Desmond Cambridge Jr. had 21 points and Arizona State held off a late Oregon State rally in a 74-69 victory Saturday at Corvallis, Ore.
Arizona State (15-3, 6-1 Pac-12) is off to its best start in conference play since the 1980-81 team that had Lafayette Lever, Byron Scott and Alton Lister started 11-1.
The Sun Devils swept Oregon and Oregon State on the road for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
Oregon State (7-11, 1-6) went on a 7-0 run in less than a minute to cut the lead to 68-67 with 1:44 left.
Cambridge made one of two free-throw attempts with 45 seconds left to double the advantage for Arizona State.
Oregon State then turned the ball over with 26 seconds remaining on an errant pass by Glenn Taylor Jr.
Austin Nunez made both free throws with 22.8 seconds remaining to increase the lead to 71-67.
After Oregon State’s Dexter Akanno made two free throws with 15.8 seconds left, Frankie Collins made one of two for Arizona State with 8.1 seconds remaining to give the Sun Devils a 72-69 lead.
The Beavers made another turnover on its last possession with Jordan Pope’s pass stolen by Alonzo Gaffney with 0.7 seconds left.
Cambridge’s brother, Devan, had 13 points and eight rebounds and Collins added 12 points.
Oregon State was led by Michael Rataj’s 17 points and Taylor’s 13.
The Beavers went through a shooting spell of 1-of-16 in the second half in which the Beavers, who start four freshmen, saw their 49-45 lead become a 62-55 deficit.
Oregon State built a 34-18 lead with 5:07 left in the first half before Arizona State’s full-court pressure defense changed the tempo.
The Sun Devils outscored the Beavers 13-2 to cut the lead to 36-31 with 2:19 left in the half.
Oregon State was 1-of-5 from the field with three turnovers in that stretch.
The Beavers made 55.2 percent of their shots from the field, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
In the second half, they made 29.6 percent of their shots, including 3 of 13 from 3-point range.
Oregon State missed nine consecutive shots until Tyler Bilodeau made a 3-pointer with 8:45 left to cut the lead to 58-55.
–Field Level Media
