In the highest-scoring game the men’s basketball team has played all season, Stanford coughed up a second-half lead and fell on the road Thursday night at Oregon State, 87-80. With the loss, the Cardinal extended its losing streak to four games and solidified its position in eighth place in the Pac-10 as the regular season winds down.

Oregon State (10-16, 5-10 Pac-10) snapped its own four-game losing streak with the victory, and its 87 points were the highest total the team has put up in the Pac-10 this season. The Beavers were on fire all night, making a crisp 62 percent of their shots from the field. They also had a very balanced attack, with five players scoring in double figures, led by sophomore guard Jared Cunningham, who had 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting, and senior guard Calvin Haynes, who chipped in 14.

Oregon State’s freshman guard Ahmad Starks scored the game’s first basket to take a 2-0 lead at 19:38, but Stanford, powered by junior guard Jeremy Green’s hot three-point shooting, went on an early 14-4 run to lead by eight with 16:27 left in the first half. After Oregon State cut the lead to 14-12 with 15 minutes to go, the Cardinal (13-14, 6-10) reeled off another big 11-0 run to take a commanding 25-12 lead halfway through the first period. The Beavers fought back to within two, trailing only 33-31 with 3:27 left, but the Cardinal was electric from beyond the arc in the first half, making eight three-pointers and extending its lead to 41-35 at the break.

Green, coming off his first mediocre game in over a month, got hot early. After last Saturday’s 11-point showing in the loss against USC, he nearly reached that total in the first three minutes, scoring eight points off two three-pointers and a layup–he finished the game with 24 points off 9-14 shooting.

But Green’s excellent night was not enough to repel the Beavers, who began to take control in the second half. Oregon State took just its second lead of the game (49-47) with 14:40 left in the second half, pushing ahead on two free throws from forward Joe Burton. The teams traded blows the rest of the way, with Stanford appearing to retake control twice with leads of 60-52 at the 12-minute mark and 65-58 with 10 minutes to go.

However, down by six with five minutes left, Oregon State charged back on a game-deciding 15-4 stretch to take an 82-77 lead with 35 seconds remaining. Haynes, Cunningham and Burton all had big buckets during that final run for the Beavers. From there, the Beavers got a few dunks by Cunningham and Haynes as they cruised to the victory.

In addition to shooting 53 percent from the field, Stanford had one of its most unselfish games this season in the loss. Junior guard Jarrett Mann finished with a season-high 10 assists while freshman forward Dwight Powell had five assists to go along with two steals. Freshman guard Aaron Bright matched a season high with 15 points, making all five shots he took behind the three-point line.

Both teams were reckless with the ball, and the game was a bit sloppy at times–the Cardinal finished with 14 turnovers while the Beavers committed with 15.

This is a critical juncture for the Cardinal, as it has two more conference games left this season. Stanford is still within reach of sixth place in the Pac-10, an important benchmark to reach for, as teams one through six get first-round byes in next month’s Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles.

Next on the docket for Stanford is Oregon, where the Cardinal will look to avenge last month’s 67-59 home loss to the Ducks. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at the Ducks’ new home, Knight Arena in Eugene.