No. 6 Arizona’s defense smothers Oregon State for 57-34 victory

Brandon Ashley scored 12 points and T.J. McConnell had a career-high eight steals to spark No. 6 Arizona’s smothering defense, lifting the Wildcats to a 57-34 victory over Oregon State on Friday night.

Arizona (20-2, 8-1) held Oregon, the Pac-12’s top-scoring team, to 56 points on Wednesday and was even better against the methodical Beavers.

The Wildcats limited Oregon State to 28% shooting and shut down Beavers leading scorer Gary Payton II to win their 34th straight home game.

McConnell also had seven points and six assists, while Elliott Pitts hit a couple of big shots in the second half for the Wildcats.

Oregon State (14-7, 5-4) handed Arizona its only conference loss earlier this month by attacking Arizona’s defense. The Beavers were the ones on their heels in the rematch, unable to get anything to fall inside or out, finishing three for 15 from three-point range.

Oregon 68, at Arizona State 67 (OT): Joseph Young shook off a poor shooting night to hit a jumper with 25.6 seconds left in overtime to give the Ducks a victory over the Sun Devils. Young was three for 11 from the field before his midrange jumper gave him 14 points. Elgin Cook added 22 points as Oregon bounced back from its worst loss of the season two days earlier at Arizona.