CORVALLIS — Never quite able to pull far enough away for comfort despite a 22-point lead in the first half Saturday, Oregon State men’s basketball beat Southern Utah 81-70 at Gill Coliseum.

The Beavers (5-5) were led by Dez White with 20 points and Johan Munch with 16.

The Thunderbirds (4-7) were the worst team OSU has faced this season in terms of NET ranking at No. 343.

“That’s as good as we’ve seen them play on tape this year,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said of Southern Utah. “They did a lot of really good things, played their tails off, caused us some frustration. We did a lot of really good things in spurts, but it wasn’t as good of a 40-minute effort as we need.”

The win was Oregon State’s second straight, coming on the heels of a five-game losing streak.

White was red-hot from the start, hitting his first three attempts to give OSU a 13-6 lead. He had 16 points in the first half alone.

Noah Amenhauser came in at center and forced his will, scoring two straight baskets to make it 17-6 Beavers.

Turnovers and poor transition defense hurt OSU as the first half progressed, though, and Southern Utah rattled off a 6-0 run to cut the OSU lead to 20-16.

“We didn’t keep the ball in front of us,” Tinkle said. “They got downhill, got to the paint at will. In our zone, we didn’t have enough communication or urgency to match. And when we don’t communicate and see our area and the ball, we have breakdowns. They still got to the rim against zone a couple of times and we lost shooters.”

But as the Beavers picked up the pace, they blew the game wide open.

Ja’Quavis Williford — playing his third game since returning from injury — hit two quick buckets to make it 25-16 Beavers. OSU would extend that to 45-23 at one point, fueled by transition play and White’s confident scoring at all three levels.

OSU is dealing with both injuries and illness for key players: Yaak Yaak is still reconditioning after being out for the entire Paradise Jam tournament; Matija Samar is close to being back from a sprained MCL, and the Beavers are hoping to have him next week; and Keziah Ekissi is recovering from an illness that has kept him sidelined.

The Thunderbirds finished the half strong, going on a 7-0 run to cut it to 45-30 at the break.

While OSU came out in the second half sluggish in the early going, Munch powered to the basket on three straight possessions to get the lead up to 55-38 with 13:45 to go.

OSU kept the lead around 12-14 as the second half rolled along, but Tinkle’s frustration was evident throughout the game — primarily in response to defensive breakdowns leading to easy baskets for the Thunderbirds.

OSU led 65-51 at the 9:40 mark. Southern Utah got as close as 68-59 with just under seven minutes to go.

The Beavers picked up the defensive effort down the stretch, including a Munch block. OSU was able to pull out a double-digit victory in the end, but late turnovers and a lack of urgency on offense from the Beavers almost made it interesting as Southern Utah hit its open outside shots.

“We are a long ways off,” Tinkle said. “Defensively, we play stretches of really good defense, but we’ve got to do a good job for 40. Offensively, I think we’re getting more comfortable these last couple games in understanding how important it is to get turns of the ball and not go 1-on-1.

“When we go 1-on-1, that’s when we turn it over, take bad shots, and shoot a poor percentage. And we carry that frustration over to the defensive end.”

Next game: Oregon State (5-5) vs. Montana State (4-5)

• When: Saturday, Dec. 13
• Time: 2:00 pm PT
• Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis
• Stream: ESPN+