CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Oregon State has been a pest for visitors at Gill Coliseum this year, and the Beavers improved to 9-0 at home with a 55-47 win over Arizona State on Thursday.
Coach Wayne Tinkle hopes his squad keeps up the defense and intensity versus No. 7 Arizona on Sunday.
"Our guys are kind of developing a little pride here at home," Tinkle said. "They don't worry about what's across (the opponents') chest. We play because of the name on our chest. We'll give it our best and see what we've got."
"Defensive wise, we're locked in. And we know we've got to be locked in for the rest of the conference," said Gary Payton II, who scored 12 points for the Beavers on Thursday.
Malcolm Duvivier had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Victor Robbins added 10 points for the Beavers (10-4, 1-1 Pac-12).
Eric Jacobsen had 11 points and seven rebounds and Shaquielle McKissic had 11 points for Arizona State (8-7, 0-2).
Oregon State outrebounded Arizona State 34-24.
The start of the game was marred by turnovers. Five minutes in, Arizona State had four turnovers, and the same number of points, but only trailed 7-4.
The Beavers led by as many as 10 points in the first half, and went to the break up 29-20.
"We dug ourselves a hole. . We had 11 first half turnovers, and then we did a much better job of that in the second half," said Arizona State Coach Herb Sendek.
Oregon State was comfortably ahead for much of the second half, but Arizona State cut the lead to 44-41 with 3:51 remaining after a layup by Jonathan Gilling.
The Sun Devils trailed 46-41 when Jacobsen rebounded an Oregon State 3-pointer, but Robbins made a steal and scored later in the possession at the 1:53 mark. The Beavers made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:16.
"These guys battled," Tinkle said. "I'm proud of these guys for playing all the way to the end and staying with it and finding a way to close it out."
Payton is the son of Gary Payton, a former All-American for the Beavers who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. He entered Thursday's game leading Oregon State with 12.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and three steals per game.
Sophomore Savon Goodman came into the contest leading the Sun Devils with 13 points per game, but was limited to two points on Thursday.
Sendek said the Beavers beat the Sun Devils to loose balls. "That was the number one emphasis going into the game for our team. That's what they do and they do it really well. Perhaps nobody in the country is better at that than Gary Payton. He's amazing how he just has a nose for the ball."
Arizona State: ASU is in a stretch where it has only two home games in 31 days. The Sun Devils open Pac-12 play with five of its first seven games on the road. . Arizona State advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year, but lost several key players.
Oregon State: OSU's 9-0 record at Gill Coliseum is its best start at home since the 1998-99 team opened 10-0. . Payton came into the game tied for third in the nation in steals per game.
UP NEXT
Arizona State: At Oregon on Saturday.
Oregon State: Hosts Arizona on Sunday.
