Arizona @ Oregon St. preview
Gill Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) Oregon St. 71, Arizona 82
Oregon State has clinched its third winning season in five seasons under coach Wayne Tinkle. Now, as they eye their first winning Pac-12 record in 29 years, the Beavers close out their home schedule with a pair of games this week - beginning with Thursday night’s date with Arizona.
Only one more conference victory will assure Oregon State its first Pac-12/Pac-10 finish above .500 since the 1989-90 squad, led by Gary Payton, finished 15-3 and tied Arizona for the regular-season crown. With the Beavers sitting four games behind first-place Washington, a share of the 2018-19 conference title is just short of unattainable, but a coveted top-four finish - and a first-round Pac-12 tournament bye - is well within reach. The Beavers currently reside in third place, a half-game ahead of Utah and 1 1/2 games in front of USC and UCLA. Arizona is another game back at 7-8 in the conference and, despite coming off a pair of needed home wins, the headlines continue to swirl around the program’s involvement in FBI-investigated recruiting corruption and reports that head coach Sean Miller will be subpoenaed to testify at a trial in April.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1
ABOUT ARIZONA (16-12, 7-8 Pac-12): The Wildcats are essentially the mirror-opposite of Oregon State as they are seeking to avoid only the program’s second losing Pac-12/Pac-10 season in the last 35 years. Posting home wins over California (76-51) and Stanford (70-54) last week was a good start, but the two-game Oregon road swing is up next followed by the home finale against second-place Arizona State. Guards Brandon Randolph (13.1 points per game) and Brandon Williams (11.7) along with center Chase Jeter (11.7) are averaging double figures with Williams returning to score four points and dish out a trio of assists in 18 minutes versus Stanford after missing the previous six contests with right-knee soreness.
ABOUT OREGON STATE (17-9, 9-5): The Beavers have won five of their last seven games and are coming off a road split against UCLA (a 68-67 loss) and USC (a 67-62 win). Forward Tres Tinkle paces the squad with 19.8 points, 8.2 rebounds along with 4.2 assists per game and, while he did have an off-shooting night (4-of-15) against USC last Saturday, he did pull down 13 rebounds and hand out seven assists to finish the trip with 33 points, 29 boards and 10 assists. The backcourt bother duo of Stephen (16.4 points) and Ethan Thompson (13.2) are the other Oregon State players averaging in double figures, and they also combine to average 9.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists.
TIP-INS
1. Arizona has won six straight and 13 of the last 14 meetings with Oregon State, including an 82-71 victory in Tucson on Jan. 19.
2. Williams had 20 points and five assists in the first meeting while Tinkle had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Beavers, who were outrebounded 41-29 and had 15 turnovers.
3. Arizona ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring (72.1) and only winless Cal (42.3) owns a worse overall field-goal percentage than the Wildcats’ 42.9 mark.
PREDICTION: Oregon State 78, Arizona 69