Some things that are significant about the number 12: it’s the number of eggs in a carton, the number of drummers drumming in the Christmas carol, and the number of angry men who served on a jury in Reginald Rose’s 1954 teleplay.
Sunday, it was the number of minutes Oregon State kept Washington from a field goal en route to a 64-50 win, to start 14-0 at Gill Coliseum for the first time in the program’s history. The Beavers improve to 7-4 Pac-12 (16-7 overall) with the win, and move into a three-way tie for third place with Oregon and Stanford.
During the first half, the Huskies couldn’t buy a basket, scoring only five field goals on 17 attempts. The Beavers didn’t fare much better, completing only eight of 18, and missing all six attempts from 3-point range. OSU’s spotty offense allowed UW’s Nigel Williams-Goss and Andrew Andrews to chip away at the early lead and enter the half down three, at 21-18.
That was the closest UW came to catching up; the Huskies never led through the entire 40 minutes. OSU held UW to its lowest point total of the season, and 35.7 percent shooting from the floor. In a game where both teams had trouble holding onto the ball, the Huskies committed 22 turnovers. Some were created by UW’s poor communication, some created by the whistle-happy officiating staff, and some created by Gary Payton II knocking the ball free.
Payton II’s ability to cause chaos, and his omnipresence on the floor Sunday was a consistent problem for the Huskies. He generated five of OSU’s 11 steals, and added five rebounds and one block to a monstrous afternoon.
OSU also found some unusual offensive firepower in the second half, again led by Payton II, who finished with 17 points. Malcolm Duvivier followed with 14 points, and Jarmal Reid had another impressive performance off the bench with 12.
More than once, the crowd started chanting, “Where is Upshaw?” The former UW center was leading the nation in blocked shots before he was dismissed from the team two weeks ago. His presence was noticeably absent, as most of OSU’s points came from the paint – the Beavers shot only 1-for-9 from the perimeter.
With 7.5 seconds left in the second half, Payton II skipped past five idle defenders to slam down the exclamation point. It was a “this is our house” sort of statement that sent the 9,114 in attendance in an uproar.
The Beavers leave the comforts of home this week for Southern California, and face UCLA first, Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins are seeking revenge after a 66-55 loss to OSU in Corvallis last month, and a stunner against Cal last Saturday. The Beavers are in the running for a first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament in March, but will need to pick up a few tough road wins down the stretch to remain a factor. The real test at home will come Feb. 19, when No. 13 Utah visits Corvallis.
But, for now, Gill is well protected.
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