Field Level Media
Mar 1, 2018
Sophomore guard Malachi Flynn recorded 28 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals as Washington State notched a stunning 78-76 victory over Oregon on Thursday in Pac-12 play at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash.
Junior forward Robert Franks scored 19 points for the Cougars (12-17, 4-13 Pac-12), who defeated the Ducks for just the second time in the past 13 meetings. Junior guard Viont'e Daniels added 13 points, as Washington State won for the third time in the past five games.
Senior guard Elijah Brown scored 18 points for Oregon (19-11, 9-8), which suffered a potentially serious setback as it sits on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Freshman forward Troy Brown added 17 points, and sophomore point guard Payton Pritchard added 16.
Oregon had a chance to win or force overtime in the final seconds, but Pritchard air-balled a 3-point attempt as time expired.
Franks scored four points during a 6-0 run that saw Washington State take a 74-70 lead with 1:19 left. The Cougars led 77-72 after Daniels connected on a 3-pointer with 53.5 seconds left, but Elijah Brown hit a trey of his own to get Oregon back within two with 42.9 seconds remaining.
Pritchard was fouled with 7.5 seconds left and made the first shot but missed the second to keep the Ducks down by one. Flynn split two free throws with 4.6 seconds to play to give Washington State a two-point edge.
The Cougars led by two at halftime before expanding their advantage to 50-43 on a 3-pointer by Daniels with 14:09 to play.
The Ducks had trimmed their deficit to two 2 1/2 minutes later before Flynn made consecutive 3-pointers to give Washington State a 60-52 lead with 10:22 left. A short time later, Franks knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 64-54 with 8:11 remaining.
Oregon answered with a 13-2 spurt to take a 67-66 lead on a steal and fast-break dunk by sophomore forward Keith Smith with 3:50 left. Flynn hit two free throws 18 seconds later to put the Cougars back ahead before Pritchard drained a 3-pointer to give the Ducks a 70-68 edge with 2:59 to play.
In the first half, Franks drained a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to give Washington State a 37-35 lead at the break.
--Field Level Media