Oregon State
Oregon
Oregon State Drops Rival Ducks, 76-71, in 336th Civil War
January 29, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2012
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
EUGENE, Ore. - Jared Cunningham led a ferocious Oregon State rally that saw the Beavers score 53 second-half points to drop intrastate rival Oregon, 76-71, in the 336th edition of the Civil War Series, presented by the Northwest Ford Dealers and PacificSource Health Plan, Sunday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena.
"We haven't won here very often," Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. "It's hard to win here. I thought we were being too conservative in the first half. For most of these guys this was only their second Civil War game. I'm still nervous coming down here. This was a big game for our team and our fans. I told these guys, `when you get halfway through your conference schedule you're not your year anymore. So let's stop leaning on how young we are'. That's what I told them; I didn't know if it was going to work."
Cunningham scored 24 points in the second half, going 5-of-7 from the field and 6-of-8 from the stripe in the final two minutes, to finish with a game-high 27 points and become just the 36th Oregon State player to score 1,000 career points.
"I told Jared that our best player will help us win games on the road," Robinson said about his junior guard. "So not only did he have the pressure he was putting on himself, but I put that added pressure on him."
With the win, Oregon State snapped a 13-game conference road losing streak that dated back to two years ago when the Beavers won their final Pac-10 road game of the season, 49-44, over USC on Feb. 27, 2010 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
"It's our rival school and it was a big game and a great crowd," Cunningham said. "We had a lot of Beaver fans out there. I think we turned the corner with this win, winning our first road game, especially with it being the Civil War game. It means a lot to Beaver Nation."
The Beavers (14-7, 4-5 Pac-12) scored 23 first half points, their fewest in a half this season, and trailed 28-23 at the break before coming out on fire in the second half when they forced 13 turnovers with seven steals and went on a 31-13 run to take a 61-49 lead with 6:54 to play.
Oregon (15-6, 6-3) cut the lead to 73-70 in the final minute but E.J. Singler missed a three-pointer that would have tied the game and the Ducks turned the ball over after getting the offensive rebound. Cunningham, Roberto Nelson and Ahmad Starks each split a pair of free throws and Singler knocked down one with 11 seconds to play for the final margin.
Starks scored 12 second half points to finish with 15 and knocked down 4-of-8 three-pointers to give him a triple in 20 of 21 games this season, including at least one in 18 consecutive games. Devon Collier played his typical consistent game, going 5-of-7 from the field to finish with 13 points, while Joe Burton had 10 points and five rebounds.
Eric Moreland had a career-high four steals at the top of the 1-3-1 defense and senior team captain Kevin McShane provided his usual high-energy off the bench when he picked up a loose ball and was fouled.
Oregon State returns to action on Thursday when it plays new Pac-12 member Colorado at 6 p.m. PT in Boulder, Colo., in a game that won't be televised but will be streamed live at cubuffs.com.
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