Arizona Wildcats (9-3) vs. Oregon State Beavers (5-4)
The Arizona Wildcats look to get back into the win column on Thursday when they travel to take on the Oregon State Beavers. The Wildcats have lost two in a row, including Saturday’s defeat at the hands of the UCLA Bruins, 81-76. Oregon State has been struggling to get onto the court as four of their last seven games have been postponed. They lost their most recent game, falling to Stanford on January 4, 81-71.
The Wildcats won the most recent contest between these teams, beating the Beavers in February last year, 89-63. Arizona is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings. Arizona is favored by 6.5-points.
Bruins Outlast Wildcats
The Wildcats were tied with UCLA entering the half on Saturday, but the Bruins put it together after the break, outscoring Arizona by five on their way to an 81-76 victory. It was a poor second-half shooting performance that doomed the Wildcats, as they shot 51.6% in the first half, but only 35.3% in the second. That included going three for 11 from beyond the arc.— Arizona Basketball (@APlayersProgram) January 12, 2021
Akinjo James led the way for Arizona with 25 points and eight assists. Tubelis Azuolas dropped in 15 and led the team with eight boards.
Arizona is averaging 78.5 ppg while allowing 67.9 per contest. They are shooting 44.3% from the field and 35.5% from three-point range. The Wildcats have done a great job getting to the foul line, averaging 18.2 free throws per game, 11th best in the country. They are hitting on 70.1% of their free-throw attempts. The team is 40th in the country in rebounds per game at 37.3.
Akinjo leads the team in scoring at 13.9 ppg and is averaging a little more than five assists per contest. The Wildcats suffered a huge loss when Jemarl Baker, the team’s second-leading scorer was lost for the season with a broken hand. He was averaging 12.0 points per contest. Azuolas is third on the team in scoring at 10.8 per contest and is the team’s leading rebounder at 6.1 per game.
Beavers Look to Regain Bite
After two straight postponements, the Oregon State Beavers may be a little bit rusty entering this contest against Arizona. The last time they took to the court was against Stanford on January 4, an 81-71 loss to the Cardinal. Jared Lucas led the team in scoring with 22 and Gianni Hunt added 17, but a 34.8% accuracy from the field doomed this team, including going 11 of 34 from beyond the arc.Congrats to the guys on earning 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝟯.𝟬 𝗚𝗣𝗔 last term!! pic.twitter.com/Q3ahXKj8CT
— Oregon State Hoops (@BeaverMBB) December 18, 2020
Oregon State is averaging 75.9 ppg while allowing 66.1 per contest, ranked in the top 100 defensively. They are shooting 42.6% from the field and 36.6% from three-point range. They rank in the top 100 in free-throw percentage (74.0) and assists per game (16.9). They are 28th in blocks per game at 4.9.
The Beavers are led in scoring by Ethan Thompson at 16.3 ppg. The leading rebounder is Warith Alatishe at 8.9 per contest and he is averaging 9.7 points per game. Lucas is the only other player averaging in double digits at 12.3 per contest.
Team Trends
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Arizona Wildcats:
- 1-4 ATS in their last five games on the road.
- 1-5 ATS in their last six games against a team with a winning record.
- 2-6 ATS in their last eight games.
Oregon State Beavers:
- 4-0 ATS in their last four games at home against a team with a losing record on the road.
- 4-1 ATS in their last five games at home.
- 5-2 ATS in their last seven games following a loss.
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