Oregon State vs. Arizona: Game Preview, Prediction

By Tim Letcher
Casey Sapio, USA TODAY SPORTS
Casey Sapio, USA TODAY SPORTS

The Arizona Wildcats hope to avenge an earlier loss to the Oregon State Beavers on Friday night in Tucson.

On January 11 in Corvallis, the Beavers stunned the Wildcats 58-56, beating a Top 10 team for the first time in 15 years. Langston Morris-Walker led Oregon State with 12 points and Gary Payton II had 10. Arizona’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led all scorers with 14 points.

Since that game, sixth-ranked Arizona has won five in a row, including a 90-56 thumping of the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday, and now sits at 19-2 on the season and 7-1 in the Pac-12. Freshman big man Stanley Johnson leads the Wildcats in scoring (14.9 points per game) and rebounding (6.9 per game). Brandon Ashley averages 11.3 per contest, while Hollis-Jefferson puts up 10.9 points per outing.

Oregon State has not been able to build on the momentum of their upset win earlier this month. The Beavers have gone 3-2 since beating Arizona and are now 14-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference. First-year coach Wayne Tinkle and his team lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils 73-55 on Wednesday night in Tempe. Payton had 23 points in the loss.

For the season, Payton leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Junior forward Victor Robbins averages 10.3 points, while Morris-Walker posts an even 10 points per game.

In the first matchup, Arizona shot 37.8 percent, compared to Oregon State’s 51.3 percent. The Beavers also won the rebounding battle 32-26. Don’t look for either of those things to happen on Friday as Arizona gets its revenge.

Final score prediction: Arizona 81, Oregon State 62

Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

Share On FacebookShare StumbleUpon

You May Also Like