CORVALLIS, Ore. — Gary Payton II threw down an emphatic dunk in the second half to highlight Oregon State’s win over Washington.
His slam came as the Beavers overwhelmed the Huskies with a 43-point second half performance en route to a 64-50 win on Sunday.
“We were just moving the ball, the ball wasn’t sticking. Everybody was getting easy buckets at the rim,” said Payton, who led all scorers with 17 points while adding five steals.
The victory gave the Beavers a 14-0 record at home to start the season, a school record.
Oregon State is 16-7 overall for its best record over 23 games since the 1989-90 team started 19-4. That was the last time Oregon State went to the NCAA tournament.
Malcolm Duvivier added 14 points for the Beavers, who also improved to 7-4 in Pac-12 conference play.
Andrew Andrews had 14 points for the Huskies (14-9, 3-8), who have lost five straight games. The loss also snapped a four-game winning streak in the series against the Beavers.
Washington didn’t score for nearly the first six minutes of the game, getting its first point on the second of two free throws from Shawn Kemp Jr.
But coach Lorenzo Romar wasn’t just concerned about the slow start: The Huskies finished with 22 turnovers.
“They do a good job with their defense,” Romar said, “but at the same time, we had too many turnovers. … Thirteen turnovers in the first half — that’s too much.”
It was the second matchup between the famous offspring of former Seattle SuperSonics teammates, Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton. The Huskies won the first one, 56-43 in Seattle on Jan. 15.
The younger Kemp finished with 13 points for Washington.
The younger Payton entered the game leading the league and ranked fourth in the nation with an average of 2.86 steals per game. He’s the only Pac-12 player with at least one steal in all 23 games he’s played in.
The Huskies were 0 of 8 from the floor with only three free throws on the board as Oregon State jumped out to a 14-3 lead. Washington’s first basket from the floor was Nigel Williams-Goss’ 3-pointer.
That sparked a 10-2 Washington run to narrow the margin to 16-12 and the Huskies closed to within 21-18 on Kemp’s dunk to end the first half.
Langston Morris-Walker made a layup that put Oregon State up 29-22 early in the second half. Oregon State pulled away with a 10-2 run capped by two Payton layups to lead 35-24 with 13:55 left in the game.
With his father in the crowd, Payton’s big dunk with 4:38 left gave the Beavers a 51-40 lead.
“We had everybody clicking early, we got into a little drought in the first half, we picked it back up at the end, and the second half we just came out and put the foot down,” Payton said.
The Beavers were coming off a 55-50 victory over Washington State on Thursday that snapped a two-game losing streak to the Arizona schools.
Washington was coming off a 78-74 loss at Oregon on Wednesday night.
TIP INS
Washington: The last time the two teams met this season there was also a low-scoring first half with the Huskies taking a 19-15 lead at home in route to a 56-43 win. … The Huskies continue to adjust to the loss of 7-foot center Robert Upshaw, who was dismissed for violating team rules on Jan. 26.
Oregon State: The Oregon State men’s and women’s teams were both undefeated at home this season. The only other school with a pair of home unbeatens was Wichita State.
BIG CROWD
As the Beavers continue to win, they continue to get more attention. A season-high 9,114 fans attended the game Sunday at Gill Coliseum.
ROBBINS ARREST
During the game, it was reported that 6-foot-7 junior forward Victor Robbins was cited early Sunday for driving under the influence in Benton County. Robbins was serving a 10-game suspension for violating an athletic department policy, imposed on Jan. 15. He was eligible to return against Utah on Feb. 19. Tinkle said he did not know about the citation until after the game.
UP NEXT
Washington hosts Arizona on Friday night.
Oregon State visits UCLA on Wednesday night.
