A dominant second-half performance from sophomore forward Glenn Taylor Jr. helped propel the Oregon State men’s basketball team to a 61-58 upset victory over the University of Southern California Saturday afternoon at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.  

Taylor Jr. scored 14 of his 18 total points in the second half against the Trojans as Oregon State bounced back from their 62-47 loss against the UCLA Bruins on Thursday night, earning their tenth win on the season over the Trojans. Taylor also notched his third career double-double as he had 10 rebounds during the game. 

“I was trying to keep it short and sweet, and come to win,” said Taylor Jr. about his performance against the Trojans. “That was the only thing on my mind throughout the whole day, I was trying to come get this game. It didn’t matter if I had just five rebounds and zero points, whatever it took I was just trying to win.”  

Head coach Wayne Tinkle stressed post-game how meaningful it was for the team to earn their tenth win of the season despite the challenges that they faced during the season. 

“It has to be meaningful. We don’t talk about that stuff too much, but I mean, they’re normal kids, getting to that figure is big,” Tinkle said. 

Early in the game, the Beavers started slow on the offensive side of the ball but answered the early points by the Trojans as freshman guard Jordan Pope scored the first points for the Beavers on a jump shot to tie the game 2-2 with 17:49 in the first half. 

On the next possession by the Trojans, they extended their lead on a pair of free throws from freshman forward Vincent Iwuchukwu making the score 4-2. The Beavers answered the scoring run by the Trojans as senior forward Dzmitry Ryuny knocked down a three-pointer to cut into the Trojan lead to make the score 8-5 with 13:15 in the first half.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

A couple of quick points from the Beavers by both forward Tyler Bilodeau and Pope further cut into the Trojan lead making the score 10-9 with 10:09 in the first half. On the next possession by the Beavers guard Dexter Akanno with a putback dunk gave the Beavers their first lead of the game making the score 12-10 with 9:21 in the first half. 

Akanno further extended the lead for the Beavers on a three-pointer making the score 15-12 with 8:32 in the first half. The Trojans answered the quick scoring run cutting into the Oregon State lead with a jump shot by sophomore guard Kobe Johnson making the score 18-16 with 6:45 in the first half. 

On the ensuing possession by the Trojans, freshman forward Kijani Wright gave the Trojans the lead back on a layup, making the score 21-18 with 4:44 in the first half. Oregon State guard Christian Wright knocked down a pair of free throws to cut into the Trojan lead making the score 21-20 with 3:38 in the first half. 

The Trojans further extended their lead with a couple of quick offensive possessions but Pope knocked down a three-point shot to cut into the Trojan lead making the score 24-23. Taylor Jr. knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game making the score 25-25 with 1:21 in the first half. 

On the next possession, Taylor gave the Beavers back the lead on a layup making the score 27-25 with 0:55 seconds remaining in the first half. Pope further added onto the Oregon State, knocking down his second three-pointer of the game making the score 30-25 headed into halftime. 

Early in the second half, the Beavers wasted no time adding on to their lead with a pair of free throws from KC Ibekwe to make the score 32-25 at 19:42 in second half. A pair of quick offensive possessions from Taylor Jr. extended the Oregon State lead making the score 36-25 in the second half.  

The Trojans answered right back with a pair of offensive possessions from guards Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson cutting into the Oregon State lead making the score 36-30 with 17:02 in the second half. The Beavers extended their lead on a layup from Taylor Jr. making the score 39-32 with 14:02 in the second half. 

The Trojans further cut into the Oregon State on their next offensive possessions with a pair of points from Peterson, but the Beavers would answer right back as Taylor knocked down a contested layup to make the score 42-36 with 11:45 remaining in the second half. 

On the next possession, Ellis knocked down a pair of free throws to further cut into the Oregon State lead making the score 42-40 with 10:46 remaining in the second half. Ibekwe further added to the lead with a free throw to make the score 43-40. 

Ryuny knocked down his second three-pointer of the game to further extend the Beavers lead making the score 46-42 with 8:33 in the second half. The Beavers further extended their lead on Ryuny’s third three-pointer of the game making the score 49-45 with 6:15 remaining in the second half. 

Senior forward Rodrigue Andela added to Oregon State’s lead with a pair of free throws making the score 51-45 in the second half. Taylor Jr. further added to the lead with a second-chance layup making the score 53-47 with 4:55 remaining in the second half. 

A quick scoring run by the Trojans further cut into the Oregon State lead making the score 55-54 with 3:36 on a couple of offensive possessions by Johnson and Iwuchukwu. The Beavers answered the scoring run by the Trojans with a jump shot by Pope to make the score 57-56 with 1:56 remaining in the second half. 

A pair of free throws from Iwuchukwu gave the Trojans back the lead making the score 58-57 with 1:09 remaining in the game. On the next possession for the Beavers, Taylor Jr converted on a layup making the score 59-58 to give Oregon State a one-point lead with 0:35 seconds remaining in the game. 

Pope further added to the Oregon State lead with a pair of free throws to make the score 61-58 with 0:19 seconds remaining in the game. Those free throws secured the win for the Beavers as Ellis missed the three-point attempt to send the game into overtime. 

For Oregon State, Taylor Jr. led all scorers with 18 points after only scoring 10 points against the Bruins. Pope was the only other player for the Beavers that scored in double digits as he scored 16 points against the Trojans. The only other player for the Beavers that got close to double figures was Ryuny, who scored nine points.

Tinkle praised Ryuny’s performance as he had big contributions on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball against the Trojans even with nine points, and how his practices have finally translated into playing a well-rounded game during game time. 

“We had been talking to him about how he [Ryuny] has been unbelievable in practice for a while. We joked yesterday about if that guy comes at game time,” said Tinkle. “I told him to address the game like its practice. I think he made an adjustment and whatever he did during the game, I loved it.”

For the Trojans, Iwuchukwu led all scorers with 19 points and seven rebounds. Peterson scored 11 points and had eight rebounds, Johnson and Ellis each scored nine points against the Beavers. 

Up next, the Beavers have a road matchup against Washington State University on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.