The entire Arizona men’s basketball bench came racing onto the court in jubilation to find Devonaire Doutrive after the freshman tipped in a missed Justin Coleman shot at the buzzer to give Arizona a thrilling 74-72 win over Oregon State in Corvallis.
In the final two minutes of regulation, both teams traded baskets as OSU’s Stephen Thompson Jr. tied the game at 72-72 with 24 seconds left after Brandon Randolph had previously put Arizona ahead. Ira Lee had a potentially costly turnover that led to Thompson’s basket.
But both teams utilized timeouts to set up a play, and Sean Miller decided to let the senior Coleman take the shot. His turnaround fade away from near the free throw line hit the front end of the rim, but Doutrive came flying in from the top of the 3-point line to grab the rebound and tip the ball in one motion right before the clock hit triple zeroes. It was just another example of Doutrive’s raw athleticism that has awed Wildcat fans at times this year.
Arizona, a team that lost seven in a row not long ago, has now won three in a row heading into March and got one of its best wins in conference play in Corvallis Thursday night. It was perhaps the hardest-earned win for the Wildcats this season.
The Wildcats found a way to win the game playing the final minutes without their three best players. Chase Jeter exited the game early in the second half with a left lower-leg injury after getting tangled up with OSU’s Tres Tinkle, the same Tres Tinkle that caused Jeter to hurt his back in January. Then, with under five minutes remaining, freshman Brandon Williams – coming off the bench again – picked up his fifth personal foul, ending his night with 20 minutes played.
And if that wasn’t enough, forward Ryan Luther fouled out with just under two minutes remaining, only scoring seven points on 2-7 shooting.
But not all heroes wear capes as Doutrive and Brandon Randolph stepped up and scored the Wildcats’ final eight points in the last three minutes of the game. The struggling Randolph broke out of his month-long slump to score 15 points on 7-8 shooting in the winning effort. Doutrive finished with nine points on 4-4 shooting and five rebounds as well as a one-handed put-back dunk in the second half.
The Wildcats have had multiple chances to win games at the buzzer this year, particularly the home game vs. Utah in January and the road game in Tempe vs. ASU, but they couldn’t convert either opportunity. Doutrive’s tip-in marks the first buzzer-beater win for Arizona since Kadeem Allen’s layup at the 2016 Armed Forces Classic in Honolulu.
Arizona’s win moves it to 17-12 overall and an even 8-8 in the Pac-12 with two games remaining. Next up is the Oregon Ducks in Eugene, who are currently 10th in the conference.
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