Arizona beats Oregon State, but loses Chase Jeter to injury

The Wildcats used a total team effort to top the Beavers after losing their star big man early in the first half

The Arizona Wildcats beat the Oregon State Beavers 82-71 on Saturday, despite losing starting center Chase Jeter to injury less than five minutes in the first half.

Five Wildcats scored in double figures, as Arizona used a total team effort to compensate for the loss of its star big man.

Forced to play super small with Jeter out and Ira Lee in foul trouble, Arizona went 13 for 27 from 3 and somehow the outrebounded the bigger Beavers, 41-29, leading to a 28-9 edge in second-chance points.

Brandon Williams led the Wildcats with 20 points and five assists. Ryan Luther (16), Justin Coleman (14), Dylan Smith (13) and Brandon Randolph (10) were the others in double figures. Williams, Coleman and Smith all drained three 3s. Luther and Alex Barcello each sank two.

Luther added a season-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double with Arizona.

The Wildcats improved to 14-5 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-12. They play USC and UCLA on the road next weekend, the start of a three-game road swing that ends at ASU on Jan. 31.

Jeter exited with 15:46 left in the first half after being undercut by OSU’s Tres Tinkle while jumping for a rebound, causing him to crash violently to the floor.

The 6-foot-10 junior, who missed half his sophomore season at Duke with a back injury, writhed on the court in pain and grimaced as he walked gingerly to the locker room where he would remain for the rest of the first half.

While the big man did not return to the game, he emerged from the locker room at the start of the second half in uniform, and lightly participated in warmups before returning to the bench for the rest of the night.

Here's the play Chase Jeter injured his back pic.twitter.com/6gv5ktcy9Z

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) January 20, 2019

Arizona sank six 3s in the first half and, despite being without Jeter for most of the period, grinded out 15 second-chance points while outrebounding the Beavers, 21-13.

Williams scored 11 of Arizona’s first 13 points, and finished with 13 the half. Smith, who started in place of Luther, had 10 first-half points, burying a pair of 3s.

The Wildcats raced out to a 13-3 start, had their lead trimmed to 22-21, then finished the period on a 16-6 run to take a 38-27 lead into the locker room.

Arizona maintained a comfortable lead until Zach Reichle sank a 3 to bring the Beavers within four with 10:43 to play, capping a 10-2 run. Barcello answered with 3 on UA’s ensuing possession to extend UA’s lead to 58-51, but an Ethan Thompson triple cut Arizona’s lead to 61-58 with 8:19 left.

Williams easily made his way to the rim for a layup, then Randolph stripped Tinkle and went the distance for a layup to make it, 65-58.

Coleman and Williams then hit back-to-back 3s to stretch Arizona’s lead to 71-60 with 5:01 to play, sending McKale into a frenzy and forcing Oregon State to call timeout.

The Beavers shot 51 percent to Arizona’s 40, but went 4 for 17 from 3 and committed 15 turnovers. Tinkle had 25 points and 10 rebounds.

This story will be updated.

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