Oregon St. @ Arizona State preview

Oregon St. at Arizona State

Last Meeting ( Jan 9, 2020 ) Arizona State 82, Oregon St. 76

A pair of Pac-12 teams headed in opposite directions meet Saturday night in Tempe as Arizona State hosts Oregon State. The Sun Devils own a conference-best six-game win streak while the Beavers have dropped seven of their last 10 contests.

Arizona State’s surge, which has lasted the month of February so far, has propelled it into a tie for second place in Pac-12 at 9-4, a half-game behind first-place Colorado. The Sun Devils’ latest win has been the most impressive of the run as they jumped out to a 34-23 halftime lead over No. 16 Oregon and never let up, notching their first six-game Pac-12 win streak since 1981. “We stayed together, (and) we played together,” said guard Alonzo Verge Jr., who scored a game-high 26 points off the bench. “That’s the main thing about this whole thing is we’ve been playing together as a team and having fun. That’s what it’s about.” Meanwhile Thursday, Oregon State proved no match for No. 21 Arizona, losing a season-high 21 turnovers in an 89-63 loss in Tucson.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: ESPNU

ABOUT OREGON STATE (15-11, 5-9 Pac-12): The Beavers did split their first four conference games but have since sunk into a three-way tie for ninth place, ahead of only last-place Washington (2-12). Thursday’s loss also featured its share of ugly play as leading scorer Tres Tinkle was tossed after throwing an elbow with 13:17 remaining and drawing his second technical foul, and freshman reserve guard Jarod Lucas wound up pacing the Beavers with 18 points. Tinkle is averaging a team-high 18.0 points and 6.9 rebounds while guard Ethan Thompson contributes 14.9 points and a team-leading 4.3 assists, but Tinkle has only averaged 11.0 points on 14-of-50 shooting over his last four outings.

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (18-8, 9-4): The Sun Devils’ six-game streak has coincided with an impressive run for Verge, who has averaged 21.2 points on 52.9-percent shooting over the half-dozen contests to raise his season average to 14.5 per game. Leading scorer Remy Martin (19.2 points) has been hot as well but had a tooth knocked loose in the first half Thursday and finished with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting – his lowest-scoring Pac-12 game of the year. Guard Rob Edwards (10.9 points), who finished with 24 Thursday, and forward Romello White (10.4) also are averaging double figures for the Sun Devils, who are scoring 72.4 points in conference play to trail only Arizona (73.1).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Arizona State has won five of the last six in the series, including an 82-76 win in Corvallis on Jan. 9.

2. Martin scored a game-high 24 points in that first meeting to help overcome 22 apiece from Tinkle and Thompson as the visiting Sun Devils shot 48.3 percent from the field.

3. Arizona State has injected itself into the NCAA Tournament conversation as it seeks its third straight Big Dance appearance for the first time since 1964.

PREDICTION: Arizona State 74, Oregon State 70