The road has been an adventure for Oregon State men's basketball in recent years, and some of that didn't change this week.
But what changed was the result: the Beavers are headed home with a road sweep for the first time since 2021.
Upset-minded San Diego took Oregon State to the limit before the Beavers pulled away for an 83-73 win. Coupled with Thursday's win at Pepperdine, OSU swept a road trip for the first time since beating California and Stanford late in the 2020-21 season.
The Toreros, trying to end a 14-game losing streak, made it difficult. Oregon State led 68-64, but took care of the ball down the stretch, putting away the game with 15 free throws during the final 2:30.
Forward Michael Rataj carried the offense with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Rataj, who hit 10 of 17 shots, missed his career high by one point.
Oregon State (20-9, 10-6 WCC) won its 20th regular season game for the first time since 1989-90.
The Beavers remain in fifth place in the West Coast Conference, one game behind fourth-place Santa Clara, with two games remaining. Third and fourth place get an automatic berth in the WCC tournament quarterfinals.
With Santa Clara owning the tiebreaker, OSU would need to beat San Francisco and Saint Mary's next week, coupled with two losses by the Broncos.
Oregon State shot 34 of 42 from the free throw line. According to the school, that is the most by the Beavers since at least 1996. Four players shot at least eight free throws in Josiah Lake II (8 of 8), Nate Kingz (7 of 8), Parsa Fallah (7 of 10) and Rataj (7 of 8).
Oregon State had five players score in double figures. Aside from Rataj, Lake scored 13, Damarco Minor 12 and Kingz and Fallah 11.
Kody Clouet scored 19 points to lead San Diego (4-25, 1-15).
San Diego led 40-37 at halftime following a first half where the Toreros shot 56% and made six three-pointers. USD led for most of the first half, but never by much. Oregon State stayed in the game, despite shooting 42%, after pulling down 10 offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive.
Oregon State led 19-18 on a Minor jumper midway through the first half, then spent the rest of the half chasing the Toreros. San Diego led by as many as six points, but OSU cut the margin to 38-37 late in the half on a three by Rataj.
The Beavers never trailed after scoring 10 consecutive points early in the second half to take a 47-42 lead. But the Toreros grudgingly gave way. Rarely did OSU have more than a two-possession lead for most of the second half.
Fallah and Kingz began the free throw line parade during the final three minutes, giving the Beavers a 72-66 lead. The Beavers' chances improved when a USD bench technical led to more free throws, as OSU led 74-66 with 1:02 left.
Oregon State put the game away with nine free throws during the final minute.
The Beavers return to action for its home finale and Senior Day on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. contest against San Francisco at Gill Coliseum.