Tres Tinkle scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, leading Oregon State to an 87-67 win over Cal State Northridge on Tuesday night at Corvallis, Ore., in both teams' season opener.
Four Beavers scored in double figures, with Kylor Kelley contributing 18 points, eight rebounds and four of his team's eight blocked shots.
Ethan Thompson added 14 points and Zach Reichle tied his career high with 13.
Tinkle, who chose to return for his senior season after exploring the idea of entering the NBA draft, added 10 rebounds and seven assists to his stat line.
The Beavers broke open a game they controlled throughout with a 17-2 run after the midway point of the second half.
Guard Terrell Gomez led the Matadors with 19 points. Sophomore Elijah Harkless added a career-high 15, and Darius Brown II had 13 points and eight rebounds. Northridge was without sophomore forward Lamine Diane, who averaged 24.8 points per game last season on his way to being named Big West Conference Player of the Year.
The reason for Diane's absence wasn't specified before the game.
The Beavers went on an 11-0 run early in the first half to turn a tie into a 25-14 lead with 10:16 to go until halftime.
A put-back from Tinkle with 2:54 left in the half gave the Beavers their largest lead of the opening half, 42-27. Oregon State was on top 45-31 at halftime.
The Matadors cut the deficit to eight twice early in the second half, and they were down 63-57 after Gomez's 3-pointer with 10:08 left in the game. However, Oregon State scored the next eight points, and Northridge couldn't put together another big rally.
--Field Level Media
CSU Northridge | Oregon St. | |
Terrell Gomez 19 | Scoring | Tres Tinkle 25 |
Darius Brown II 4 | Assists | Tres Tinkle 7 |
Darius Brown II 8 | Rebounds | Tres Tinkle 10 |
Elijah Harkless 9 | Free Throws Made | Kylor Kelley 8 |
Darius Brown II 2 | Steals | Jarod Lucas 2 |
Festus Ndumanya 2 | Blocks | Kylor Kelley 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
CSU Northridge | 67 | 38.3 | 8-26 | 13-18 | 13 | 27 | 2 | 5 | 15 |
Oregon St. | 87 | 46.0 | 7-20 | 22-31 | 21 | 41 | 8 | 8 | 11 |