Senior guard Gary Payton II had 19 points and seven assists as Oregon State recorded a 77-69 victory over Rice in nonconference play at Houston on Thursday.

Junior guard Malcolm Duvivier added 14 points and made four 3-pointers for the Beavers (3-0). Freshman forward Tres Tinkle scored 12 points and was 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Freshman guard Marcus Evans scored 18 points to lead the Owls (0-3). Sophomore swingman Egor Koulechov added 16 points and freshman forward Marquez Lechter-Ellis had 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

Two free throws by Evans moved Rice within 70-63 with 2:09 remaining but Payton answered with a three-point play to get the cushion back to 10 with 1:02 left. A 3-pointer by Koulechov trimmed the Oregon State lead to six with 16 seconds to play but the Owls didn't score again.

The Beavers held a 19-point lead after scoring the first eight points of the second half, capped by Duvivier's 3-pointer with 16:26 to play. The Owls pecked away and crept within 66-59 on Koulechov's 3-pointer with 6:59 remaining.

Rice used an early 10-1 run to take a six-point advantage and the game was later tied at 27 before the Beavers closed the first half out strong. Oregon State went on an 8-2 burst to take a six-point advantage and later scored the final six points of the half to take a 44-33 lead into the break.