Tinkle-era ends, Oregon State men fall to No. 1 Gonzaga 65-56

Published 10:07 pm Monday, March 9, 2026

Oregon State men’s basketball’s season and Wayne Tinkle’s tenure as the team’s head coach came to an end Monday night.

The Beavers fell 65-56 to top-seeded Gonzaga in the semifinal round of the West Coast Conference tournament.

The Bulldogs, who beat Oregon State three times this season (including Monday’s game), advance to the WCC tournament final for the 28th-straight time. The last WCC tournament championship that didn’t feature a Gonzaga team was 1997, when Saint Mary’s beat San Francisco for the title.

Gonzaga led Oregon State wire to wire, thanks to senior post Graham Ike’s 24-point, 11-rebound double-double. Ike went 10-for-17 from the floor and paced a Bulldogs squad that outscored Oregon State 38-24 in the paint. Gonzaga won on the boards too, though it was a tighter battle (35-33).

Beavers forward Jorge Diaz-Graham led Oregon State’s own scoring, dropping 15 points and coming up a rebound shy of his own double-double. Diaz-Graham knocked down three 3-pointers and went 5-for-8 from the floor. His nine rebounds led Oregon State as well, though junior forward Isiah Sy wasn’t far behind.

Sy scored seven points, tacking on eight boards.

The Beavers played stingy defense and gave the Bulldogs a fight in the second half. Midway through the second quarter, Gonzaga led by 18. Oregon State closed the gap with a 32-point second half, but Gonzaga’s early runs made it too wide a gap to bridge.

Wayne Tinkle’s tenure in Corvallis ends with the loss. The 12-year head coach achieved a 176-206 overall winning-percentage and went 82-142 in conference games. He took the Beavers to the NCAA tournament twice, (2015-16, 2020-21) and led Oregon State to the Elite Eight in 2021.