CORVALLIS, Ore. Abe Lodwick (photo right) put up a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs, as Washington State University men’s basketball defeated Oregon State, 72-55, Wednesday to earn a slot in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) championship.
The Cougars got their third win of the season over the Beavers as the teams met for their fourth time. WSU (18-16) will move on to the best-of-three championship series against Pittsburgh (20-16). The first game will take place 7 p.m. PT Monday, March 26 at Beasley Coliseum. The second and third game, if necessary, will be played at Pittsburgh, March 28 and 30. All three will be hosted by the Zebra Pen and televised on HDNet, and all three will be broadcast on KXLY Radio 920 AM .
Lodwick was coming off his previous career high of 16 points against Wyoming Monday in the quarterfinals of the CBI. He finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double in a career-high 35 minutes. He was 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Junior Reggie Moore added a season-high 22 points in 39 minutes for the Cougars.
|
Tickets on sale
PRINCETON, N.J. Tickets are on sale for the WSU men’s basketball game against Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. PT Monday, March 26, at Beasley Coliseum.
The game is the first of the best-of-three championship series in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) presented by Zebra Pen, and the only one that will take place in Pullman.
General admission ticket prices are $18 for adults and $13 for youth, while WSU students get in free with a sports pass. Season ticket holders and ZZU CRU members can enter the seating bowl at 5:30 p.m., while the general public and students that are not ZZU CRU members can get in at 6 p.m. Please visit www.wsucougars.com to purchase tickets or call the WSU Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-COUGS during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.).
The second game of the series will take place at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. PT Wednesday, March 28, while the third game, if needed, will be played 4 p.m. PT Friday, March 30 at Pitt.
|
“I was glad to see that,” WSU Head Coach Ken Bone said of Lodwick’s success. “He is a local guy from Oregon and just had his career high the other night, where he had 16, and tonight he goes for [23]. He’s just such a great kid, a senior, and a captain. It’s fun to see Abe have great success.”
OSU (21-15) was led by Eric Moreland with a double-double of his own, 14 points and 11 rebounds. The league’s second leading scorer, Jared Cunningham, added 13 points. WSU shot a blistering .533 (8-for-15) from beyond the 3-point arc, compared to just .167 (2-for-12) from OSU.
The Pac-12’s leading scorer, Brock Motum, scored WSU’s first four points before leaving the game with a right ankle injury with 18:10 to go in the first half. He did not return to action.
“We’ve had some other games we played pretty inspired but this is right up there,” Bone said. “I thought our guys played really rallied knowing that our first team all-league guy was down and out. Our guys were able to manufacture points in different ways and they did a great job. We showed a lot of character and a lot of heart.”
With Motum’s absence, WSU found a variety of ways to score early with its next 10 points coming from four different players, Marcus Capers, DaVonté Lacy, Moore and D.J. Shelton to take a 14-8 lead with 12:44 to go in the half. Including that stretch, Moore scored eight of WSU’s nine points as the Cougars led 19-13 with 7:49 to go in the first half.
The Beavers scored four-straight points capped by a layup by Charlie Barton to pull within two, 19-17, with 6:55 left in the half. From that point Lodwick caught fire, scoring 16 of WSU’s final 20 points of the first half as WSU held a 10-point, 39-29 lead at intermission.
Oregon State got on the board first in the second half with one of two free throws from Roberto Nelson. Lacy and Moore combined to score the first eight points of the half for Washington State as WSU took a 13-point, 47-34 lead with 17 minutes to go.
The Beavers slowly chipped away at the lead and pulled within nine points, 51-42, with 13:15 to go. WSU used a 9-0 run at that point to extend the lead to 18, 60-42, with 8:57 remaining in the game. Despite OSU’s attempt to foul toward the end of the game, the Cougars held on to their lead and finished with a 72-55 victory.
WSU Game Notes:
Lodwick was 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc he has scored double-digits in his last three games, the longest streak of his career.
Lodwick added a career-high 12 rebounds, notching his first career double-double.
Reggie Moore finished with a season-high 22 points and three assists he’s scored in double figures in three of the four games against the Beavers this season.
The Cougars outrebounded the Beavers, 41-34 held OSU to its lowest scoring output in the tournament.
Brock Motum scored four points in two minutes before leaving the game with a right ankle injury he did not return.
Washington State will host Pittsburgh Monday in the first game of the best-of-three championship series at 7 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.
The two teams last met during the 2008-09 season in the Legends Classic in Newark, N.J.