Game info

Who: Arizona (16-12, 7-8 Pac-12) at Oregon State (17-9, 9-5)

Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Watch: Fox Sports 1

Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

Probable starters: Arizona

G Justin Coleman (5-10 senior)

G Brandon Williams (6-2 freshman)

F Brandon Randolph (6-6 sophomore)

F Ryan Luther (6-9 senior)

C Chase Jeter (6-10 junior)

Probable starters: Oregon State

G Ethan Thompson (6-5 sophomore)

G Stephen Thompson, Jr. (6-4 senior)

F Zach Reichle (6-5 sophomore)

F Tres Tinkle (6-8 junior)

F Kylor Kelley (7-0 junior)

How they match up

The last time

Ryan Luther had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help Arizona overcome the early loss of center Chase Jeter, who injured his back while falling to the floor almost horizontally near the basket, and beat Oregon State 82-71 on Jan. 19 at McKale Center. Three Wildcats hit three 3s each — Brandon Williams was 3 of 4, Justin Coleman was 3 of 6 and Dylan Smith was 3 of 5 — while Alex Barcello also hit 2 of 3 3-pointers off the bench.

The last time in Corvallis

Arizona needed overtime to beat the Beavers 75-65 on a night when Allonzo Trier had just been handed his second PED-related suspension and Ira Lee was out with a concussion. Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the UA while Rawle Alkins had 16 points and hit two 3-pointers in overtime to help the Wildcats pull away.

Series history

Arizona has beaten OSU six straight times, and the Wildcats are 24-15 against OSU in Corvallis. But the UA’s last loss in the series was at Gill Coliseum on Jan. 11, 2015, when the Beavers upset the then-seventh-ranked Wildcats 58-56 in coach Wayne Tinkle’s first season.

What’s new with the Beavers

Oregon State has won 6 of 9 games since losing to the Wildcats at McKale Center, putting the Beavers in a loss-column tie with ASU for second place in the Pac-12, in position to earn one of four first-round byes in the Pac-12 Tournament. They lost 68-67 at UCLA on Thursday but returned to beat USC 67-62 on Saturday.

Seniors Stephen Thompson and Gligorije “Big G” Rakocevic have accelerated toward the end of their college careers. Thompson is averaging 19.8 points while shooting 53.6 percent over the Beavers’ past four games. He’s also averaging 23.0 points at Gill Coliseum this season. Rakocevic has shot 9 for 11 over his last three games and blocked five shots over his past five. However, Ethan Thompson has hit just 1 of 10 3-pointers over the past four games.

Ethan Thompson has played point guard for the Beavers but he and his brother, plus Tres Tinkle, are all averaging about four assists in conference games. Inside, the Beavers get production on both ends from Rakocevic and Kylor Kelley, the junior 7-footer who is second nationally in blocked shots (3.42) and second in Pac-12 field goal percentage (65.4).

Defensively, the Beavers will mix it up, using a 2-3 and sometimes a 1-3-1 zone defense along with their man-to-man — sometimes even using different schemes on the same possession.

He said it

“Tres Tinkle, Stephen Thompson and Ethan Thompson, those guys are not only talented, but they’ve been through the battles, been through the ups and downs of a college basketball season. So I think when you look at their performances, you can see why Oregon State’s had the season that they’ve had.

“We have to do a really good job against all three of them, but in particular Tres Tinkle. I mean, statistically, he jumps off the page. He’s one heck of a player. I’m certain that his career will go down as one of the best in Oregon State’s recent history. You look at a guy like that, playing a home game in late February, we’ve got to be ready for him.”

— UA coach Sean Miller

Key player: Tres Tinkle

OREGON STATE

If Matisse Thybulle or another Washington player doesn’t win Pac-12 Player of the Year, it could be the versatile Beaver forward, who is among the conference’s Top 10 in scoring (19.8), rebounding (7.7), assists (4.2) and steals (1.8) during Pac-12 games. Plus, he’s led OSU well beyond expectations so far to second place.

Key player: Brandon Williams

ARIZONA

So how much is Williams and his knee really ready for? The Wildcats need him on the court for at least 25 productive minutes in both games this weekend to have a shot, especially against an OSU perimeter that is efficient offensively and pesky defensively.

NIT eliminator?

At 16-12, with only one “quadrant one” win (over Iowa State), the Wildcats still have a shot at getting into the NIT hunt with a win or two this weekend, and a win over ASU on the final weekend of the regular season.

Oregon State is projected as a No. 4 NIT seed in Dratings.com’s latest projection, and Oregon was projected as a No. 5 NIT seed before its recent three-game losing streak.

The NIT field can be surprisingly difficult to get in. It has only 32 teams, but many of those spots are eaten up by automatic qualifiers who win their conference regular-season championships but not their conference tournaments.

Whatever the case, UA coach Sean Miller declined to say whether the Wildcats would accept an NIT bid if offered one.

“We’re not there yet,” Miller said. “That’s kind of results-driven. That’s for you guys to speculate about and report. For me as the coach, we’ve got to worry about today and this week. I mean, we have our last road trip of the season, the ending of the Pac-12 season, and that deserves our undivided attention and that’s really where our focus is.”

Same ol’

During his college career, Ryan Luther signed up to play for coach Jamie Dixon at Pitt, then started to break out as a sophomore in 2015-16 only to see Dixon leave for TCU at the end of that season with the apparent blessing of Pitt administrators.

As a junior and senior, Luther bonded with Kevin Stallings, only to see Stallings fired last season after missing most of the year with a foot injury. Luther even posted on Twitter that he was disappointed in people making the decision who hadn’t been involved with the program daily.

This year, as a grad transfer with Arizona, Luther’s new coaching staff has also been embattled for off-court reasons.

Typically, though, the Wildcats forward downplayed it all when asked about what he’s been through.

“There’s obviously going to be stuff that you can’t control the outside,” Luther said. “But like I said, the best way is just keep improving. You can’t worry about the things you can’t control.”

The other coach’s kid

Having once played for his father at Blackhawk High School outside of Pittsburgh, UA coach Sean Miller noted that players such as OSU’s Tres Tinkle sometimes don’t get enough credit for how good they are when they’re the son of a coach.

And, according to OSU coach Wayne Tinkle, it’s particularly tough if dad is the head coach.

Tinkle said OSU guard Stephen Thompson Jr., doesn’t quite have to deal with the same dynamic with his father, who is a Beaver assistant coach.

“I think it’s a little different when your dad’s the assistant coach. You can be buddy-buddy, and enjoy a little of that,” Wayne Tinkle said. “I know Tres at times sees that and wonders where that’s at in regards to me.”

Numbers game

2

Rebounds Tres Tinkle needs to become only the fifth player to make OSU’s career top 10 scoring and rebounding lists; he has 1,533 points and 631 rebounds with a year of eligibility remaining, too.

3

Times in Wayne Tinkle’s five years that OSU will have had a winning record, counting this season. The Beavers had just two in the 24 years before he was hired.

7.3

Average assists by Justin Coleman in his last three games.

48

Arizona’s national rank in adjusted defensive efficiency.

59

OSU’s national rank in adjusted offensive efficiency.