LUBBOCK, Texas -- A slow start doomed Oregon State in a 67-43 loss to Texas A&M Corpus Christi on the first day of the Duel in the Desert tournament at Texas Tech University.

The Beavers trailed 30-18 at the half and the Islanders poured it on early in the second, building a 29-point lead.

The Beavers couldn't put the ball in the basket and struggled with every phase of the game.

OSU coach Craig Robinson said it was a case of high expectations overwhelming the team.

"What I saw was a group of guys who tried to make the NCAA tournament in one game," Robinson said. "The weight of the expectations, it was too heavy for us to handle. And I'll take a good deal of the blame for that. I tried my best to prepare them for this, but to their credit, they've never been in this position before where you have such high expectations from such a low vantage point.

"Going from the vantage point where we were at the beginning of the season beforehand and then to where we are right now. I think we just wilted under that pressure."

The Beavers made 13 of 41 shots from the field and 13 of 28 free throws. They had 25 turnovers.

Robinson said the Beavers missed badly at times from the free-throw line.

"We're not the greatest foul-shooting team, but we don't shoot foul shots like that," Robinson said. "That's nerves. That's not amount of time spent on foul shots."

The Beavers had just about the worse start to a game possible without falling behind by a big margin.

The Beavers struggled in just about every area in the first half, but only trailed by 12 at 30-18. The brightest moment came at the buzzer when Seth Tarver hit a shot to send OSU into the locker room on somewhat of a high note.

The Beavers could not hit their free throws, making 2 of 10 while the Islanders hit 8 of 11. The Beavers couldn't make their shots from the field or take care of the ball, turning it over 15 times.

There was no respite from the referees, who whistled the Beavers for 12 fouls in the half. Roeland Schaftenaar spent a good chunk of the half on the bench with three fouls.

The Beavers trailed 15-10 with 6:58 left and slowly slid deeper into a hole. Omari Johnson finally hit a 3-pointer to make it 22-13 and snap a 15-0 run by the Islanders.

Robinson said the early practices did not have much to do with the loss because of the team's depth and some of the previous week's practices were at night.

The Beavers have little time to worry about the loss to the Islanders because they get right back out on the court to take on South Dakota today.

"That's the great thing about basketball is you have so many more games than you do in other sports," Robinson said. "And we're playing in a tournament where we have three games in three days, so we get a chance to come back (today) and get better."

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 67, Oregon St. 43

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1-0): Reynolds 4-7 0-0 8, Bond 1-2 0-0 2, Toncinic 0-2 1-4 1, Jones 4-11 2-4 11, Palmer 9-15 4-6 23, Nelson 0-2 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Bables 0-0 0-0 0, Watt 4-5 2-3 10, Topps 1-2 0-0 3, Hammonds 1-6 4-4 7, Coombs 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-54 13-21 67.

Oregon St. (0-1): S.Tarver 4-7 3-4 12, Johnson 1-5 2-3 5, Schaftenaar 1-5 1-3 3, J.Tarver 3-4 1-2 8, Haynes 0-7 0-0 0, Cunningham 0-0 2-8 2, Hampton 0-0 0-0 0, Richard 0-0 0-0 0, Sturner 0-1 0-0 0, Burton 2-2 2-3 6, Brandt 0-3 0-0 0, Deane 0-0 1-3 1, Wallace 2-7 1-2 6. Totals 13-41 13-28 43.

Halftime: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 30-18. 3-Point Goals: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-19 (Topps 1-2, Hammonds 1-4, Jones 1-5, Palmer 1-5, Bond 0-1, Coombs 0-1, Reynolds 0-1), Oregon St. 4-15 (J.Tarver 1-1, Johnson 1-2, S.Tarver 1-3, Wallace 1-4, Schaftenaar 0-1, Brandt 0-1, Haynes 0-3). Fouled Out: Toncinic. Rebounds: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 35 (Palmer 9), Oregon St. 34 (Johnson 7). Assists: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11 (Palmer 5), Oregon St. 6 (S.Tarver 2). Total Fouls: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 24, Oregon St. 22. Technical: Oregon St. Coach. A: 8,541.