The Sports Xchange
Dec 30, 2017
Stephen Thompson Jr. scored 24 points as host Oregon State cruised past Colorado 76-57 on Friday night in Corvallis, Ore to open Pac-12 play.
The junior guard hit three of four attempts from three-point range as the Beavers improved to 9-4 on the year and 7-1 at home. The Buffaloes fell to 8-5 and remain winless on the road in three contests away from Boulder.
Tres Tinkle added 23 points and six assists for Oregon State, while Thompson's brother Ethan Thompson contributed 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Drew Eubanks had nine rebounds and blocked six shots for the Beavers.
Tyler Bey set a career-best with 14 points to pace the Buffs. Dominique Collier scored eight points off a Colorado bench that outscored the Beavers' reserves by a 20-8 margin.
Oregon State jumped on Colorado from the start by scoring the game's first eight points. The teams then traded 7-0 runs before Oregon State reclaimed the lead for good on a Tinkle 3-pointer with 1:55 remaining in the half. The bucket began a 10-0 Beavers' run to take a 32-23 lead into the break.
The 23 points scored by the Buffs in the frame was the fewest allowed by Oregon State in the first half this year.
Wayne Tinkle's squad didn't relent in the second half, pushing its advantage to as many as 23 points in the second half behind 51.9 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent marksmanship from 3-point range. Colorado struggled to overcome 34.5 percent shooting from the floor and 28 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Both teams return to action on Dec. 31 when Colorado travels to Eugene to face Oregon, while the Beavers play host to Utah.