Houston – Oregon State improved to 3-0 for the second year in a row under coach Wayne Tinkle with a 77-69 victory over Rice on Thursday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Senior guard Gary Payton II had 19 points, five rebounds, seven assists and ix assists and six steals to give the Beavers (3-0) a sweep of the home-and-home series with the Owls (0-3). OSU won 67-54 in Corvallis last season in Tinkle’s first game at OSU.
Payton was 8-of-11 from the field and hit his only 3-pointer. He now has at least one steal in 36 consecutive games, just one short of the school record of 37 established by his father over the 1989 and 1990 seasons.