Cougars sitting in Pac-12 cellar
<p>Washington State'S Brock Motum (12), DaVonte Lacy (3) and Junior Longrus watch the action from the bench during the first half Wednesday night at Pullman. The Cougars lost to Oregon State 67-66.</p>
PULLMAN (AP) - Roberto Nelson had 17 points and Oregon State held off a late-game surge to beat Washington State 67-66 on Wednesday night.
Oregon State lost a 15-point second-half lead after the Cougars went on a late 20-6 run. D.J Shelton hit back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the run to pull the Cougars within 64-63 with a minute remaining. Washington State hit six consecutive 3s during the stretch.
"Part of the reason it was interesting is because we haven't won one like this. We were trying a little too hard, so you make some aggressive mistakes out there," Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said.
Nelson's tip-in on the next possession put the Beavers up 66-63.
"We have been through this enough where we were able to gather ourselves right there at the end and make that play down here. That offensive rebound was just unbelievable. See, three games ago, we wouldn't make that play. Shoot, one game ago we wouldn't," Robinson said.
Washington State had a good look at a tying 3-pointer but missed. Langs Morris-Walker pulled down the rebound, and the Cougars were forced to foul. Morris-Walker went 1 of 2 from the free-throw line before Devonte Lacy hit a meaningless 3 at the buzzer.
Eric Moreland added 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Challe Barton scored 11 points and hit three 3-pointers, for Oregon State (13-12, 3-9 Pac-12).
DaVonte Lacy had a career high 27 points and hit seven 3-pointers, and Brock Motum added 16 points, for Washington State (11-14, 2-10).
"Nice to see (Lacy) shoot well," Washington State coach Ken Bone said. "He has been shooting the 3 with confidence. I would have liked to have run a play to get DaVonte the ball in that last possession, but it was hard when they had a few fouls to give. It is just hard to manufacture a shot in that situation."
Washington State shot only 34 percent in the first half, but the Cougars were 14 of 24 from the floor after halftime. Oregon State shot 45 percent for the game and outrebounded the Cougars 34-24.
The loss, Washington State's fifth straight, put the Cougars alone in last place in the conference.
Washington State hosts No. 23 Oregon on Saturday.
OREGON ST. (13-12)
Burton 3-5 2-3 8, Moreland 5-7 1-2 11, Starks 2-9 0-0 5, Barton 4-5 0-1 11, Nelson 6-12 3-4 17, Robbins 0-1 0-0 0, Morris-Walker 0-1 1-2 1, Schaftenaar 2-5 0-0 6, Reid 0-1 0-0 0, Collier 2-7 4-4 8. Totals 24-53 11-16 67.
WASHINGTON ST. (11-14)
Motum 6-15 2-2 16, Shelton 3-7 0-0 8, Lacy 8-11 4-4 27, Woolridge 3-6 2-2 10, Kernich-Drew 1-4 0-0 3, Leavitt 0-1 0-0 0, DiIorio 0-0 0-0 0, Longrus 1-2 0-0 2, Ballard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 8-8 66.
Halftime_Oregon St. 33-26. 3-Point Goals_Oregon St. 8-20 (Barton 3-4, Schaftenaar 2-5, Nelson 2-5, Starks 1-5, Morris-Walker 0-1), Washington St. 14-28 (Lacy 7-9, Woolridge 2-4, Motum 2-6, Shelton 2-6, Kernich-Drew 1-3). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Oregon St. 34 (Moreland 14), Washington St. 24 (Shelton 6). Assists_Oregon St. 11 (Starks 4), Washington St. 14 (Leavitt 5). Total Fouls_Oregon St. 12, Washington St. 15. A_4,167.