Oregon State
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Mississippi State
Beavers Top Bulldogs, Stay Perfect at Gill
December 13, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Oregon State remained undefeated at Gill Coliseum and led wire-to-wire in an impressive 59-49 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon.
Junior guard Gary Payton II and junior forward Jarmal Reid had 13 points each to power the Beavers (6-2) to their fifth consecutive home win before an appreciative crowd of 4,211 that included new OSU football coach Gary Andersen, who watched from courtside.
The Beavers parlayed stifling defense in the first eight minutes and jumped out to a 16-2 advantage they would not relinquish. Mississippi State (5-3) drew within two points late in the first half and four points late in the second, but the Beavers got crucial 3-pointers from Malcolm Duvivier and Olaf Schaftenar in the final four minutes to wrap up their first home win over a Southeastern Conference foe since upending Tennessee on Dec. 22, 1990.
“They made the plays when they had,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said of the Beavers. “The biggest improvement I've seen from early on is when we make mistakes, the guys aren't hanging their heads.
“They are patting each other on the back. It's not costing us multiple errors in a row. It was a great team win. We shot a good free-throw percentage (10-13). It was a big win for us and a great week for Oregon State.
“Our guys find a way to dig deep and showed the heart of a Beaver.”
Junior guard Langston Morris-Walker had all 10 of his points in the first half and gave the Beavers a 30-23 lead at the break by hitting a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer.
Payton scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and the Beavers started with an 11-3 run to build a 41-26 advantage with 14:39 remaining. They eventually led by as many as 16 (47-31) before the Bulldogs surged back into contention with a flurry of 3-pointers.
Mississippi State drew within 51-47, but Duvivier dropped a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired for a 54-47 advantage with 3:48 to go. The Bulldogs hung tough and were within 54-49 when Schaftenaar nailed a 3-pointer with 1:02 left to establish an insurmountable 57-49 cushion.
Payton had eight rebounds, Schaftenaar and junior center Daniel Gomis seven apiece. Duvivier had five assists.
“I was impressed with our focus coming out,” Tinkle said. “Unfortunately we relaxed , we lost guys and they banged a couple of threes,” to get back in the game.
“We were scoring attacking the rim early. Then they went zone we and we said, 'OK, we're going to shoot them out of it.' We kept reminding them to continue to attack.”
Gomis complemented his rebounding stats with three points, two assists and a blocked shot in an efficient 20 minutes. He continued his recovery from a shoulder injury that knocked him out of the season-opening win over Rice.
“We couldn't wait for [Gomis] to get healthy,” Tinkle said. “He puts the team and the program above anything individually. We knew he would be that torch everyone would follow.
“Now he's starting to get confident in his health, he's getting in shape, and as he continues to do those things he'll be able to play even more. We got a big win and he was a big reason behind it, defensively and on the glass.
“It's great to learn lessons on wins, but everybody needs to look in the mirror and see how they can be better.”
The Beavers host Grambling State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in their next game. It will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
Oregon State is offering an exclusive #Commit2Wayne ticket plan that provides fans with season tickets for a flat $199 (tickets were $364 last season). The price will gradually step up the following seasons ($249, $299, $349) but remain affordable, and there is no obligation to commit to all four years.
Season tickets will be $349 next year and beyond for fans who do not take advantage of this unique opportunity this year. Fans can secure their season tickets for a $25 deposit by calling 800-GO-BEAVS or visiting beavertickets.com.
