Pac-12 basketball: No. 24 San Diego State beats No. 23 Arizona State; Portland shocks Oregon State

Jordan Schakel scored 25 points, Nathan Mensah had 17 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 24 San Diego State dominated inside to beat No. 23 Arizona State 80-68 Thursday night.

The Sun Devils (3-2) got volume-scoring guard Alonzo Verge Jr. back after he missed two games during to COVID-19 contact tracing but were without forward Marcus Bagley due to a lower left leg injury suffered Saturday against Cal.

San Diego State (5-0) already had a size advantage inside, and Bagley’s absence turned it into an even bigger strength.

The Aztecs outscored Arizona State 36-9 in the paint and scored 17 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds. San Diego State pulled away with an 18-2 run in the second half to stretch the nation’s longest road winning streak to 13 straight games.

The Sun Devils were pushed to the perimeter most of the night by the bigger Aztecs and, despite a couple of nice runs, didn’t make enough outside shots. Arizona State shot 34% and missed 11 straight shots during a key stretch in the second half.

Verge led the Sun Devils with 25 points.

The Aztecs were without three players due to contact tracing, though only Keshad Johnson was expected to be part of the rotation.

Bagley’s loss was a bigger one for the Sun Devils, leaving them without their top rebounder.

San Diego State took advantage, scoring 12 points off six offensive rebounds midway through the first half. The 6-10 Mensah had his way inside with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half to give the Aztecs a 35-33 lead.

Arizona State missed 11 of its first 15 shots before finding a better offensive rhythm and cleaned up the defensive glass better to rally from an early 12-point deficit.

The Sun Devils struggled against San Diego State’s defensive pressure early in the second half and began turning the ball over, leading to a series of transition baskets during a 13-0 Aztecs run.

Arizona State had a stretch of eight minutes without a field goal as San Diego State stretched the lead to 59-45.

Portland 87, Oregon State 86, OT

Ahmed Ali scored 26 points, Eddie Davis added 22 and Portland stunned Oregon State with an 87-86 win in overtime on Thursday night.

Ali’s contested 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and the shot clocking winding down gave Portland an 86-82 lead to seal it.

Ali finished two points short of his career high set in an 86-73 win against Portland State on Saturday. Portland (4-1) has won four straight.

The Pilots weren’t even given an exemption from the state of Oregon and Oregon Health Authority to hold full contact practice until Sunday, Nov. 22, just three days before the season officially started.

Oregon State (2-3) has dropped three straight by a combined total of eight points.

Portland led 36-29 at halftime before Oregon State emerged from the break with a 13-5 run for a 42-41 lead.

Ethan Thompson made a pair of foul shots for the Beavers with 6:31 remaining in regulation and Oregon State led 60-52. The Pilots countered and proceeded to outscore Oregon State 19-11 down the stretch and tied it at 71 when Isiah Dasher made a 3-pointer with 41 seconds to go. Both teams missed shots in the final seconds to force overtime.

Portland never trailed in overtime.

Thompson led the Beavers with a career-high 31 points.

Despite a 7-61 record in the West Coast Conference in the last four years, Portland coach Terry Porter moved his record to 2-0 against the Pac-12 Conference Beavers.

It was the first game in four years between the two schools. The Pilots beat Oregon State 53-45 on Dec. 18, 2016 at the Moda Center in Portland.

The win was just the fifth ever for Portland in Corvallis, Oregon.