. . . frantic Utah comeback, Tres Tinkle looked to the Oregon State bench. His eyes met his father’s and he said, “I got this.” The Beavers ran the clock down and gave the ball to Tinkle above the top of the arc. With two Utes watching him closely, Tinkle dribbled to his left, rose up and drained a three-pointer with 1:43 remaining. "Your key guy's got to step up when the game's on the line," OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. "I was very, very proud of what Tres did there to close the game out."
Tinkle scored 31 points and Kylor Kelley blocked six shots in Oregon State's 81-72 win over Utah on Saturday, marking the first time the Beavers have swept the Colorado-Utah road trip. "My pops told me to go get the ball and showed his confidence in me. I was reading the defense and just had to shoot that," Tinkle said. The elder Tinkle has seen this show before. From the time his son was playing in grade school, he's never been shy in the biggest moments. But the 6-foot-8 forward has taken that swagger to a new level in recent weeks. "There's been something that's been brewing with his confidence," Wayne Tinkle said, while citing a sprained ankle for his lower output in the last few games. "When it counted most, he'll make the plays."
Ethan Thompson and Kelley had 13 points to help the Beavers (14-7, 6-3 Pac-12) win their third game in the last four to stay near the top of the conference standings. OSU is tied with Arizona State for second place in the Pac-12 after notching its first conference road sweep since the 2008-09 season. Timmy Allen scored a career-best 24 points and Sedrick Barefield had 19 points for the Utes, who dropped two to the Oregon schools at home.
"We got stops at our end, but then they stripped the ball," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "I think toughness comes into play. I told our team that. We need to be tougher." Tinkle, the conference’s leading scorer, made 10 of 15 shots, including three three-pointers, and had six rebounds and four assists (and six turnovers). “Tres Tinkle, I have known him since he was a little kid in diapers,” Krystkowiak said. “He stepped up with that three from about 28 to 30 feet away when the building was alive when we were down four at the time, and that is a moment of truth time and I don’t know how we guard it much better.”
