Oregon St. @ Arizona preview
McKale Center
Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2017 ) Arizona 71, Oregon St. 54
Arizona looked as if it had found its groove with a nine-game win streak but hit a speed bump last Saturday in an 80-77 loss at Colorado. The 21st-ranked Wildcats now will try to get back on track Thursday night when they host Oregon State in Pac-12 play.
Against the Buffaloes, Arizona fell behind early, trailed 45-29 at the half and saw a late-game surge fall short in a game it never led. Colorado outshot the Wildcats 54.7 to 38.4 percent from the field as Arizona never recovered from a 30-percent showing in the first half and possibly brought some deeper issues to the surface. “You always want your team to play for you as the coach, and our guys they really struggle playing for me – they really do,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said in his postgame news conference. “I can’t get them to play hard. We do it for a while. I know we’ve had a win streak, and we also have a good team. We have a lot of talent. With our team, it’s really hard to get our guys to run as fast as they can. That’s not them. That’s me. I have hard time reaching our guys. I can’t reach them – I really can’t.”
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
ABOUT OREGON STATE (10-5, 2-1 Pac-12): A dismal 1-17 in conference play a season ago, the Beavers already have doubled that win total three games into the Pac-12 season with victories over Colorado (76-57) and rival Oregon (76-64). Both of those games were at home, though, and Oregon State now plays five of its next seven on the road, starting with two games in three nights against the ranked Arizona schools. Forward Tres Tinkle (18.3 points, team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game), guard Stephen Thompson Jr. (16.5 points) and forward Drew Eubanks (13.8 points, 6.8 rebounds) are the leading scorers for the Beavers, who rank third in the conference in field-goal percentage (48.0) and are tops in scoring defense (68.6 points).
ABOUT ARIZONA (12-4, 2-1): Seven-foot-1 freshman Deandre Ayton scored a game-high 26 points against Colorado and has scored at least 23 in four of his last five games but his five rebounds in the contest marked a season low for the big man, who is pacing the Pac-12 with 11.6 per game. Second-leading scorer Allonzo Trier also had his struggles Saturday, finishing with eight points and has totaled only 15 over his last two games after entering last week’s road trip averaging a team-best 21.3 per outing. Guard Rawle Alkins (15.6 points) and center Dusan Ristic (10.3, 6.6 rebounds) also are averaging double figures for Arizona, which leads the conference in field-goal percentage (50.4) and ranks second in 3-point accuracy (38.3).
TIP-INS
1. Arizona has won three straight in the series, including a 71-51 road win in last season's only meeting, to up its overall lead to 61-21.
2. The Wildcats have won 78 of their last 80 games in Tucson, while the Beavers are 1-18 in road/neutral-site games since the start of last season, including a 1-3 mark this year.
3. The 6-8, 220-pound Tinkle is the only Pac-12 player to rank in the conference’s top 15 in scoring (seventh), rebounding (14th), assists (14th) and steals (sixth).
PREDICTION: Arizona 85, Oregon State 71