CORVALLIS, Ore. — Gonzaga hasn’t had much luck in close games. Neither has Oregon State.
So something had to give Thursday night in an entertaining, back-and-forth West Coast Conference contest in front of a full house of 9,301 at Gill Coliseum.
It initially was the 16th-ranked Zags giving up another late lead, but then they fought back to force overtime.
Gonzaga trailed most of the extra session and fell 97-89, prompting Oregon State students to storm the court after the final buzzer.
It was another agonizing, close setback for the Zags, who have dropped three overtime games and five overall by a combined 26 points.
“Super frustrating,” Zags point guard Ryan Nembhard said. “We struggled defensively all game, probably one or our worst defensive games of the year. We let guys drive us, let guys knock down 3s, pretty much everything we shouldn’t have allowed.
“Can’t do that, and if we want to win these games, we have to tighten that up.”
GU’s defense was an issue for 45 minutes. The Beavers shot well over 50% in each half and then made 3 of 4 shots in overtime, both of their 3-point attempts and all six free throws.
“Our offense wasn’t the problem,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “Our defense was, pretty much at all five spots. (OSU’s offense was) very simple, made shots, iso’d (isolated) guys, posted us and when we did guard them well, they hit some tough shots.”
Gonzaga led 76-71 with just under 6 minutes left, but its offense dried up and the Beavers capitalized.
OSU surged ahead with a 10-1 run, capped by a pair of Michael Rataj baskets. The first needed a soft bounce off the iron before falling. The second was an improbable finish underneath on a contested layup, putting OSU on top 81-77 with 36.7 seconds left.
That seemed like it might be enough with Gonzaga’s last field goal coming on a Ben Gregg putback with 6:40 remaining.
Instead, Gregg grabbed an offensive rebound and calmly hit a 3-pointer with 20.2 seconds left. After two free throws by Oregon State’s Josiah Lake, Graham Ike connected on a clutch 3 — just his eighth of the season — to even the score at 83 with 4.2 ticks left.
Khalif Battle deflected Damarco Minor’s long 3-point attempt, sending the game to overtime.
“We went into the huddle saying momentum was on our side, we need to have a good first minute,” Nembhard said. “Guy banked in a 3 and I think made another one after that. We didn’t execute offensively, that’s the game right there.”
Rataj opened the extra session by banking in a 3-pointer, but GU countered with two free throws by Battle and Ike to take an 87-86 lead. Rataj again stung the Zags, hitting a 3 to give OSU the lead for good, 89-87.
Rataj made two free throws after drawing Ike’s fifth foul to give Oregon State a 91-87 edge with 2:01 remaining. The Zags cut it to two on Braden Huff’s basket, but Liutauras Lelevicius scored his only basket of the game and Gonzaga turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass.
The Beavers tacked on four free throws to put the game away.
Gonzaga (14-5, 5-1 WCC) dropped out of first place behind idle Saint Mary’s (15-3, 5-0). The Zags return home to face Santa Clara, which was upset by Loyola Marymount 57-54, on Saturday.
Ike led Gonzaga with 26 points. Gregg had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Nembhard added 13 points and 10 assists.
Rataj poured in 29 points for the Beavers (14-5, 4-2), who suffered three-point losses to Oregon and North Texas and gave up a late tip-in to fall to Santa Clara 82-81 in overtime.
OSU threw the first punch — or five. The Beavers hit their first five shots to jump in front 13-7. Gonzaga didn’t exactly heat up, but it didn’t need to with seven offensive rebounds leading to six points to cut OSU’s lead to 15-14.
Dusty Stromer’s layup gave the Zags their first lead — they only led for 2 minutes and 37 seconds of the opening half — but the Beavers moved back in front behind post Parsa Fallah and shooting guard Nate Kingz.
The Beavers connected on six straight field goals, including two 3-pointers by Kingz and a Fallah layup, to take their largest lead at 42-34. The 6-foot-5 Kingz made all six of his shot attempts, including three 3s, to finish the half with 17 points.
Nolan Hickman hit the last of his three 3-pointers in the final 3:17 to bring the Zags within 44-40. Battle, who misfired on his first five 3-point attempts, hit a 25-footer to beat the buzzer and cut the deficit to 46-45.
OSU’s 46 points was the most scored against GU in the first half, topping UConn’s 43.
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