Numbers to Know: Oregon State (8-4) at Kent State (6-6)

Oregon State fell to Kent State by the thinnest of margins, as Stephen Thompson Jr.'s three-pointer at the buzzer cut Kent State's lead to just one point. The Beavers lost by a final score of 79-78, which drops their record to 8-4 at the conclusion of non-conference play. Perhaps a bit disappointing, but remember: Oregon State posted a final record of 5-27 last season. An 8-4 record through a third of the schedule feels just fine.

The numbers to know:

30 - Points scored by Kent State on three-point shots. All season long Oregon State has struggled from long range, so when their opponent shoots well from distance it can amount to a big hole to overcome. This game was no exception as the Golden Flashes made 10 of 25 attempts to the Beavers 6 makes in 23 attempts. A 30-18 differential from beyond the arc—in a game ultimately decided by one point—is obviously significant.

0-7 - Shooting from the field by Ethan Thompson. The freshman ended up with six points from the free throw line, but failed to make a single basket during live play. Thompson has averaged better than 40% shooting over the course of the season, so expect him to bounce back moving forward.

7 - Total assists for Oregon State in the game, as compared to Kent State's 14. The Beavers came into this game averaging a respectable 15.5 assists per game, but were taken out of their usual flow by Kent State. Simply put, the Beavers don't have the talent to go one-on-one with their opponent—especially now that conference play is upon us—so they must get back to moving the ball around and operating as a team.

24/10 - Bench points scored for each team, with Kent State getting the better performance tonight. The Golden Flashes got 12 points from Kevin Zabo and nine points from Danny Pippen, while the Beavers got just five points from Ronnie Stacy, their leading scorer off the bench.

14 - Straight points for Oregon State scored by Stephen Thompson Jr. to close out the game. In final 45 seconds, the elder of the Thompson brothers got to cooking late. He made a pair of free throws and then four consecutive three-point attempts in the Beaver's push to catch up to Kent State. His efforts fell short by one point, but what an impressive flurry that was. Hopefully Thompson can carry that momentum into conference play.

Oregon State (8-4) hosts Colorado (8-3) on December 29th to begin Pac-12 conference play.