Tinkle powers Oregon State past Texas-San Antonio 72-64
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State trailed at halftime, and coaches told players to be more physical, take care of the ball and get into a rhythm on offense.
"The group we have are competitors and they all want to win. We'll do whatever it takes to try to come back and chip away at the lead, and sure enough, we did," said Tres Tinkle.
Tinkle had a career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds as Oregon State stormed back in the second half to defeat Texas-San Antonio 72-64 on Sunday afternoon.
Drew Eubanks and JaQuori McLaughlin each had 13 points for the Beavers (2-0).
"Guys I thought showed a ton of resiliency and toughness, which is great for us early in the year," said Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle, Tres Tinkle's father.
Jeff Beverly scored 12 points and Lucas O'Brien had 10 points but both fouled out for the Roadrunners (0-2), who have lost both their games this season to teams that were in the NCAA Tournament last year.
"I was proud of the way our guys competed. We did a really good job defensively in the first half. We were in foul trouble again. We have to figure out a way to defend without fouling," said first-year Roadrunners coach Steve Henson.
"We're going to be a good ballclub at the end of the year," he added.
Texas-San Antonio (0-2) led 37-29 at the break, but Oregon State opened the second half on an 11-2 run, capped by a Tinkle 3-pointer, to take a 40-39 lead and seize the momentum.
The Roadrunners trailed 61-50 when they responded with a 9-0 surge, punctuated by a Giovanni De Nicolao layup with 4:38 remaining.
With 1:44 left and Oregon State up 67-63, the Roadrunners had a chance to cut into the lead, but Tinkle had a block in a wild sequence near the basket where the Beavers ended up with the ball. On the next possession, McLaughlin scored a layup.
Oregon State held the Roadrunners to 24 percent shooting in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
Texas-San Antonio: J.R. Harris injured his right leg about midway through the first half and finished with eight points in six minutes. ... The Roadrunners early season schedule features plenty of travel, as the team plays eight of its first 11 games away from home.
Oregon State: Stephen Thompson Jr., Oregon State's third-leading scorer last season, missed the game for precautionary reasons with a left foot injury. He could be back in the lineup on Wednesday. Wayne Tinkle said that none of the guards active for Sunday's game played a minute last season, but players stepped up. "Losing Stevie, he's a guy that's capable of getting 20, 25. ... That's big," he added.
FREE THROWS
For the second straight game, the opposing coach pointed to Oregon State's aggressiveness in driving to the basket as being the difference. "They went at us and got to the free-throw line," Henson said. The Beavers made 23 of 37 free throws, while the Roadrunners were 18 of 27.
NO REST
Tres Tinkle is recovering from a foot injury, but with the close game, he played 38 minutes. "I kept saying to the staff on the bench, 'I've got to take Tres out. I've got to take Tres out. I can't play him this much,'" Wayne Tinkle said.
UP NEXT
Texas-San Antonio: Plays Wednesday at Illinois-Chicago, which lost their season opener at San Francisco on Friday.
Oregon State: Hosts Lamar on Wednesday. The Cardinals are 1-0, but were picked to finish 12th out of 13 teams in the Southland Conference.