Cardinal cannot close in Corvallis

March 5, 2020, 11:44 p.m.

Having four players in double figures lifted Stanford men’s basketball (20-10, 9-8 Pac-12) over Colorado at home last week, but the same feat failed to produce the same outcome against Oregon State (16-13, 6-11 Pac-12) on Thursday. The 68-65 loss snapped a four-game win streak and marked the first time the Cardinal have been swept by the Beavers in over a decade.

Though it took less than a minute of play for both teams to get on the board, two more minutes passed before either team was able to score again. In an unfortunate reminder of the slumping Stanford team that dropped seven of eight consecutive games earlier this season, the Cardinal’s slow start weighed the team down throughout the opening minutes. 

A layup from guard Tyrell Terry helped Stanford finally break the 10-point barrier with 13:08 left to go before the break, but it did little to help the freshman find his footing. Terry finished just 4-for-12 from the field and 1-for-2 from behind the arc despite turning heads in Maples Pavilion with seven triples against Utah just eight days prior and averaging over 15 points a game. 

A 4-for-5 showing from the foul line barely prevented Terry from finishing in single-digits for what would have been just the third time this season; he finished the night with 13 to his name, but snagged a team-high 10 rebounds to tally his third double-double of the year.  

Without Terry controlling the Cardinal’s offense, sophomore Bryce Wills topped the stats sheet for the second consecutive game. Wills recorded 16 points on a 6-for-13 effort, making his average for the last two games an impressive 17.5. The guard posted 19 total points against Colorado on Sunday, when he scored 17 in a row for the Cardinal. Before taking on the Buffs, Wills averaged just 6.9 points per game. 

Ideally, Wills’s performance would have been paired with the offensive skills of junior forward Oscar da Silva, but four fouls kept the latter largely confined to the sideline during the second half. When the Beavers had inched their way to a 10-point lead with under nine minutes remaining, da Silva returned to the court and added two points of his own before a fifth foul five minutes later sent him to the bench indefinitely.

With 3:29 left on the clock and da Silva fouled out, working to contain two of the Beavers’ biggest threats — forwards Kylor Kelley and Tres Tinkle — became too much for the Cardinal. A jumper from Terry that put Stanford up one with just 34 seconds left made it seem as if the Cardinal might complete its comeback — but Tinkle answered with two trips to the foul line and a perfect 4-for-4 mark in the final 17 seconds to secure the win for the Beavers. The final four moved Tinkle’s total for the night to a game-high 23 points.

Kelley, on the other hand, harassed Stanford’s offense around the basket from the opening minutes and finished with three blocks to prove it. 

For its final game of both the road trip and the regular season, the Cardinal move on to Eugene to face the No. 13 Ducks. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. PT on Saturday.

Contact Savanna Stewart at savnstew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Savanna Stewart is a managing editor in the Sports section. She is a junior from Twin Bridges, Montana studying Political Science and Communication and enjoys running and playing basketball. Contact her at sstewart 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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