Minor's 23 points pace Oregon St. past Utah Tech 80-57, win 11th straight opener under Wayne Tinkle

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Damarco Minor scored 23 points and Oregon State pulled away in the second half to post an 80-57 win over Utah Tech in the season opener Monday night.

The Beavers have won each of their 11 season openers under coach Wayne Tinkle, who is now one win shy of 300.

Oregon State's roster features nine newcomers from nine differenct countries: USA, Canada, Denmark, Iran, Lithuania, England, France, Germany and Turkey. Michael Rataj, from Augsburg, Germany, scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Parsa Fallah, a transfer from Southern Utah from Amon, Iran, had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his debut.

Nate Kingz (formerly Meithof) added 11 points in his return from an injury that kept him out all of last season. Also making his debut was Liutauras Lelevicius who competed for Lithuania at the 2023 FIBA U20 European championship and was confirmed eligible to start the season by the NCAA last week.

The Beavers shot 32 of 64 from the field but were just 6 of 24 from beyond the arc.

Justin Bieker paced Utah Tech with 14 points and Noa Gonzalves added 10. The Trailblazers shot 33.3% from the floor (19 of 57), including 5 of 25 from distance.

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