The Oregon State Beavers struggled to slow down the offense of the Washington State Cougars, allowing a season-high for points in an 89-76 road loss to finish their road trip against the Washington schools at 0-2.

Washington State was able to pull away late with a 13 point win, but needed an 8-0 run late in the second half in order to take the first double digit lead of the game. Early on, and especially in the first half, Oregon State was able to match to the Cougars offensive production. 

After scoring 21 points in the first half against the Washington Huskies in their previous game, the Beavers responded by matching that total within the first 13 minutes of the game en route to a 40 point opening half. Washington State countered with a 46 point first half of their own, but took a different path to their high scoring in the first half than Oregon State did.

The Cougars found success playing with pace and shooting from deep, ending the first half going five for 11 from the three point line and with 16 fast break points. The Beavers focused more on trying to control the paint with 34 of their points. All of the Beavers’ made field goals in the first half came from the key, with the other six points coming from the free throw line. 

While playing with different gameplans in the first half, both teams stayed productive and efficient. The Cougars ended the first 20 minutes of play shooting 50% from the field, with Oregon State making 57% of their shot attempts. 

Both teams battled early on, trading the lead back and forth before Washington State was able to go into the half up 46-40. The lead came from a 9-0 run that was capped off by a near half court buzzer beater from the Cougar junior guard Isaac Bonton.

With the lead and momentum they had built in the first half, Washington State was able to stay productive on offense and held onto their lead through the early stages of the second before building it to 13 by the closing minutes of the game.

Washington State managed to keep up their strong first half performance in the second as well, shooting 52% as a team through the final 20 minutes. The Cougars were propped up by a strong showing from their starting lineup, and especially Bonton and sophomore forward C.J. Ellesby, who combined for 56 points on 15 of 27 from the field.

The 89 points allowed by Oregon State marked a step back for a defense that had allowed more than 80 points only twice before the loss to Washington State. But with the defensive performance lacking, the Beavers seemed to find their footing on the offensive side of the ball. After scoring 56 points in their loss to the Huskies earlier in the week, Oregon State recovered to put up 76.

The Beavers scoring charge was lead once again by senior forward Tres Tinkl, who finished the afternoon with 22 points and managed to get his 2,000th career point in the first half, becoming the 16th player in PAC-12 history to cross that mark.

Tinkle’s high scoring afternoon was joined by junior guard Ethan Thompson with 14 points, senior forward Kylor Kelley with 11 points and junior guard Sean Miller-Moore with 10 points as the four Beavers players able to score in double digits. 

The game from Miller-Moore will go down as one of his best of the season up to this point. His 10 points on 5 of 5 from the field were tied for a season high while his 19 minutes in the game were the most he has had all year.

It was a strong day of scoring for the bench as a whole against Washington State. Miller-Moore led the bench in points but freshman guard Gianni Hunt added eight more to a 22 point total from the bench that had been averaging a combined 14.5 points going into the game against the Cougars.

The Beavers took on the UCLA Bruins on Jan. 23 and the USC Trojans on Jan. 25 in Corvallis.