No. 12 seed Oregon State sent home Oklahoma State and its superstar, projected No. 1 NBA draft pick Cade Cunningham, with a 80-70 win in the second round of the men’s basketball NCAA Tournament.
The Beavers staved off a furious rally by the Cowboys to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. Oregon State becomes the third double-digit seed – joining No. 11 Syracuse and No. 15 Oral Roberts – to make it to the second weekend of March Madness.
Senior guard Ethan Thompson paced Oregon State with 26 points and the Beavers (18-12) went 32-for-35 from the free-throw line to help solidify the victory. Thompson went 15-for-16 from the charity stripe.
Oregon State continues its unexpected run here in March Madness, after winning the Pac-12 Tournament just to get here and then taking down No. 5 seed Tennessee in the first round. The Beavers face Loyola Chicago, which upset No. 1 seed Illinois, in the Sweet 16.
Cunningham, a first-team USA TODAY Sports All-American, finished with 24 points and five steals in his likely final college basketball game before going to the pros. It’s a disappointing end for the No. 4 seeded Cowboys, a dark-horse Final Four contender, that had gotten hot at the end of the season and had a dynamic player in Cunningham poised to make a deep run.
