Oregon State
Arizona State
Payton II Scores 23 in Setback at ASU
January 29, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Tempe, Ariz. – Junior guard Gary Payton II broke the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season but Oregon State's three-game winning streak ended on Thursday with a 73-55 setback at Arizona State.
Payton had 23 points for the Beavers (14-6, 5-3 Pac-12), who surrendered a season-high in points allowed. The Sun Devils (11-10, 3-5) improved to 11-2 at Wells Fargo Arena and earned a split of the season series.
It was the second straight 20-plus game for Payton, the current Pacific-12 Conference Player of the Week. He was 11 of 21 from the field and had three rebounds and two assists.
Payton had 21 points against USC on Jan. 24 in his last start. He has scored in double figures in 17 of 21 games.
Junior guard Malcolm Duvivier added 14 points and junior forward Jarmal Reid added 13 for the Beavers. The rest of the team combined for just five points as starters Langston Morris-Walker (2), Daniel Gomis (1) and Olaf Schaftenaar (0) had just three points between them, although Schaftenaar did have four assists.
“We hurt ourselves more than any other night [this season],” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. “We got great looks early, then we lost their shooters, man and zone, and they made us pay.
“I give a lot of credit to Arizona State. They came out, set the tone and established what they wanted to do but we hurt ourselves a lot. We have to hang our hat on defense and tonight we just didn't do it.”
ASU started quickly and was 8 of 11 overall and 6 of 8 from deep in the first eight minutes to zip to a 24-12 lead. ASU scored just 20 points in the entire first half in a 55-47 loss to the Beavers in Corvallis back on Jan. 8.
The Beavers eventually trailed by 20 points (38-18) with 3:26 left in the half following a 14-4 ASU run. The Sun Devils led 40-23 at the break as only three Beavers scored in the first half.
Duvivier scored the first basket of the second half to draw the Beavers within 40-25. However, the Sun Devils responded with a 7-1 run over the next four minutes to lead 47-26 and OSU never got closer than 16 points thereafter.
The Beavers conclude their Southwestern road trip at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 7 Arizona at Tucson. The game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
Their next home game is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 5 against Washington State. It will also be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
