DaMarco Minor Leads Oregon State Past Utah Tech on Opening Night, 80-57
Oregon State tipped off the season and kept Wayne Tinkle's undefeated streak in season openers alive on Monday night with an 80-57 victory over Western Athletic Conference squad Utah Tech at Gill Coliseum. Four players scored in double figures for the Beavers, including SIU-Edwardsville transfer and leading scorer DaMarco Minor, who put up 23 in the win.
Other top performers were Southern Utah transfer Parsa Fallah, who scored 13 on a hyper efficient 6-of-7, Nate Kingz, who scored 11 on 5-of-8 shooting, and Michael Rataj, who had 15 on 6-of-12. The offensive effort was roughly equal in both halves, but where Oregon State made the difference was on the defensive end.
The Beavers held just a seven-point lead going into the break against the Trailblazers at 38-31, but a lockdown defensive effort in the back end of the second half, specifically over the last nine minutes where Utah Tech didn't get a single field goal, was the reason the game was so lopsided in its result. Looking at the final score doesn't paint a perfect picture of how the game went, however.
It got scary for the Beavers eight minutes into the second period. The Trailblazers temporarily took the lead with 12 minutes left at 48-47, but Oregon State finished the game on a 33-9 run after that point, a stretch in which they completely shut down the Utah Tech offense. The Trailblazers went 1-for-12 to end the game, while Oregon State finished by hitting 6-of-8.
For Utah Tech, the top scorer was Justin Bieker, who had 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 2-of-6 from beyond the arc. Noa Gonsalves also scored 10, but struggled mightily with his efficiency by hitting just 3-of-14 shots, including just 2-of-10 from three. Beon Riley scored nine points, but fouled out of the contest.
While things nearly got dangerous for Oregon State in this game, a win is a win, especially a 23-point victory where the defense showed up strong to close it out. To lock in and show the amount of focus they did over the last quarter of the matchup should indicate that this team has some grit to it. Hopefully, they can bring this level of intensity for a full 40 minutes when they take on Weber State on Friday.
More Reading Material From On SI
RECRUITING: Can Oregon State Flip Boise State Decommit Christopher Solis-Lumar?
Oregon State Projected To Face Army in Week 10 Bowl Projections
State of the Beavs: Moving Past A Bad Cal Loss + Beavs Basketball Previews
Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.