INDIANAPOLIS – Oregon State No. 12 upset Hookle Fieldhouse 80-70 at the fourth-grade Oklahoma Cowboys on Sunday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse 80-70 to advance to Sweet 16 in the NCAA Regional Midwest.
Chief Constable Ethan Thompson led Beavers with 26 points in 5-of-11 and seven rebounds. Oregon State also got a hard and unexpected lift from junior striker Maurice Calloo, who scored 15 points in the first half. Calloo entered the game with an average of 5.2 points.
Cade Cunningham, a first-year student of the Oklahoma star, an American first-team lottery and designed for the NBA lottery, finished with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but the Cowboys rushed on and on they failed to bring him the ball.
Although he did not engage in any way when asked if it was his last game, Cunningham spoke as if he were looking beyond college.
“It was special,” he said of the game in Oklahoma State. “I think that’s the best way to describe it. I think the biggest thing is that I’ve surrounded myself with great people. More than anything, that’s what I’m most proud of. That’s the thing, I feel like I grew up the most, being around good people who pushed me to be good on and off the field. I will definitely miss it. “
Beavers scored 44 points in the first half, the most allowed by Oklahoma State in a first half this season. Their 44-30 lead at the break was also the biggest deficit of the Oklahoma State season. The Cowboys shot 27.7% upstairs for the game, their poorest shooting performance since 2014.
“This team had some big goals in the season,” Thompson said after the game. “One of them won a Pac-12 tournament championship – a regular-season Pac-12 championship, of course, but we didn’t do that. We won the tournament championship. The ultimate goal is to win the NCAA championship.”
Oregon coach Wayne Tinkle restrained his emotions after the game. His father was the dean of students at Loyola Chicago, the team Beavers will face on Saturday in Sweet 16.
“I grew up on their campus,” Tinkle said.
He added: “Coach Moser did a hell of a job. I’m a great team. This will really mean something special to me and my family.”
Oregon State was chosen to finish last in the Pac-12 and had to win the conference tournament just to make the NCAA field. The Beavers took him out, then overtook Tennessee No. 5 in the first round.
Tinkle took the opportunity during his media availability to speak on Pac-12, now 6-0 in the NCAA tournament.
“We have some talented, talented teams in our league,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. I am very happy for our program, but I am extremely happy for the Pac-12 conference.
“Maybe we’ll have a damn respect now.”
Oregon State has now won five straight playoff games – three in the Pac-12 tournament and two in the NCAA tournament. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the BPI’s chance of winning beavers was below 30% in each of these games, and the chances of winning all five were about 1 in 2,800.
With Oregon gaining, there will be at least four double-digit seeds in Sweet 16 for the third time, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Oral Roberts (15), Oregon (12) and Syracuse (11) are already there and (11) UCLA plays against (14) Abilene Christian on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.