3/27/2021 basketball Edit

Oregon State Punches Elite Eight Ticket With Upset Win Over Loyola-Chicago

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

Publisher

PROMO: Join BeaversEdge.com and get 30 DAYS FREE!

MORE: REACTION: BEAVERS ADVANCE TO ELITE EIGHT

The slipper still fits...

Following a 65-58 victory over Loyola-Chicago in the Sweet Sixteen, Oregon State's Cinderella run is alive and well as the Beavers punched their ticket to the Elite Eight.

The 12th-seeded Beavers (20-12) started slow against the eighth-seeded Ramblers (26-5), spotting LUC a 7-1 lead six minutes into the contest, but as has been the case all postseason long, OSU had an answer.

"Early on we were a little caught in the moment," head coach Wayne Tinkle said. "We weren't as sharp offensively, plus they're really good defensively. We heard about that and saw it in all the tape we watched. But we settled in."

Ethan Thompson continued to be the leading man at the ball for the Beavers as he led all scorers with 22 points while chipping in four rebounds & four assists. Warith Alatishe added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"Ethan... it's amazing the level that he's playing right now," Tinkle said. "It's because of the character he has and obviously the talent. He's stepping up big time for us."

After struggling to crack Loyola-Chicago's tenacious defense for the first six minutes of the contest, the Beavers collected themselves and settled down over the final 14 minutes, going on a 23-9 run that gave them a 24-16 advantage at the break.

"We were just being stronger and more aggressive. Early in the game we kind of were going through a little feeling-out process of how they played defensively and offensively," Thompson said. "We know what we're capable of and just changed our mindset."

Once the Beavers were able to gain confidence and head into the halftime break with the advantage, they never looked back. OSU was able to nearly double its first-half scoring in the second, scoring 41 points and routinely having big bucket after big bucket to hold off the Ramblers, who played an inspired final period.

While the Beavers' offense struggled at times against LUC's No. 1 scoring defense, their defensive prowess kept them in the contest throughout as the Ramblers fell well short of their season average of 71 points.

"We're playing with a lot of confidence on both ends and we're a pretty darned good defensive team," Tinkle said. "We showed there's no doubt in our guys' minds. They really believe that this is their time. It's what we said before we left the locker room, that we're not going to get rattled. This is our time. It's meant to be."

Oregon State managed 65 points and shot 41% from the field and 38% from three, which were all well-above what Loyola-Chicago had been allowing on the season.

The Beavers were equal parts aggressive and stout in their defensive gameplan as they threw LUC out of rhythm all afternoon with a blend of man-to-man and 2-3 zone and made them uncomfortable throughout the night.

"The zone is something that we've had in our pocket for a long time now. Our team has a lot of different defenses we're capable of playing," Thompson said. "Going to the zone gave us more life and threw them off guard a little bit."

The Beavers were the beneficiary of some missed open looks, but they made the Ramblers work for everything on that end of the floor, holding them to 33% from the field and 22% from behind-the-arc.

The free-throw line continued to be an area where the Beavers excelled and saw their opponent struggle as OSU shot 90% from the line (18-of-20) while the Ramblers went 17-of-24 (74%).

Following the win, Oregon State advances to its first Elite Eight since 1982 (eighth overall) and will face the winner of Syracuse/Houston on Monday...

"It's an amazing feeling to be just part of the success, really. Beaver Nation has waited a long time," Thompson said. It's just been a great feeling and I'm extremely blessed to be a part of it."