Arizona at Oregon State (+8) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #743-744

I got the feeling that Oregon State turned the corner after beating a pretty good Georgia team in Portland about three weeks ago.  In that game the team really began to play well together and senior guard Chris Stephens started to emerge as a go-to scorer.  Winning on the road has been the major weakness of this team in recent years and this year they started with 10 of their first 14 away from home.  They then had the misfortune of being the only Pac-10 team to play their first three conference games on the road.  After losses at Oregon and Stanford, they got a big road win at Cal in last game.  It was their first conference road win in 14 tries and gives them solid momentum as they return home for the first time in two weeks.  There is no other team Oregon State would rather beat right now than Arizona.  Oregon State lost to the Wildcats three times last year and starting forward Nick DeWitz is an Arizona native which gives him and the team more incentive than usual tonight. 

 

Arizona projected starting wing Jawaan McClellan (eligible second semester) is expected to return to action tonight but as we have seen already this year, teams often need time to adjust to new player additions.  The Beavers reportedly have worked on some zone defense this week specifically intended to slow down and limit the touches of Arizona leading scorer Hassan Adams.  The zone will also force Arizona to shoot from the outside more often and the Wildcats come in to this game ranked last in the Pac-10 in 3-point shooting percentage. 

 

Oregon State is a perfect 4-0 at home this year and went 8-1 in home conference games last year.  Oregon State beat Arizona here two year's ago and last year led by as many as 15 in the first half before losing by 9.  Oregon State has solid leadership with four seniors in their top six.  They also have balanced scoring with four players at or near double figures.  I expect this to be a hard fought competitive game.  Take the big number.

 

RAS Official Play:  Oregon State +8  1 UNIT