CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said his team is finding ways to win, despite only playing strong basketball a half of each game.
But that won’t hold up once Pac-12 play starts.
“We know that the price of poker is going up. There’s no weak sister in conference. . We need to play 40 minutes of basketball,” Tinkle said.
Tres Tinkle, the coach’s son, scored a career-high 23 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had three steals, and Oregon State defeated Quinnipiac 82-61 on Monday night.
Gary Payton II scored 19 points with seven rebounds and three steals, while Drew Eubanks added 10 points for the Beavers (9-2).
Oregon State broke the game open with a 15-0 surge to start the second half, holding Quinnipiac scoreless for nearly six minutes.
“We got challenged at halftime just to show some toughness and move the ball and play as a team,” Tres Tinkle said.
Donovan Smith had 16 points with 12 rebounds, and Andrew Robinson came off the bench to score 10 points for the Bobcats (4-6).
Oregon State was outrebounded 46-43, but held Quinnipiac to 31.9 percent shooting.
“I thought they were terrific in the second half, their defensive intensity,” Bobcats coach Tom Moore said of his opponent.
The Beavers strong opening to the second half put them ahead and led 52-34 with 15:16 left. Quinnipiac never came closer than 10 points the rest of the game and Oregon State pushed the margin to as many as 23.
The Beavers led 19-12 at the 13:38 mark after Payton made a lay-in and was fouled, then tipped his own missed free throw to Tinkle, who put in a lay-up. The baskets were part of a 6-0 run.
With 4:10 remaining in the first half, Quinnipiac took a 27-26 lead, thanks to a 7-1 run capped by Ayron Hutton’s jumper.
Oregon State went to the break ahead 37-34 after Langston Morris-Walker made a lay-in, was fouled and sunk the free throw with 2.3 seconds left in the half.
