CORVALLIS, Ore. — Roberto Nelson scored 13 of his 22 points in the second half and anchored a stellar defensive effort that carried Oregon State to an 80-72 victory over Oregon Sunday night.
Eric Moreland added 15 points, 11 coming from the free throw line, and had 13 rebounds for Oregon State (10-7, 2-3 Pac-12). The Beavers beat their in-state rivals at Gill Coliseum for the first time since 2010 and sent the slumping Ducks to their fourth consecutive loss.
Jason Calliste had 17 points off the bench to lead the Ducks (13-4, 1-4), who trailed 37-30 at halftime and never got closer than five in the second half.
Oregon’s Mike Moser and Joseph Young, who came into the game averaging a combined 33.4 points, were held to 13 points on 5-of-24 shooting from the field. For the game, the Ducks made 25 of 66 shots, including 4 of 19 from 3-point range.
The Beavers made 9 of 12 from the field with four 3-pointers to start the game and opened a 26-12 lead when Moreland made two free throws.
Oregon State twice pushed the lead to 16 points, the second time at 30-14 after Nelson’s free throws.
The Ducks rallied behind reserves Richard Amardi (13 points), Calliste and Ben Carter (11 points) and outscored the Beavers 16-7 over the closing 7:49 of the half to pull within 37-30 at the break.
Young, who came into the game averaging a team-high 18.8 points, scored two first-half points on 1-of-5 shooting in 11 minutes.
Oregon’s Elgin Cook made two free throws to make it a five-point game, 71-66, with 2:09 remaining, but that was as close as the Ducks could get in the second half.
Oregon State made 7 of 10 free throws in the final 52 seconds — three each by Nelson and Moreland– to seal the victory
Angus Brandt finished with 14 points and Hallice Cooke added 10 points and five assists for the Beavers, who made 23 of 51 shots, including 7 of 13 from beyond the arc. OSU also had a 42-34 edge in rebounds.
The Ducks opened the season with 13 consecutive wins and climbed as high as No. 10 in The Associated Press poll before consecutive losses to Colorado, California and Stanford dropped them from the poll.
