Chasing Payton: 45 Points To Go For Tres Tinkle

As the Beavers tip-off another contest on Saturday night against Arizona State, Oregon State star Tres Tinkle continues his pursuit of the program’s all-time scoring record currently held by Gary Payton, who scored 2,172 points from 1987-1990.

Tinkle’s career points sit at 2,128, which places him just 45 points back of “The Glove” for the prestigious mark. Sticking to his current 18.0 points per game average, the 6’ 8” forward would be on pace to actually break the record back in Corvallis, as the Beavers next two contests will come on the road at Arizona State on Saturday and Oregon on Thusday.

Oregon State will return home for their last two games of the regular season, beginning with a Thursday, March 5th meeting with Stanford - the current projected record-breaking game - and then a Saturday, March 7th season finale versus California. Tinkle and the Beavers will also be guaranteed at least one additional game in the Pac-12 Tournament, giving the redshirt senior at least five games left in his career.

As Tinkle begins to inch closer to Payton’s record, he also has moved into the #8 spot on the Pac-12’s all-time scoring list as well, again trailing Payton who sits in 7th. While Tinkle is doubtful to catch Stanford’s Adam Keefe, who is 6th on the list with 2,319 career points, he’s already surpassed some legendary company in UCLA’s sharp-shooting duo of Reggie Miller and Jason Kapono, who were tied for 9th place with 2,095 points.

Tinkle and the Beavers will take the floor against the Sun Devils at 5 PM PT on Saturday night. The game will be televised on ESPNU.