It was fifteen years ago when the Oregon State Beavers knocked off the then third rank Arizona Wildcats by a score of 70-69. Although the score would not be the same, the result would be as the Wildcats would fall to the hands of OSU once more up in Corvallis, Oregon by a score of 58-56.

As the first half came to a close, Arizona’s senior point guard created four points seconds apart from each other. TJ McConnell stole the ball and laid it in on a breakaway and then on the ensuing inbounds play, he nabbed the pass and found Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Hollis-Jefferson got fouled going up for the shot and made two costless throws right before the half to give the Wildcats a one point lead before as the half came to a close.

There was more offense in the second, but neither school was able to pull away from each other. Both sides played great defense all night long as shooters did not really ever get a good look at the hoop. Oregon State’s 2-3 zone gave the Wildcats fits all night long as they took away passing lanes and forced them to pass the ball around the perimeter instead of dishing it down low to either Kaleb Tarczewski or Brandon Ashley for the easy buckets.

Oregon State’s big Dutch center, Olaf Schaftenaar, can make threes and made a huge one with more than seven minutes left to go in the game, but it changed the momentum as he tied the game up at 44. Langston Morris-Walker made another shot from beyond the arc as their next shot which gave the Beavers a three point lead. They would lose the lead once more, but not for long, as OSU would get a huge win after many thought that Coach Lane Tinkle’s squad wouldn’t pose much of a threat.

One of the biggest disappointments for Arizona is that only TJ McConnell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson were the only two Wildcats in double digits. Freshman phenome, Stanley Johnson, got into foul trouble early and only finished the night with seven points. He probably would have made a difference if it weren’t for the early fouls. Morris-Walker made two out of his three shots from beyond the arc and finished as the leading scorer with 12 points on the evening.

For Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats, this should be a wake-up call as they have to play a tough two games this coming weekend against Colorado and the University of Utah. Oregon State, meanwhile, have played well to start PAC-12 play and will take a trip to Washington.