CORVALLIS – Wayne Tinkle never shied away from the notion of a steep learning curve for his first highly touted freshman class.
There would be growing pains, Oregon State's head coach warned, as they integrated to a group that returned all five starters and 90 percent of its scoring from a year ago. But never was it more evident than in Wednesday's 79-70 victory over Loyola Marymount just how quickly the Beavers' youthful five-man unit was coming together.
In a game that saw seven ties and nine lead changes, there were four freshmen on the floor - along with senior Gary Payton II - when Oregon State took a lead it never relinquished on a tip-in by center Gligorije Rakocevic that gave the Beavers a 53-51 advantage with 8:04 remaining.