No. 6 Oregon captures Pac-12 title with 80-59 win at Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. — No. 6 Oregon pulled away from rival Oregon State to win the 348th Civil War, 80-59, and capture its second straight Pac-12 title on Saturday.

No. 7 Arizona beat Arizona State earlier in the day, 73-60, to also claim a share of the regular-season crown. Since the Ducks own the tiebreaker over the Wildcats, they’ll be seeded first in the Pac-12 Tournament, which kicks off on Wednesday, March 8 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Dillon Brooks led a balanced attack with 25 points on 71 percent shooting. Casey Benson (14p), Jordan Bell (13p, 10r, 3b) and Chris Boucher (12p) also starred for the Ducks, who shot 52 percent from the floor to the Beavers’ 34 percent.

Drew Eubanks poured in 21 points for OSU, while Stephen Thompson Jr. added 10 points to round out the top scorers.

UO used the three-ball to stay afloat in the first half, while OSU got inside to crash the boards and compile points in the paint.

Brooks and Benson shouldered the load in the early goings, combining to score 21 of the first 22 points for UO. Benson sparked a 14-2 burst with a three-point play before capping it with back-to-back treys to give the Ducks 22-13 advantage about midway through the half.

After being held scoreless for more than five minutes, OSU stormed back with nine straight points to knot the game at 22-all on Eubanks’ layup.

UO avoided a third lead change by outscoring the home team 10-2 the rest of the way to carry a 32-24 advantage into intermission.

The Ducks separated themselves in the second half, opening the new period with a 21-6 run. Benson drained his third straight triple to push the UO lead to 53-30 at the 13:34 mark.

The sides exchanged baskets, with the Beavers pulling as close as 17 on two occasions. But the Ducks ripped off a 12-4 run to extend their lead to as many as 25, 80-55, on Roman Sorkin’s three-pointer.

With the win, Oregon earned its sixth league crown in program history.