Oregon State Basketball out-shot California this Saturday afternoon at their home court in Gill Coliseum with a final score of 79-71, after a blowout loss to Stanford on Thursday.

This being their 7th win in the Pac-12, the Beavers now stand 3rd in the conference behind Utah and Washington. Their overall standing also rises to 15-8.

The first half of the game looked promising for Oregon State, with the Beavers leading at half-time, 38-32. Beavers fans were on the edge of their seats by the final seven minutes of the game when California brought the score back to a three-point difference, 62-65 Beavers.

OSU junior forward Tres Tinkle had a big part to play in Saturday’s game. Offensively, he was leading the Beavers through the first half of the game with 13 total points.

“At the beginning of the year, we were one of the top teams defensively and so we know what we can do and we need to get back to that,” Tinkle said.

Oregon State Head Coach Wayne Tinkle, also had something to say on the teams overall defense.

“Defense has been a weakness of ours of late, we were really good for a long time,” Coach Tinkle said. “I think our defense in the first half was pretty solid, other than the turnovers to five layups. We took better care of it in the second half.”

OSU senior guard Stephen Thompson Jr. led the team in blocks, with two by the end of the game. During California’s last offensive push in the game, Thompson Jr., who stands at 6-foot, 4-inches, blocked California’s Connor Vanover, a 7-foot, 3-inch tall center from making a three-point shot.

“On the defensive end, he knows. Really good players, when they understand that you can dominate on the defensive end as much as the offensive end, that’s when you take your game up a level,” Coach Tinkle said.

Stephen, and sophomore guard Ethan Thompson, led the Beavers offense, Ethan sinking 23 points and Stephen scoring 21. Compared to their last game, Oregon State’s offense has seen dramatic improvements. After shooting 38 percent overall against Stanford on Thursday, OSU hit 54 percent of their shots against California to help achieve the win.

“I just saw little openings coming off a ball screen, and just try and get in the lane and make the right play,” Ethan Thompson said.

As their season matures, the Beavers look forward to hosting their upcoming Civil War matchup against Oregon on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m.