<p>LAS VEGAS — Maurice Calloo gave Oregon State an unexpected lift with 15 points and the Beavers won their first conference tournament title, holding off No. 23 Colorado 70-68 in the Pac-12 championship game Saturday night.</p>
<p>Needing three wins in three days to end a four-year NCAA Tournament drought, the Beavers (17-12) built confidence with each step along The Strip.</p>
<p>Oregon State opened it first conference title game in 33 years with a flurry of 3-pointers and withstood a late push by Colorado (22-8) to become the first Pac-10/12 team to win the conference title after being picked to finish last.</p>
<p>Calloo helped the Beavers overcome leading scorer Ethan Thompson’s foul trouble, making 6 of 11 shots after scoring 10 points the eight previous games combined.</p>
<p>Oregon State’s gritty display put a damper on Colorado’s bid for its first Pac-12 Tournament title since 2012. The Buffaloes should hear their named get called on Selection Sunday, but Pac-12 champions would have had a nicer ring to it heading to Indianapolis.</p>
<p>Colorado pulled within 68-66 on McKinley Wright IV’s 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left and had a chance when Oregon State’s Roman Silva hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1.7 seconds left. Wright’s halfcourt heave sailed over the backboard, sending the Beavers charging onto the floor.</p>
<p>Wright led Colorado with 18 points. </p>
<p>The underdog Beavers were given little shot outside of Corvallis, overlooked, underappreciated and picked to look up at the rest of the league.</p>
<p>Coach Wayne Tinkle promised his team wouldn’t finish last and they proved him right, winning 10 conference games to finish sixth.</p>
<p>The Beavers clawed their way out of a 16-point hole to beat UCLA in the conference tournament opener and reached their first Pac-12 title game since 1988 by upending top-seeded Oregon.</p>
<p>Oregon State opened the title game with a 3-point spree, hitting six of its first nine and had an early nine-point lead. A cooling trend followed, yet the Beavers still made half their shots for 33-28 halftime lead.</p>
<p>Oregon State kept making shots — mostly inside — and survived a six-minute stretch with Thompson on the bench to stay in front. The Beavers had some tense moments late, but can call themselves conference tournament champions for the first time.</p>
<p>Colorado was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll despite the return of Wright, one of the toughest, steadiest guards in college basketball.</p>
<p>Behind Wright and big man Evan Battey, Colorado finished third in the Pac-12, then had a pair of down-to-the-wire wins over California and No. 23 USC in the conference tournament. </p>
<p>The Buffaloes had a hard time slowing the Beavers in the first half of the title game, but also hit half their shot (13 of 26) to stay within reach at halftime.</p>
<p>Wright helped keep Oregon State within reach down to the wire, but came up one shot short. </p>
<p>BIG PICTURE</p>
<p>Oregon State completed an unexpected run to its first conference title with confident offensive game against one of the Pac-12’s best defensive teams.</p>
<p>The Buffaloes kept hanging around after falling behind early and nearly pulled off the comeback.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Oregon State will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.</p>
<p>Colorado also should get an NCAA Tournament nod.</p>
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