Playing without its second best player, Arizona men’s basketball beat Oregon State 75-65 in overtime Thursday in Gill Coliseum.
Just hours before the game, the University of Arizona Athletic Department announced that Allonzo Trier, who is averaging 19.6 ppg this season, would not play due to a reappearance of the same banned substance that forced him to miss 19 games last year.
Trier’s absence did not seem to slow Arizona down much in the first half, as the Wildcats built a 12 point lead. However, Arizona gave up the lead and trailed Oregon State in the second half.
Rawle Alkins stepped up for Arizona with 15 seconds left in regulation and hit two free throws to tie the game. Oregon State then missed a game winning jumper to send it to overtime.
The Wildcats lost no time regaining their footing in overtime. Arizona outscored the Beavers 14-4, to pick up the win and improve to 22-6 and 12-3 in the Pac-12, while Oregon State fell to 13-14 and 5-10 in the conference.
Alkins made two 3-pointers in overtime and finished the game with 16 points.
OSU did not make a field goal for the last nine minutes of regulation, however free throws kept the Beavers in the game. Arizona was unable to take advantage of OSU’s field goal drought, going without a field goal of its own for the final 3:44 of regulation.
Deandre Ayton led scoring for Arizona with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Dusan Ristic added 14.
Both teams dealt with foul trouble, as Ristic and OSU guard Tres Tinkle fouled out in overtime.
For Oregon State, Ethan Thompson led the way with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Tres Tinkle added 14 points. In total OSU had four players in double figures, with Drew Eubanks scoring 13 and Stephen Thompson adding 12.
The Wildcats shot 48 percent from the floor and held Oregon State to 40 percent. Arizona shot 5-of-17 from 3-point range while the Beavers shot 7-of-22 from deep.
Arizona also outrebounded the Beavers 38-30 and 12-9 on the offensive glass.
With Trier out, Arizona head coach Sean Miller inserted Alex Barcello into the game. Barcello played seven minutes and scored four points with no assists.
The freshman point guard had not played since Jan. 31 when Arizona blew out Washington State 100 to 72. In that game, Barcello also played seven minutes and scored four points.
Now with Trier missing, Arizona becomes extra shallow at the point guard position. Trier often played point guard for the Wildcats while Parker Jacson-Cartwright sat on the bench, now Arizona will have to rely on Barcello when Jackson-Cartwright needs a break.
Arizona moves on to play at Oregon Saturday Feb. 24 at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN.
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