CORVALLIS - An eager Oregon State fan approached coach Wayne Tinkle before Tuesday's 2018-19 men's basketball season opener, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.
"He said, 'I feel a blowout tonight,' one of the fans," Tinkle said. "I said, 'easy, this is game one.'"
The fan didn't completely get his wish, as Oregon State struggled for a half before turning up the pressure on both ends of the floor Tuesday night to beat UC Riverside 72-59 in Gill Coliseum.
It had all the looks of a season opener. Oregon State, with high hopes in returning the bulk of a roster from last year's 16-16 campaign, gave glimpses of hope, but left Tinkle and his coaching staff with plenty of things to correct in practice days to come.