Pope, Bilodeau carry Oregon State past Utah, 92-85
Oregon State guard Jordan Pope (0) drives against Utah guard Deivon Smith (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Corvallis, Ore. Oregon State won 92-85. Credit: AP/Mark Ylen
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Jordan Pope scored 25 points and Tyler Bilodeau had 20 as Oregon State knocked off Utah, 92-85 on Thursday night.
Utah's loss assured Oregon of a top four seed into next week's Pac-12 Conference tournament.
Bilodeau knocked down the first of his five 3-pointers and followed it with a dunk to get Oregon State (13-17, 5-14) started and the Beavers build a 13-point lead by intermission, 46-33. Pope's layup with 4:21 left gave Oregon State a 76-59 lead, but Utah rallied. A thundering dunk by Branden Carlson jump started a 10-3 run to get the Utes within 10 and Carlsen's 3 with 1:39 to go made it 81-74, but the Beavers closed the game out from the free throw line, converting 11 of 13 from the line.
Pope was 7 of 15 from the floor and 10 of 11 from the line, but he was most effective drawing two Utah defenders, then finding an open Bilodeau for an open 3-pointer. Bilodeau knocked down 5 of 7 from beyond the line. Dexter Akanno contributed 18 points.
Brenden Carlson scored a season-high 40 points to lead Utah (18-12, 9-10). Deivon Smth scored 19 points and dished 10 assists and Gabe Madsen contributed 13 points and seven assists.
Oregon State plays host to Colorado for his regular season finale Saturday. Utah plays at Oregon Saturday.
___
Arizona State guard Jose Perez (12) shoots against Southern California forward DJ Rodman (10) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Los Angeles. Southern California won 81-73. Credit: AP/Raul Romero Jr.
Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here
