Did Oregon State’s Stevie Thompson walk before beating the buzzer?
The outcome of a crucial game between Pac-12 bubble teams turned on a dramatic play that both sides will remember very differently.
To Oregon State, it was a last-gasp buzzer beater. To Washington, it was a missed travel.
With his team trailing by two in the final seconds, Oregon State’s Stevie Thompson zoomed up the left side of the floor, pulled up well beyond the left wing and buried an off-balance 3-pointer just before time expired. Thompson appeared to shuffle his feet before releasing the shot, but the referees missed it, enabling the Beavers to emerge with a key 82-81 victory.
Oregon State’s victory strengthens the Beavers’ chances of ending a 26-year NCAA tournament drought that dates back to the days of Gary Payton. At 16-10 overall and 7-8 in the league, Oregon State will have a chance to secure a bid if it defeats Washington State at home this weekend, earns at least a split at UCLA and USC next week and then does some damage the following week in the Pac-12 tournament.
Helping Oregon State are six quality home victories over the likes of Oregon, Cal, USC, Utah, Colorado and now Washington. Hurting the Beavers is a bad home loss to Stanford and a lack of meaningful victories in non-conference play.
Washington (16-12, 8-8) is also a bubble team by virtue of its strong start to Pac-12 play, but the youthful Huskies have faded of late with five losses in their last six games. A road win at Oregon State would have been an ideal way to start a finishing surge, but instead it slipped through their fingers.
Washington coach Lorenzo Romar acknowledged his postgame disappointment that Thompson’s travel went uncalled.
Romar also noted that the Huskies made plenty of mistakes themselves to squander a six-point lead in the final 90 seconds, whether it was turning the ball over or missing key free throws.
This is not the first time this month Thompson has saved Oregon State. The freshman, also gave the Beavers a 71-69 win against Utah when he was fouled on a half-court shot as time expired and made all three free throws.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
