Oregon State
USC
Payton II Powers OSU Past No. 21 USC
January 24, 2016 | Men's Basketball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Senior guard Gary Payton II just missed his second career triple-double on Sunday in leading Oregon State to a gut-check 85-70 victory over No. 21 USC.
Payton II had 22 points, tied his season-high with 15 rebounds and added eight assists and four steals as the Beavers (12-6, 3-4 Pac-12) snapped a three-game losing streak, delighting an energetic Gill Coliseum crowd of 7,020.
It was the Beavers' seventh-straight home win over the Trojans (15-5, 4-3), and the second consecutive season they've upset a Top 25 team (58-56 win over No. 7 Arizona on Jan. 11, 2015).
Freshman Tres Tinkle added 18 points and seven rebounds; freshman forward Drew Eubanks had 12 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals; freshman Stephen Thompson Jr. had 11 points, and junior guard Malcolm Duvivier added nine points and three assists. All nine Beavers who played scored.
The Beavers outscored USC 49-30 in the second half, held USC to 34 percent shooting from the field (20-59), and battled them to s 43-43 standstill on the boards. OSU established a Pacific-12 Conference season high in scoring in an impressive recovery from Wednesday night's loss to UCLA.
“It was a big response by our guys, I couldn't be more proud,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. “Everyone who played made a contributions, just on and on … it was a total team win.
“Gary set the tone from the start with his energy and aggressiveness. He played defense like he's capable. That's what we've been asking for, for our leaders to lead,” and they did so on Sunday.
OSU trailed by as many as seven points (36-29) with 3:27 left in the first half but closed on a 7-4 run to trail 40-36 at intermission. They scored seven unanswered points to start the second half; USC briefly pulling even, 45-45, with 17:37 remaining, but never led again.
Tres Tinkle scored seven points in a 9-0 run that sent the Beavers ahead 54-45 with 14:25 left. USC drew within 72-66 with 4:21 left but OSU responded with a 10-1 surge to build an insurmountable 15-point (82-67) cushion, its largest of the game until the final seconds.
“It was a must-win game,” senior forward Olaf Schaftenaar said. “We were 2-4 [in the Pac-12] with a tough road trip to Arizona coming up.
“It was a huge, huge opportunity. Guys were extremely motivated, we prepared the best we could and that that's what we showed tonight. It was a great team win.”
OSU outscored USC 28-4 in the paint in the second half and 50-24 for the game, helping it overcome a 38-21 discrepancy from the foul line and out-of-character (3-18 cold 3-point shooting). OSU also led 18-7 in points off turnovers, 14-11 in second-chance points and 13-8 in fast-break points.
OSU was 18 of 21 from the foul line overall and 11 of 12 in the second half after shooting just 50 percent (17-34) in its last two games.
“Just knock them down,” said Schaftenaar, who was 4-for-4 from the stripe. “It's been a focus in practice because we haven't been shooting them well. Coach put pressure on us and apparently it helped.”
The Beavers resume Pac-12 action at Arizona State at 5:30 p.m. PT on Thursday in a game that will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. They then visit Arizona at 6:30 p.m. PT on Saturday, also on Pac-12 Networks.
Their next home game is Feb. 4 against Utah, starting at 8 p.m.
Fans can purchase OSU men's basketball season tickets and single-game tickets by visiting this link or by calling 800-GO-BEAVS.
