The Ducks stripped the ball from Robbie Cowgill and Brooks pushed it up the floor and passed to Taylor, who passed it to Leunen.
Washington 91, Oregon State 74 -- Jon Brockman matched his career high with 25 points at Seattle to help the Huskies complete their first weekend conference sweep this season.
The Huskies (13-7, 3-6), who upset Oregon on Thursday night, 89-77, are 13-1 at home but 0-6 on the road. Brockman, the 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, had been averaging 13.2 points.
The Beavers (9-13, 1-8) have lost four in a row.
Back-to-back three-point plays by 7-foot freshman center Spencer Hawes and Brockman built Washington’s lead to 62-45 with 14:10 remaining. The Huskies led by as many as 25 points before the coaches put in the reserves.