Numbers to Know: Oregon State (11-8) vs. USC (15-6)

Another game, another case of the same old story.

Oregon State lost to USC by a score of 74-67, and—in a recurring nightmare scenario for Beaver fans—it was yet another game in which Oregon State held a lead late in the game before falling apart in the final minutes.

The Beavers now have an overall record of 11-8, but they might be one of the most competitive near-.500 teams in the entire country.

Here are the important numbers:

8 - Total losses on the season now for Oregon State, and also their number of losses after holding a second-half lead in the game. You read that right: in all 19 games they've played this season, Oregon State has been in the lead at some point in the second half. Eight of those times they lost the lead and then the game. Against USC it was no different, as the Beavers found themselves up 54-47 with just 8:06 to play.

So what happened?

4:13 - Minutes and seconds during which Oregon State failed to score a single point after taking that 54-47 lead. Even worse: During that same span, which lasted from 8:06 remaining in the game to 3:53 remaining in the game, USC rattled off 18 unanswered points. Before the Beavers managed to score their 55th point of the game, the Trojans had gone from being down by seven points to up by 11 points.

14, 6 - Combined field goals made for Tres Tinkle and Stephen Thompson Jr., and combined field goals made for the other nine Beavers that played. Tinkle (21 points) and Thompson Jr. (16 points) held their own, but no other Oregon State player reached double figures in scoring. It was only two days ago that Oregon State beat UCLA behind a balanced attack that saw five Beavers with at least 10 points, so seeing what it looks like when only two players can get going was painfully obvious. Drew Eubanks continues to frustrate, as he scored just four points on three shot attempts over the course of a foul-troubled 21 minutes.

19 - Games this season in which Tres Tinkle has scored in double figures. In case you didn't catch it: that's every single game. Tinkle is the only player in the Pac-12 that has reached double figures in every game this season, and it doesn't look like he's going to let up anytime soon.

821 - Tres Tinkle's total points scored (counting this USC game) while in a Beaver uniform. After receiving a medical redshirt for last season, it will be interesting to see if the Beaver's star—classed as a sophomore due to that medical redshirt—sticks around through his senior year. If he does, he has a shot at being an all-timer for Oregon State. Currently only 39 players have ever reached the 1,000-point mark for Oregon State, and Gary Payton holds the all-time career mark at 2,172 points. With two more years of eligibility remaining after this season, Tinkle should go into his junior year well past the halfway mark of that record—especially if he maintains his current average of more than 18 points per game.

Oregon State (11-8, 3-4) plays at Oregon (13-7, 3-4) on January 27th.