Oregon State
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Kansas
Beavers test No. 2 Kansas before falling
December 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oregon State gave Kansas all it could handle for a half but the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks rallied in the final 20 minutes to defeat the Beavers 82-67 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 18,612 at the Sprint Center.
Freshman forward Tres Tinkle scored a career-high 20 points and senior guard Gary Payton II added 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for his 10th career double-double to lead the Beavers in the intersectional matchup.
However, Payton II did not have a steal, ending his school-record streak of 38 consecutive games with at least one. His streak of 12 straight games with multiple steals, four short of Brent Barry's school mark, was also snapped.
Kansas (8-1) trailed 38-27 at intermission but started the second-half red-hot as the Beavers cooled off. The Jayhawks ripped off 14 unanswered points to turn a 48-41 deficit into a 55-48 advantage and OSU (6-2) never got closer than three points thereafter. KU's biggest lead was 16 points.
The Jayhawks outscored OSU 54-28 in the second half in its first road game against a No. 2-ranked team since a Nov. 30, 1977 contest at North Carolina. It was only the second game-ever between two of the winningest teams in college basketball history; KU won 84-78 on Nov. 30, 2012, in the previous encounter, also at the Sprint Center.
“We played with urgency about us on both ends,” coach Wayne Tinkle said. “We were executing plays and we were the aggressors on both ends.
“In the second half, we told our guys, 'We have 20 more minutes, we have to cut harder, screen harder and play with more purpose.' They made a couple runs and we unfortunately didn't have the same response” as they did in the first half when Kansas challenged for the lead.
“That's all part of the growth. We didn't defend with the same purpose; it reminded me of the Valparaiso game, we didn't cut or screen as hard and we didn't play with the same purpose.
“For 25 minutes we proved we can lead one of the best teams in the country. We lost the game because when they made a run, instead of sticking to our guns we got out of character. We will learn some valuable lessons.”
OSU led by as many as 14 points (38-24) in the first half and took a 38-27 advantage into the locker room after the first 20 minutes. The younger Tinkle was 5-for-6 on 3-point shots and had 16 points overall to lead the Beavers.
OSU used a 15-6 run to pull away from an early 6-6 deadlock and a 3-pointer by Tinkle sent them up 22-9 with 10:12 remaining in the half. The Jayhawks responded with nine unanswered points to draw within 22-18 with 7:56 left, but Tinkle hit another 3-pointer to break the run.
The Beavers then outscored KU 16-9 the rest of the half, a run punctuated by Payton II's driving, one-handed slam dunk over two defenders for a 36-25 advantage with 2:12 left. He had five points, four rebounds and four assists in the first half.
Tres Tinkle's previous career-high was 14 points, against Northwest Christian in the Nov. 14 season-opener. He was 6-of-11 from the field and had two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Senior forward Jarmal Reid had 11 points in his second game back since rejoining the team following his recovery from a foot injury. Freshman center Drew Eubanks added eight points, three assists, two rebounds and two blocks.
The Beavers return to action on Friday when they host the Cal State-Fullerton Titans in the Far West Classic Invite at the Moda Center in Portland. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Oregon.
Far West Classic Invite tickets are included in all season-ticket packages. For Far West Classic Invite tickets and other information, click on this link.
