Saint Louis @ Oregon St. preview

Oregon State has a chance to equal its longest win streak in 12 years when it faces Saint Louis on Saturday night in the Dam City Classic at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. You have to go back to the 2004-05 season for the last time the Beavers, who have won five straight games, won six in a row.

A six-game win streak would be even more impressive considering the Beavers won just five games (5-27) during an entire injury-plagued 2016-17 campaign. And it's been 25 years (1992-93) since Oregon State had a seven-game win streak. The Beavers almost didn't make it to five in a row, needing four consecutive stops on one possession in the final 17.8 seconds to hold on for a 70-69 win over Jacksonville State on Tuesday night. "We're starting to show some maturity," Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle told Oregonlive.com afterward. "We still have a ways to go. ... But baby steps, man. We're not going to build this thing in a day."

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT SAINT LOUIS (5-5): The Billikens have won two of their last three games after enduring a four-game losing streak and come in off a 69-55 victory over Murray State, snapping the Racers' five-game win streak in the process. Javon Bess, a 6-6 swingman who transferred in from Michigan State, is the only player averaging in double figures (15.0 per game) and is also third on the team in rebounding (6.1) and led the team with 20 points in the win over Murray State. Freshman guard Jordan Goodwin leads the team in rebounding (6.8), assists (43) and steals (24) while 6-7 freshman forward Hasahn French leads the Atlantic 10 in blocks with 23.

ABOUT OREGON STATE (7-3): Sophomore forward Tres Tinkle, who missed the majority of the 2016-17 with a wrist injury, is back and playing at an All-Pac-12 level, leading the Beavers in scoring (17.7) and rebounding (6.9) and also is tied with for the lead in assists (3.7). Stephen Thompson Jr., the son of former Syracuse star and two-time Los Angeles City Player of the Year Stevie Thompson who helped lead famed Crenshaw High School to two California Division I state titles and is now a Beavers' assistant, is second in scoring (16.3) and had 18 points and five assists in the win over Jacksonville State. Forward Drew Eubanks (15.3) and freshman guard Ethan Thompson (10.7), Stephen's younger brother, also are averaging in double digits.

TIP-INS

1. Oregon State ranks second in the Pac-12 in assists (16.1), steals (6.9) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2).

2. Saint Louis is 3-1 this season and 10-1 in the Travis Ford era when scoring 70 or more points.

3. The 6-10 Eubanks, who has 11 double-doubles in his career, leads the team with 17 blocks and is on pace to become just the third player in school history to lead the team in blocked shots three consecutive years.

PREDICTION: Saint Louis 74, Oregon State 70