Oregon State
Chicago State
Nelson, Collier Lead Beavers Past Pesky Cougars, 87-77
December 16, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2012
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Roberto Nelson equaled his career high with 34 points and Devon Collier added 25 off the bench to lead Oregon State to an 87-77 win over Chicago State in front of 4,183 fans at Gill Coliseum Sunday night.
The Beavers improved to 7-2, with wins in five of their past six games, and remained perfect at home in five contests. Their only loss during the current run is a six-point setback (84-78) at then-No. 10 Kansas, but Oregon State Craig Robinson wasn't overly pleased with the effort against a Chicago State team that was more aggressive early in the game.
"That was an interesting game," Robinson said. "I am so happy we won that game. I don't think we played very well particularly in the first half and I'll take the blame for that. I've got to get our team more ready to play at the beginning of the game. I thought we were a little too careless and a little too lackadaisical at the beginning and a little too laissez-faire."
Nelson made 10-of-14 field goals, including a career-high six from beyond the arc, but needed three opportunities to tie his career best after missing two free throws and a layup in the final minutes. He got to 34 by knocking down a pair of free throws with nine seconds left in the game.
"I had no idea," Nelson said about getting close to his career high." I was just trying to go out there and convert on some of the free throws I was shooting and just try to do it on the read. The guys did a great job of penetrating and they had to help on them because we had a lot of threats when we were driving to the basket and I got some wide open shots there."
Robinson knew how important it was for Nelson to have a big game with some of his players having an off night. The junior guard had 20 of his 34 points in the second half.
"It was great that he was able to have a career day and we needed somebody to step up there," Robinson said. "Roberto answered the challenge and I know at halftime I really got into the guys about being prepared and stepping up for each other when guys weren't playing well. Roberto came out in that second half and he was just tremendous, and we needed every single point."
Oregon State overcame a shaky start, trailing by as many as seven points early in the contest at 13-6, before earning the lead for good at 23-21 on an Olaf Schaftenaar three-pointer at the 8:35 mark. The Beavers led by as many as 13 in the first half before settling for a 44-36 advantage at halftime.
The lead ballooned to as many as 23 points in the second half at 75-52 before Robinson inserted his four freshmen for several minutes down the stretch. After Nelson made the two free throws to tie his career high, Jamere Dismukes of Chicago State tossed in a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
"I really liked that second half with the freshmen giving us some really good minutes and some good experience in there," Robinson said.
Collier had his second straight 20-point game after getting 23 at Portland State on Wednesday. The lefty junior made 10-of-15 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds.
"I really feel that Devon does better when he can see what kind of game is going on before he gets in, so I think coming off the bench is helping him," Robinson said. "He may disagree but when you're as prolific in the low post as Devon is, if he's starting the game from the jump he is double-teamed or triple-teamed. If he is coming off the bench, there have been some other guys who have got going so he doesn't have to go right away. Then he can kind of wait to pick and choose his spots. So I think it has been easier for him to score coming off the bench."
Nelson scored 34 points the first time at Arizona State on March 5, 2011 to set an Oregon State freshman record. It equals the 11th-highest single-game scoring mark in school history with the tops being 58 by Gary Payton against USC on Feb. 22, 1990.
Challe Barton had a career-high six assists, while freshman Jarmal Reid played a season-high 23 minutes in his fifth game as a starter.
Chicago State (3-9) got a team-high 18 points from Nate Duhon, while Quinton Pippen added 13 points and Matt Ross nearly had a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Beavers return to action Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Howard Bison at Gill Coliseum in a game that can be viewed nationally on the Pac-12 Networks.
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