Arizona State @ Oregon St. preview

Arizona State at Oregon St.

Last Meeting ( Jan 17, 2019 ) Oregon St. 67, Arizona State 70

Two top-tier Pac-12 teams coming off disappointing defeats meet Sunday night as Oregon State hosts Arizona State. The Beavers and Sun Devils still are on track to earn top-four conference finishes with second-place Arizona State (10-6 in the Pac-12) sitting a half-game ahead of Oregon State (9-6).

The Sun Devils tipped off a season-ending, three-game road trip Thursday with a 79-51 loss at Oregon, easily hitting a season scoring low while shooting 32.1 percent from the field (including 3-of-24 from 3-point range), missing 12 of their 26 free-throw attempts and committing 14 turnovers. “Our offense was dysfunctional tonight, just in terms of turnovers and poor shooting,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said in his post-game news conference. Meanwhile, across the state Thursday, Oregon State fell to visiting Arizona 74-72 on a last-second tip-in and was outrebounded by a decisive 35-19 margin. “We need to play with a lot more tenacity,” Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (19-9, 10-6 Pac-12): The Sun Devils, one of the conference's top rebounding teams with a plus-5.3 average margin on the glass, were outboarded 44-26 Thursday as Oregon dominated in nearly all facets. “The things that we’ve done the very best at this year just weren’t there,” Hurley said. “We got outrebounded by 18, and that's a poor number for us for how we've rebounded the entire season." Guards Remy Martin (13 points) and Rob Edwards (11) were the only Arizona State players in double figures in the contest, while Luguentz Dort (16.1 points per outing) and Zylan Cheatham (11.5) combined for 16 points and eight turnovers.

ABOUT OREGON STATE (17-10, 9-6): Thursday’s defeat was the Beavers' seventh straight loss to Arizona and prevented them from leapfrogging Arizona State for second place. Oregon State’s Big Three of Tres Tinkle (20.0 points per game), Stephen Thompson Jr. (16.4) and Ethan Thompson (13.4) combined to score 59 of the Beavers' 72 points, but that meant that the team’s other six participants Thursday totaled only 13 points on 3-for-10 shooting. Overall, the Beavers are tied with Utah for the Pac-12 lead in field-goal percentage (46.9) and rank second in free-throw accuracy (73.9) but bring up the rear in 3-point percentage (32.4).

TIP-INS

1. Arizona State has won 15 of the last 20 meetings, including a 70-67 home win in the first meeting this season on Jan. 17. Edwards had 13 points to lead five Sun Devils in double figures while Ethan Thompson and Tinkle scored 21 apiece for the Beavers.

2. Cheatham leads the Pac-12 in rebounding at 10.5 per contest and ranks second with 11 double-doubles.

3. The game will mark Senior Night for Oregon State as Stephen Thompson Jr. and reserve center Gligorije Rakocevic will be honored.

PREDICTION: Oregon State 76, Arizona State 73