Arizona Basketball looks to rebound against Oregon State

Following their tough loss to Oregon on Thursday, Arizona Basketball (13-5, 4-1) returns to action against the visiting, Oregon State Beavers (11-5, 3-1).

Thursday night was ugly. For fans hoping the Cats would come out blazing hot, were dismayed by a dismal shooting performance where Arizona scored only 54 points in a rare home loss.

We all knew we needed to tamper expectations a bit coming into this season, but after a 4-0 start in Pac-12 play, it was hard not to get a bit excited. Now after dropping their first conference game of the season, as well as their fifth overall, we’ve come back down to earth a little bit.

Arizona Wildcats

However, that still won’t stop us from cheering and we surely know it won’t stop the Cats from competing.

Well, next on the list is the Oregon State Beavers. Disregard the previous results from previous years, this is a good team that will be coming to Tucson, and Arizona will have a big game in McKale this Saturday.

Already 11-5 on the year (3-1) in conference, OSU has beaten Oregon, USC and UCLA, and competed with ASU on the road. This is a team that defends well and competes.

Oregon State has the 49th overall scoring defense (for comparison, Arizona is 42nd). They are also heavily-led by the three-headed monster in redshirt junior, Tres Tinkle as well as brothers Stephen Jr. and Ethan Thompson.

Together, those three average a combined 48 points per game.

The Beavers will certainly provide a challenge on the wings, but also they have great size down low with Kylor Kelly and Gligorije Rakocevic being competent and capable big men!

Keys to the Game:

Take smart shots- When you’re hot, you’re hot, and on Thursday, the Wildcats could not buy a bucket. Sometimes that’s just how basketball goes, but one thing I noticed in the game on Thursday, is that when the shots weren’t falling and Arizona was getting more and more desperate as they were down, the shot attempts got a bit worse.

Credit to Oregon’s defense, but some of the shots I saw on Thursday night, were not smart shots. The Wildcats seemed to force a bit at times and when you do that, the looks aren’t as clean and the offense is a bit forced and unnatural.

Arizona can’t do that against a solid defensive team in OSU. They need to work for better shots, try and get that one extra pass in for the open man, rather than having four-to-five guys try and take their man off the dribble to create something that may not be a high percentage shot.

Rebounding– This isn’t one of Arizona’s better rebounding teams, but this is an area they still need to continue to focus on. The Wildcats did win the rebound margin the other night, but they are going to need to continue to attack the glass hard and be aggressive here.

When you minimize opposing teams’ second-chance points, it’s only going to help you defensively. Oregon State has some size, and they like to work the clock a bit. Don’t let the Beavers get two or three chances on possessions and slow down the game.

Attack the glass, box out and grab the rebounds. Stop getting beat by second-chance points with lapses in rebounding.

Avoid foul trouble-  Easier said than done in the Pac-12, but the Wildcats have to play smart. This is a smaller team than we’re used to, with Chase Jeter being our only competent big man over 6-foot-10.

Oregon State has size, and I’m sure they would love to exploit that against us. his team can’t afford getting too many guys into foul trouble this year, since this isn’t one of Arizona’s deeper teams either.

Play smart and don’t get yourself into foul trouble early.

Game Information:

Time: 5:00 pm MST/ 4:00 pm PST

Location: Tucson, AZ- McKale Center (14,545)

Line: -4.5 Arizona

Television: Pac-12 Network

Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network Arizona Wildcats (Try TuneIn Radio) or 107.5 KHYT (Tucson)

Team Records:

Arizona Wildcats (13-5, 4-1): The Wildcats have done pretty-well all things considered, but it is Arizona Basketball. We’re used to winning and the expectations are always high.

We came back down to earth a bit following the loss to Oregon, but the opportunity is still there for us to make some noise. Take care of business against Oregon State and the Cats would be back on track.

Oregon State Beavers (11-5, 3-1): They have been a pleasant surprise in the Pac-12 this year, and this is a team that will be a thorn in the side of anybody they play moving forward.

They have some good talent and overall leadership, and I think they will surprise some folks in McKale this Saturday with how well they play and are coached.

All-Time Record (since 1949-50) : 63-21 Arizona. The Wildcats have won 12 of the last 13 match-ups between these schools and will look to continue their dominance against the Beavers on Saturday.

Arizona won both games last season against OSU, winning 62-53 at home and 75-65 on the road.

Listen to the players following their loss to Oregon:

At Zona Zealots, we’re hoping Arizona could put together a better performance against OSU and hope they can get back to their winning ways! Bear Down, Arizona!