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Thompson's 17 points leads Oregon St past San Jose St 83-48
LAS VEGAS (AP) — With what figures to be a competitive Pac 12 season, Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle is hoping to strengthen the depth on his roster with quality minutes before the conference opener on Jan. 2 at Utah.
Wednesday night he got a pretty good look at what he's got to work with this season, as 12 Beavers played at least eight minutes in an 83-46 romp over San Jose State in the Las Vegas Invitational.
Ethan Thompson, one of four players to score in double figures and one of 11 players to score at least one point, led the way with 17 points.
Alfred Hollins had 16 points and six rebounds, Tres Tinkle had 15 points and Zach Reichle chipped in with 10 for the Beavers.
"We feel like we've got a lot of weapons (and) we have really good depth when that depth produces," coach Tinkle said. "We've been trying to get these young and new guys come along."
With the win, Oregon State (6-1) equaled its best start through seven games since the 1980-81 team opened 26-0. The Beavers have started 6-1 in eight other seasons since then.
Sam Japhet-Mathias led the Spartans with 10 points.
The Beavers capitalized on San Jose State's 18 turnovers by converting them into 30 points and got 23 points off the bench.
"In the second half a lot of the younger guys played outside of the starters, and it didn't turn into anything that was out of character for Oregon State," Thompson said. "I felt like they did a real good job, coming in and picking up the energy. I feel all of them are pretty confident in their abilities now. They know their role to help the team."
The 48 points scored were the fewest by an Oregon State opponent this season. It was the first time the Beavers held an opponent to fewer than 50 points since allowing 49 to Marist on Nov. 26, 2017.
San Jose State (3-4) was mired in a horrible shooting night, hitting just 17 of 59 (28.8%) from the floor, including an abysmal 19.4% (6-for-31) in the second half.
"We could not make a shot; we had shots, we just couldn't make them," San Jose State coach Jean Prioleau said. "I don't think that's effort, I just think we just weren't able to make a shot. What we can take from it is each and every game it's on, every time you step on the floor. The level of competition that we're playing against is going to continue to increase."
On deck, the Spartans have UCLA, No. 15 Utah State, San Diego State and Stanford. And if the shooting doesn't improve, the reality is San Jose State could be mired in a six-game skid and 3-8 by mid-December.
After falling behind 11-10 early in the game, Tinkle keyed runs of 8-0 and 11-4 with nine straight points for the Oregon State, which was able to distance itself and seize momentum.
The Beavers opened the game by hitting 10 of their first 16 shots — a blistering 62.5% — including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. They hit 17 of 29 (58.6%) in the first half and 7 of 12 (58.3) from 3-point range.
The Spartans, meanwhile, struggled to maintain the momentum they started with, after opening the game by hitting 8 of 14 (57.1%) from the floor. As Oregon State's full-court press began taking its toll, San Jose was just 3 of 11 to close the first half.
Oregon State led 45-24 at halftime. The Beavers improved to 6-0 when leading at the half.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State: Thompson, who has started all 70 games in his career at Oregon State, has scored in double figures in six of the team's first seven games. Since opening the season 7 for 33 (21.2%) from the field, the junior guard is hitting 52.9% (27 for 51) from the floor.
San Jose State: Three of the Spartans' four losses this season have been to schools in Oregon: Portland, Portland State and now Oregon State. The fourth loss was at then-No. 19 Arizona.
UP NEXT
San Jose State: Will play its second straight Pac 12 foe when it visits UCLA on Sunday.
Oregon State: Returns home to open a mini two-game homestand, starting with Portland State on Sunday.
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