Beavers Survive With Big Rally

Two of Oregon State’s top players were out because of injuries.

Another went down less than five minutes into the game.

But the ninth-seeded Beavers overcame the injuries and a 15-point deficit Wednesday night to defeat eighth-seeded Arizona State, 71-68, in the opening game of the Pacific 10 Conference men’s basketball tournament at Staples Center.

Oregon State (13-17) advanced to play top-seeded UCLA (24-6) today in a quarterfinal.

“I was not ready to go home, and neither were the other seniors,” said guard Chris Stephens, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.

UCLA swept the Beavers in Pac-10 play, winning 63-54 in late January at Corvallis, and 78-60 about a month later at Pauley Pavilion.

“They have tremendous depth and they are very focused,” said Oregon State Coach Jay John, whose team defeated UCLA in last year’s Pac-10 tournament. “There’s a reason they cruised on through.”

It has been a rough season for Oregon State, which has been without senior guard Lamar Hurd (groin) and senior forward Nick DeWitz (shoulder).

The manpower dwindled early in the first half when sophomore forward Sasa Cuic suffered a high ankle sprain after making a shot.

But with junior center Kyle Jeffers leading the way, the Beavers for only the second time this season rallied to win after trailing at halftime.

Jeffers scored a team-high 20 points and had nine rebounds, including six of Oregon State’s 15 offensive rebounds.

Oregon State took the lead, 60-59, with 7:04 left, then increased it to 71-61 with less than two minutes left, setting the stage for Arizona State’s final surge.

Bryson Krueger made a three-point basket and two free throws and Antwi Atuahene made a basket to cut the deficit to three points with 14.2 seconds left.

After a timeout, Krueger stole the ball from Jeffers and the Sun Devils got the ball to Kevin Kruger, who had made five of six three-point shots.

But Oregon State defenders surrounded Kruger, forcing him to attempt a pass to Krueger that went out of bounds and ended the threat.

Arizona State (11-17) finished with a defeat that could be Rob Evans’ last game as coach.

Kruger had a team-high 22 points and Krueger added 16.