Gonzaga Bulldogs 98, Oregon State Beavers 60: Live score updates recap, highlights from WCC men's basketball game

The Bulldogs evened the score with the Beavers in a Tuesday night tilt from the Kennel
Gonzaga Bulldogs senior guard Ryan Nembhard.
Gonzaga Bulldogs senior guard Ryan Nembhard. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The Gonzaga Bulldogs (16-6, 7-2 WCC) dismantled the Oregon State Beavers (16-7, 6-4 WCC) in a 98-60 final from the McCarthey Athletic Center on Tuesday.

Khalif Battle led the way with 23 points off the bench while Graham Ike added 22. Michael Ajayi recorded his first double-double of the season in a 15-point, 10-rebound effort, as the Zags outscored the Beavers, 48-15, in bench points.

Gonzaga used a 13-3 scoring run early on to create some separation from Oregon State, then closed the first half on a 16-3 burst to lead 50-30 at the halftime break.

Michael Rataj paced the Beavers with 15 points. Oregon State shot just 38.2% from the field; it went 58.5% from the field in the first matchup with Gonzaga on Jan. 16.

Here is the live updates recap:

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FINAL: Gonzaga 98, Oregon State 60

2ND HALF

Gonzaga 91, Oregon State 52 (4:22): Michael Ajayi caps off an 8-0 scoring run with a fadeaway jumper, bringing his total on the night to 12 points. The Zags have punished the Beavers for turning the ball over all night to the tune of 22 points scored off 12 turnovers from the visitors.

Gonzaga 83, Oregon State 50 (7:06): Chants of "Nolan Hickman" are hailing throughout the Kennel after the senior guard made three consecutive 3-pointers in a 2-minute span, as the Bulldogs have all but put the finishing touches on this one. Hickman is up to 14 points.

Gonzaga 70, Oregon State 43 (11:38): Michael Ajayi gets Gonzaga's bench fired up over a pair of 3-pointers from the 6-foot-7 senior, putting his total on the night to 10 points. For the Beavers, Michael Rataj connected on a floater along the baseline for his first field goal since there was 11:39 left to play in the first half.

Gonzaga 62, Oregon State 35 (15:42): Michael Rataj dominated the Bulldogs in the first matchup with a then-season-high 29 points. The Beavers' leading scorer had 30 points in his last time out against Santa Clara. Tonight against the Zags β€” seven points on 3-of-7 from the field. A much more concerted effort on the defensive end of the floor for Gonzaga, without a doubt.

Gonzaga 55, Oregon State 30 (18:49): Ben Gregg still has the Kennel rocking after throwing a monster two-hand dunk in transition to make it a 25-point advantage for the home team. The possession prior, the 6-foot-10 senior strolled through the lane to recover his own missed 3-pointer right in front of the rim, leading to an easy putback.

HALFTIME: Gonzaga 50, Oregon State 30: The Bulldogs raced out to a 20-point lead at halftime thanks to a combined 32 points between Graham Ike and Khalif Battle, as well some stout play all-around defensively. Oregon State, paced by Damarco Minor's eight points, went just 11-of-28 from the field and committed seven turnovers. There's certainly a much different feel to round two between the Zags and Beavers compared to the first matchup between the two in Corvallis, Oregon.

1ST HALF

Gonzaga 50, Oregon State 30 (0:25): The Bulldogs are set to take a commanding lead into the locker room amid a 16-3 scoring run that's been going on for the last 5 minutes of the first half.

Gonzaga 46, Oregon State 27 (3:07): Khalif Battle makes it a 12-0 scoring run for the Zags after knocking down his third 3-pointer of the night. Battle and Graham Ike have combined for 32 points thus far.

Gonzaga 41, Oregon State 27 (4:10): Khalif Battle extends Gonzaga's lead to 14 with a 7-0 scoring run by himself, as the 6-foot-5 guard got to the charity stripe and knocked down his second 3-pointer. Battle leads the Zags with 14 points.

Gonzaga 31, Oregon State 22 (7:51): Despite two Beavers in his way, Michael Ajayi skied high for an offensive rebound to get an incredible second-chance basket to fall, as the 6-foot-7 forward crashed to the floor while drawing the foul. Zags own the rebounding battle early, 10-5, with six second-chance points already.

Gonzaga 29, Oregon State 19 (8:45): Braden Huff cleans up his own miss with a soft putback in the paint, pushing the Bulldogs' lead to double-digits.

Gonzaga 23, Oregon State 16 (10:46): Michael Ajayi finds the soft spot in the Beavers' zone defense for a pull-up jumper near the free-throw line, putting the Bulldogs back up by seven after Michael Rataj finished at the rim on the other end for the Beavers.

Gonzaga 17, Oregon State 9 (13:30): Zags deliver the first few blows of the night behind a strong start from Graham Ike, who threw down an emphatic one-hand dunk to extend his team's scoring run to 11-3 over the last 2 minutes and change. Ike has 13 points on 6-of-7 from the field.

Gonzaga 13, Oregon State 6 (15:39): Graham Ike can't be stopped out of the gate. The 6-foot-9 forward has 11 of Gonzaga's 13 points out of the gate to start.

Gonzaga 2, Oregon State 0 (19:00): Graham Ike gets the Bulldogs on the board first with a putback off a missed layup from Emmanuel Innocenti.

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Cole Forsman
COLE FORSMAN

Cole Forsman is a reporter for Gonzaga Bulldogs On SI. Cole holds a degree in Journalism and Sports Management from Gonzaga University.