Oregon State
California
OSU rides Payton II to big win
January 10, 2016 | Men's Basketball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A spectacular performance by senior guard Gary Payton II (pictured) carried Oregon State to a gritty 77-71 victory over California on Saturday night before a raucous crowd of 7,208 at Gill Coliseum.
Payton II had 20 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and four steals, giving the Beavers (11-3, 2-1) a split of their weekend series with the Bay Area schools and a winning record (2-1) in their first Pacific-12 Conference homestand of the season.
It was the fourth double-double of the season and the 10th of his career for Payton II, who had 10 points in each half. His key 3-point play with 30 seconds remaining to give the Beavers a 76-71 lead after Cal (12-5, 2-2) had closed to within 73-71 with 1:01 to play, the closest the Golden Bears had been to the lead in the final 35 minutes.
“Both ends of the floor, Gary did a great job,” assistant coach Gregg Gottlieb said. “How many times did he rebound his own miss, things you can't teach or coach. You just make them.”
Freshman forward Tres Tinkle added 15 points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists. He also had perhaps the other key basket of the game, a jumper from deep along the right baseline as the shot clock expired put OSU ahead 73-68 with 1:13 remaining.
“I was trying to make a move,” Tinkle said. “My dad said, 'Shoot it!' because we were running out of time. I just put it up and hoped for the best,” and his wishes were realized when the high-arcing shot swished through.
Freshman guard Stephen Thompson Jr. had 11 points and also hit another key shot, a 3-pointer from the left wing that just beat the shot clock to send OSU up 69-60 with 4:52 left.
The Beavers used a 10-0 run to erase an early 8-4 deficit and they never trailed again. Payton II rebounded home his own miss just before halftime to give OSU a 38-27 lead at the break.
It would lead by as many as 14 (41-27) before Cal steadily pulled closer before almost pulling even. Cal never trailed by more than six points in the final three minutes but the Bears never had the ball with a chance to tie as the Beavers answered every challenge with points of their own and hit 18 of 22 free throws in the second half to keep the Bears at arm's length.
“What we are learning what to do is scratch, claw and dig in a close game,” Gottlieb said. “We have a young team and we are learning how to win. Now the key is, can we sustain it?”
OSU outrebounded the Bears 34-33, outscored them off the bench 42-8 and had just eight turnovers in a tremendous bounce-back effort following a disappointing loss to Stanford on Thursday night. OSU also outscored Cal 34-30 from the paint, 12-9 off turnovers and 12-6 on second-chance points.
The Beavers resume Pac-12 play at Colorado on Wednesday in an 8 p.m. PT game in Boulder that will be televised by ESPNU.
