'Right place, right time': At the buzzer, Devonaire Doutrive lifts Arizona past Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. — A big reason freshman Devonaire Doutrive finally worked his way into the Arizona Wildcats’ rotation was his offensive rebounding ability, not one fueled by strength but instead by an intriguing combination of unflappable confidence and athleticism.

That made him the perfect guy to complete the perfect script Thursday: As Arizona once again clobbered the Beavers on the glass, Doutrive capped it by putting back a missed jumper from Justin Coleman just before time expired to give Arizona a 74-72 win over Oregon State on Thursday at Gill Coliseum.

“He established the role a long time ago when he came into the game and made things happen like that,” UA coach Sean Miller said.

Twice now, the Wildcats (17-12, 8-8) have beaten Oregon State by collecting a gigantic advantage with second-chance points. In their 82-71 win over the Beavers on Jan. 19 at McKale Center, the Wildcats outrebounded OSU 41-29 and collected 21 offensive rebounds that led to 26 second-chance points.

On Thursday, UA, which is now in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Pac-12, outrebounded OSU 35-19 and collected 20 second-chance points — a full 17 more second-chance points than the Beavers had — off of 12 offensive rebounds

That Doutrive came up with final second-chance bucket wasn’t really a surprise. UA called a timeout with 21 seconds go to and the game tied at 72, discussing a play to be initiated by Coleman but also with coaches telling Doutrive to be ready for the rebound.

They probably didn’t have to remind him.

That’s what Doutrive does. So after Coleman dribbled off 20 seconds, then shooting an errant off-balance jumper from near the free-throw line when he couldn’t find an open teammate, Doutrive was right there to catch it.

“You put him in a position that he’s at least going to make an attempt,” Miller said. “Obviously it doesn’t always work that way. It was right place, right time, but that’s something he does well. He made a game-winning play on the strength of his game.”

Doutrive said it was the first time in his career that he’d ever made a game-winner, though he did once hit a 3 to put a game into overtime.

“I looked at the rim and I was like, this is it.” Devonaire Doutrive (@Devonaire23) reacts to his buzzer-beater that lifted the Wildcats past Oregon State, 74-72.(🎥 via @APlayersProgram) pic.twitter.com/po114ohAZX

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) March 1, 2019

But he didn’t have a chance to think much about the gravity of this one. There was no time. Mostly, it was confidence, reflex and maybe a split-second of thought.

“When the ball came off the rim, I looked at the rim and I was like, 'This is it,'" Doutrive said.

It was. Officials went to the monitor to make sure Doutrive shot the ball in time and when the review was completed, the Wildcats went back to mobbing Doutrive while a stunned Gill Coliseum crowd walked home, with the Beavers losing a game that appeared important to their chances of gaining a first-round Pac-12 Tournament bye.

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“That’s what everybody dreams of — Devonaire, that’s a great way to win,” wing Brandon Randolph said. “I’m happy for him. I think that’s amazing. It kind of shows you we need to keep rebounding.”

Oregon State dropped to 17-10 and 9-6 at a time when all the odds appeared in the Beavers’ favor.

Arizona guard Brandon Williams fouled out with 3:58 to go, center Chase Jeter bruised his knee in the second half and was ineffective in a brief return, while Brandon Randolph also cut his upper lip against the back of Tres Tinkle’s head.

Nothing was easy.

“We played them tough,” Doutrive said. “We had a lot of energy at the end, especially when Chase went out and Brandon Williams fouled out. We had to bring that energy at the end.”

Arizona established itself on the glass immediately, with Jeter rebounding a miss from Dylan Smith a minute into the game and converting it into a three-point play. The Wildcats trailed 35-32 at halftime, and by seven early in the second half, but never went away even after the adversity began striking.

Midway through the second half, Jeter fell hard and bumped his left knee. He left the court and returned with a compression sleeve, and then made a brief reappearance later in the game.

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Just after that, Brandon Randolph left the court after his lip was cut, taking a towel to it repeatedly on the sidelines before returning.

But after Williams fouled out with 3:58 to go the Wildcats still managed to take a 70-68 lead with 2:10 left when Randolph hit a runner along the left baseline.

Randolph then returned to hit a 17-foot jumper to give UA a 72-70 lead entering the final minute, but OSU’s Stephen Thompson drove through the UA defense for a layup to tie the game at 72 with 24 seconds left.

Then Arizona called timeout, and Doutrive made sure the Wildcats had not one, but two final shots at the basket.

Only one of them needed to go in.

“I’m thrilled that we were able to win,” Miller said. “It was a big game for us, too. There’s always teams who put it together at the end and college basketball is so much about the finish in March and late February. We want to be playing our best.”