Oregon @ Oregon St. preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 4, 2017 ) Oregon 80, Oregon St. 59

Oregon coach Dana Altman isn’t quite sure what his young team will look like in March, but freshman forward Kenny Wooten figures to have a major role. Wooten looks to continue his development Friday as the Ducks visit Oregon State, which opened Pac-12 play with a 19-point win over Colorado before falling 66-64 to Utah.

The 6-9, 220-pound Wooten is sixth on the team in scoring at 8.5 points but leads the Pac-12 with 49 blocks while his 76.5-percent conversion rate from the field would lead the conference if he had enough attempts to qualify. “Kenny’s been solid,” Altman told reporters. “We haven’t been getting him the ball enough and he never calls for it. He’s got to start calling for the ball and making those guys throw it to him. He’s giving us so many things, we’ve got to give him the ball every now and then.” Wooten scored 13 points and played a season-high 31 minutes last Sunday as the Ducks bounced back from a 10-point loss to Utah by leading wire-to-wire in a 77-62 win over Colorado. Oregon has won three straight against the rival Beavers, who hope to have 6-11 center Gligorije Rakocevic and guard Kendal Manuel available after both missed the start of Pac-12 play due to injuries.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT OREGON (11-4, 1-1 Pac-12): Freshman forward Troy Brown continued to impress with 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals in the win over Colorado, while junior forward Paul White had five rebounds in 21 minutes after missing two games due to a concussion. Brown averages 12.7 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds for the Ducks, who are playing just their second true road game this season. Guard Elijah Brown, a graduate transfer from New Mexico, ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.5 points while shooting 94.3 percent from the foul line.

ABOUT OREGON STATE (9-5, 1-1): Forward Drew Eubanks averages 13.7 points and 6.6 rebounds but fouled out in 20 minutes in last Sunday’s narrow loss to Utah, forcing coach Wayne Tinkle to go with a smaller lineup that included Alfred Hollins or Tres Tinkle at power forward. Tinkle, the coach’s son, averages team highs in scoring (18.2 points) and rebounding (6.8), while junior guard Stephen Thompson Jr. (16.6 points) is shooting 48.8 percent beyond the arc over the past seven games. His brother, freshman guard Ethan Thompson, has started all 14 games and averages 10 points per game to go along with 3.6 assists.

TIP-INS

1. Oregon State holds a 186-162 lead in the all-time series, including 101-64 in Corvallis.

2. The Ducks are 133-15 under Altman when holding opponents under 70 points.

3. Stephen Thompson Jr. needs four points to become the 40th Oregon State player to join the 1,000-point club.

PREDICTION: Oregon 77, Oregon State 68