Following a 77-72 victory over the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 opener, the Oregon State men's basketball team returned to practice on Tuesday in preparation for their first Pac-12 home stand of the season as they host USC and UCLA on Thursday and Sunday respectively. BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter was in Corvallis and has the scoop from Wayne Tinkle, Tres Tinkle, and others.

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As the Oregon State men's basketball team defeated Oregon to open conference play, it may have come with a short-term price as junior forward Tres Tinkle isn't expected to play against USC as he's recovering from the rolled-ankle that he suffered against Oregon.

"Our goal is to try and get him back against USC, but at this point I'd say it's unlikely," OSU head coach Wayne Tinkle said.

Tinkle injured his ankle early in the second half against the Ducks and while he was ultimately able to return to action, his ankle wasn't feeling very good on Sunday. However, Tinkle noted that he's making great progress with rehab and is getting more comfortable every day.

"It's kind of a day-by-day thing," Tres Tinkle said. "It's gotten a lot better since Sunday, but it's still swollen in some areas and quite colorful. The color has gone from purple to the yellow-green that you want but it's just day-by-day at this point. The plan is try and shoot for Thursday, but it just depends on how it responds in the next few days."

The elder Tinkle added that Tres being able to return despite the injury and lead his team to victory was a proud moment both as a coach and as a dad.

"It had to be inspiring to his teammates," Wayne Tinkle said. "We've all seen him go through some of that stuff in the past and the way that he kept that from impacting him while he continued to impact the game in a positive way was big for us. He scored a ton of points but his presence out there when we needed him to break the press gave a calmness to the team. He made plays to help us win even when he wasn't himself that was very gritty and showed just how tough he is."

Added Tres Tinkle: "That kind of game in that kind of environment, you don't want to sit out of it. We're having a lot of fun and once the adrenaline kicked in, I didn't feel it too much. Nothing was going to keep me out of that game and I just had to fight through it and continue to lead my team."

It's often said that it's much easier to make adjustments and learn from your mistakes after a win compared to a loss and that's the case for the Beavers following their Civil War win over the Ducks.

While the Beavers had plenty to be pleased with, particularly how they handled the road environment and coming back in the closing minutes to seal the deal, there were also plenty of things that they need to clean up to be a more complete team moving deeper into conference play.

Overall, Coach Tinkle noted that the way the game went was perfect for the Beavers in terms of having a broad spectrum of knowing what they did right, what they need to clean up, and how to win on the road as a team.

"You couldn't have written a better script. We talked in film on Sunday that if we had opened that thing up and ran away with it, it wouldn't have taught us as much about ourselves as the way it unfolded," Wayne Tinkle said.

One of the things that OSU will look to address this week in practice is the press break. After the Beavers held an 18 point lead agains the Ducks early in the second half, Dana Altman cranked up the intensity of his signature full-court press and the Beavers' lead wilted in the face of it. The Beavers committed 12 turnovers in the second half compared to just seven in the first and had difficulty breaking the Ducks' press led by athletic and long athletes.

Coach Tinkle didn't mince words in his Tuesday practice availability, noting that he received a lot "tips" in the past few days and that the Beavers simply put, need to get better as a team with the fundamentals of breaking the press.

"We certainly know we need to clean up our press breaker as we've gotten a whole lot of tips in the past few days... which is fun," he said said with a smile. "Watching the film, it came down to our lack of execution. We don't try and dribble through traps.. We don't try and dribble vs pressure, because we all know spacing and ball movement is the key. We just have to get better at that. But, we didn't cave to it. We put a line in the sand and said we're not going to let this one get away. The toughness and grit we showed made me really proud."

The younger Tinkle agreed with his dads' comments, noting that the Beavers went away with what was working for them when the Ducks started to make their run.

"We kind of got outside ourselves when they made their run, but we expected them to make a run at some point," Tres Tinkle said. "Playing at their home court, they weren't going to lay down easy and we sort of went off our game-plan a little bit. We're proud that our spirits didn't break when they took a lead late and we were able to become the more fundamental team in the end and there's a lot of good things to learn from that."

The Beavers will have two tough tests awaiting them in the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum this weekend as OSU is set to host USC (9-6, 2-0 Pac-12) and UCLA (9-6, 2-0) -- both are undefeated in Pac-12 play as they both swept the Bay Area schools at home this past week.

"USC is very good," Wayne Tinkle said. "They've had some injuries, but they have a lot experience and talent. They balance their scoring very well both inside and out and mix up their defenses more than ever, so it's going to be a stiff challenge on Thursday."

Added guard Stevie Thompson Jr. on USC. "They're a really good team. They like to get out in transition a lot and like to spread the floor and get their shooters open."

"Every game is a challenge in the Pac-12, and this week is no different as both of these teams have momentum coming into the Oregon Trail so to speak," Wayne Tinkle said. "We've got to make sure our guys are ready and come out prepared to execute."

"It's very important to get off to a good start in the first few weeks of conference play," Thompson Jr. said. "Defending home-court is always important as well, so we're going to look to do that this week."