Washington St. @ Arizona preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 31, 2018 ) Arizona 100, Washington St. 72

Injuries, poor shooting and the fallout from an ongoing FBI probe has derailed Arizona's chances of repeating as regular-season Pac-12 champions. The Wildcats, who fell five games behind conference-leading Washington after a 67-60 home loss to the Huskies on Thursday, will try to snap a four-game losing streak when they host Washington State on Saturday.

You have to go back to the 2008-09 season when interim head coach Russ Pennell was at the helm to find the last time Arizona dropped four consecutive games. But the Wildcats, who fired assistant Book Richardson last January for his role in the FBI's investigation into college corruption -- he pled guilty last month to one count of federal funds bribery -- decided to fire another assistant, Mark Phelps, for an NCAA rules violation this week and Yahoo reported on Monday that there's a "strong expectation" that head coach Sean Miller will be subpoenaed during an upcoming trial involving the college basketball scandal. Combine all the off-the-court issues with the loss of guard Brandon Williams to recurring knee trouble, the mid-season transfer of forward Emmanuel Akot to Boise State and a back injury that forced center Chase Jeter to miss two games and Arizona, which suited up just eight scholarship players in the loss to the Huskies, could be vulnerable against a Washington State team that upset Arizona State 91-70 on Thursday. That win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Cougars and was also their first road win of the season.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (9-14, 2-8 Pac-12): Senior forward Robert Franks matched his career high with 34 points, including 5-of-9 3-pointers, and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Cougars cruised to the upset of the Sun Devils. "This is a big, big win for our program to come out here and beat this program ... that had been so red hot last year and has such a good team this year," Cougars coach Ernie Kent told azcentral.com. Franks, who is shooting 52 percent from the field, leads the team in scoring (22.1 per game) and rebounding (2.7) while freshman forward CJ Elleby (15.3) also is averaging double figures.

ABOUT ARIZONA (14-9, 5-5): The Wildcats shot just 37.7 percent, including 4-of-18 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 20 times in the loss to Washington and are shooting 42.9 percent for the season. Sophomore guard Brandon Randolph leads the team in scoring (14.6) but is shooting just 39.5 percent from the floor and had six points on 2-of-13 shooting, including 0-of-6 beyond the arc, in the loss to the Huskies. Jeter, a 6-10 junior transfer from Duke, is second in scoring (12.3) and also leads the team in rebounding with an average of 7.0 per outing.

TIP-INS

1. Arizona is 92-6 at home since the start of the 2013-14 season and has never been swept at home in a conference weekend in 10 seasons under Miller.

2. Elleby finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high nine assists in the win at Arizona State to just miss a triple-double by one assist.

3. Franks has made 27 consecutive free throws heading into Saturday's contest.

PREDICTION: Arizona 84, Washington State 78