The Arizona Wildcats (13-11, 7-5) have been on a resurgence of late
and have won six of their last nine in Pac-10 play. One of those
recent losses, however, came at the hands of Oregon State on
January 14th. The Beavers (10-13, 4-7) will complete their two-game
southwest road trip with a return visit to Tucson on Saturday
night.
Oregon State, coming off a 56-46 loss at Arizona State, have
struggled mightily on the road this season. The Beavers have lost
eight of ten games on their travels, and are losers of five of six
road games in conference play. Their lone Pac-10 road victory came
against arch-rivals Oregon 64-57 on January 10th. If the Beavers
are to turn around their dismal road form, they will have to rely
on junior Calvin Haynes and senior Seth Tarver.
Haynes, a 6’2” guard from Southern California,
has led the Beavers in scoring in five of their last seven
contests. On a team that averages only 59 points per game, Haynes
must continue to shoot the ball well from the outside if the
Beavers are going to spring the upset. Despite Seth Tarver’s
relatively small frame at 6’5”, he has led the Beavers
with 4.7 rebounds per game. And last season, Tarver became the
first Oregon State player to lead the conference in steals since
Gary Payton did so in 1990.
With Arizona standing just one game behind conference leaders
California, the Wildcats still holds aspirations for earning an
NCAA bid.
The Pac-10 has become crowded at the top with six teams
within two games of Cal’s marginal lead. Arizona will look to
stay within range as they search for their tenth home win. They
have been 9-3 at home in the McKale Center this season, and a
January loss to Washington State is the only thing keeping Arizona
from owning a perfect home record in conference play.
5’10” guard Nic Wise has enjoyed a tremendous
season for the Wildcats, serving as the only senior on a young,
inexperienced team. Wise has averaged 15.3 points per game, but has
more importantly amassed a 1.47 assist to turnover ratio from his
point guard position. Freshman forward Derrick Williams has also
lived up to his potential as he leads the team in points (15.5) and
rebounds (7.0). Williams will work down low with Jamelle Horne in a
partnership that has averaged over 25 points per game in Pac-10
play.
The Wildcats are in a transitional season with new head coach
Sean Miller but they have turned themselves into a viable Pac-10
contender following a disappointing set of non-conference games.
The Wildcats only significant non-conference win came against the
ACC’s NC State (14-11, 2-8) and they, like the rest of the
Pac-10, will consider themselves in a battle for the
conference’s likely single bid.
Watch the Wildcat faithful LIVE on FCS Pacific at 8:00pm ET this
Saturday as they hope to push their young team to a fifth straight
home victory.
