In the opening game of the 2011 Pac-10 Conference Basketball Tournament, the No. 9 Oregon St. Beavers defeated the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal 69-67 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Oregon State advanced to face the Arizona Wildcats in the second of four games on Thursday. Jared Cunningham led the Beavers with 24 points, and tied a Pac-10 Tournament record with 15 free throws made. Cunningham set a new record with 20 attempts from the charity stripe.
Big man Joe Burton grabbed 14 rebounds for Oregon St., to go with his seven points, six assists, and three steals. There were a ton of rebounds in this game -- 82 in total, 42 of which went to Oregon St. -- mostly because it was an ugly game with a lot of bricks. Oregon State shot 35.7% for the game, and they were the better shooting team. Stanford shot just 32.8% for the game, continuing a bad shooting trend for them in Los Angeles this year. The Cardinal shot a season-low 22.2% in a loss to USC at Galen Center on January 20, and then two days later made just 30.8% of their field goals in a loss at UCLA. In three games in Los Angeles this season, Stanford shot just 28.6%.
Oregon State will play top seed Arizona Thursday at 2:30 p.m., in the second game on the schedule. The Beavers and Wildcats split their two games this season, with each team winning at home. However, after their home win over Arizona on January 2, Oregon St. lost 13 of their next 16 games before tonight's victory.
For more Pac-10 Conference Tournament news and updates, be sure to stay tuned to this StoryStream. For more news on each specific team, be sure to read the SB Nation blogs Rule of Tree (Stanford) and Building the Dam (Oregon St.).