Payton, Beavers hand Cougars’ 15th consecutive defeat
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Gary Payton II honored his dad, the former Seattle SuperSonics star, by eschewing the No. 1 jersey he typically wears and instead rocked his old man’s No. 20 during Oregon State’s last home game.
He continued the homage by scoring, doling out assists, and pilfering the basketball from Washington State’s players just like “The Glove” used to.
OK, maybe the two highlight-reel dunks were more reminiscent of Shawn Kemp, his dad’s old running-mate, but still, Pops seemed to enjoy them.
Payton stat-piling play paved the way for an easy 69-49 Senior Night victory over the visiting Cougars, who lost their 15th consecutive game.
The last time WSU (9-20, 1-16 Pac-12) lost 15 straight (1999-2000), the Cougars had bigger things to worry about. Like the Y2K bug.
“It was the same old story for us,” said coach Ernie Kent. “I felt like, again, we left points on the floor, particularly in the first half. We had opportunities to score, make a few more plays that would have made the game more interesting in the second half. By not doing it they got confidence, and I thought they played with a tremendous amount of freedom and energy in that second half.”
OSU (17-10, 8-8) is making a late-season charge at its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1990. Put another way, if the Beavers make it to March Madness, their last two trips will have been engineered by a point guard named Gary Payton.
The Cougars were led by Josh Hawkinson, for the 13th time this season, who scored 14 points and scooped up nine rebounds. Point guard Charles Callison had one of his better games in just his second outing since missing four contests with a concussion.
Callison scored 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting, making 2 of 5 3-point attempts, and led the team by playing 37 minutes. Callison did limp off the court late in the game after his knee collided with that of another player, but Kent said he expects him to be OK.
A sold-out crowd of 9,604 watched the Beavers jump out to a 20-6 lead. The Cougars similarly let Oregon take command with a 17-3 run to start the game during Wednesday’s matchup in Eugene, both times only finding their stride once the opponent had an ample buffer.
The Beavers improved play in two years under coach Wayne Tinkle, a 1984 graduate of Ferris High School, has led to a vastly improved atmosphere at Gill Coliseum. OSU’s average home attendance of 6,047 is more than 2,000 more per game than three years ago.
“(The atmosphere is) a lot better,” said WSU guard Ike Iroegbu. “Each year they’ve gotten a better crowd and this year, from my standpoint, it looked like it was sold out.”
Payton flirted with a triple-double, settling for 14 points, eight assists, seven boards and a pair of steals. Freshmen Tres Tinkle and Drew Eubanks scored 13 each, while forward Olaf Schaftenaar stretched the floor with three 3-pointers on his way to 11 points.
Kent went with a smaller lineup to start the second half, substituting Derrien King for center Valentine Izundu. King has been more of a wing this year, but the lineup change allowed the Cougars to play faster.
“I’ve been a guy that loves getting skill on the floor, getting up and down, playing a lot faster, getting speed,” Kent said. “I didn’t think we played very fast today. We tried to change some things up and put him on the floor, get a little more offense on the floor.”
Callison made a 3-pointer to cut the OSU lead to seven points at the beginning of the half, but OSU responded with a 10-2 run that effectively put the game out of reach.