Game info

Who: Oregon State (11-5, 3-1) at Arizona Wildcats (13-5, 4-1)

Where: McKale Center, Tucson

When: 5 p.m. Saturday

Watch: Pac-12 Networks

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)

C Kylor Kelley (7-0 junior)

How they match up

Series history

Arizona has beaten the Beavers five straight times and hasn’t lost at McKale Center to them since coach Sean Miller’s first season of 2009-10. Last season, Arizona won 62-53 at McKale despite scoring only 21 first-half points and won 75-65 in overtime in Corvallis despite missing Allonzo Trier to a second positive PED test and Ira Lee because of a concussion. Arizona leads the series overall 62-53 and is 34-6 in Tucson against the Beavers.

This season

Arizona will also face the Beavers on Feb. 28 in Corvallis.

Oregon State overview

Having finished in 10th place last season, then losing starting center Drew Eubanks to professional basketball, the Beavers are nevertheless making an early run for Pac-12 contention. They beat Oregon in Eugene, then USC and UCLA at Corvallis before nearly erasing an 18-point deficit at ASU on Thursday.

A big part of the reason why is that the Beavers have combined one of the Pac-12’s top trios — Tres Tinkle and the Thompson brothers, Stephen Jr. and Ethan — with the shot-blocking wizardry of Kylor Kelley and solid efforts from a number of role players.

The Beavers are the fourth-most efficient defensive team in Pac-12 games, mixing in a 2-3 zone with man-to-man, sometime even during the same possession. They’ll even pull out a 1-3-1 zone defense on occasion, too, as they did at ASU on Thursday.

But whatever defense they’re in, if Kelley’s on the floor, players who drive to the basket need to think twice: Kelley leads the nation with an average of four blocks per game, and he blocks nearly one-fifth of all opponent shots when he’s on the floor. Overall, opponents shoot just 42 percent from inside the arc against OSU, the seventh-best defensive two-point percentage in the country, but OSU allows 35.3 percent shooting from 3-point range.

The Beavers lack a true point guard but combo guard Ethan Thompson has been growing into the role and taking most of the time there, with backup Antoine Vernon helping off the bench. Ethan has also shot 46.9 percent from 3-point range over the past 11 games. Meanwhile, his older brother, Stevie, and Tinkle are averaging around four assists per game, too.

Tinkle is an early contender for Pac-12 Player of the Year with his ability to score at all levels, get to the free-throw line an average of 5.1 times per game, and rebound. Stephen Thompson is hitting only 28 percent from 3-point range over four Pac-12 games so far, but is a microwavable scorer who hit 5 of 11 3s against USC and was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 25.5 points on 50-percent shooting in OSU’s wins over USC and UCLA.

The Beavers have started sophomore Zach Reichle at small forward lately, giving them energy and shooting, while Alfred Hollins has come off the bench to play both forward spots, bringing good defense and offensive rebounding. When Hollins is playing well and with confidence, the Beavers have often been at their best. Around Kelley, OSU has more size in veteran big man Gligorije “Big G” Rakocevic and freshman Warren Washington.

Key player: Tres Tinkle

Oregon State

No matter where the versatile redshirt junior is on the court, good things usually happen for the Beavers when he touches the ball. He’s among the Pac-12’s top five players in scoring, free-throws made, 3-pointers made, assists and steals, though he also averages 3.3 turnovers per game.

Key player: Justin Coleman

Arizona

Oregon’s defenses often kept the UA point guard from quickly initiating the Wildcats’ offense on Thursday, and the Beavers will undoubtedly be looking to similarly throw off his rhythm with a defense that is constantly switching up. OSU has a number of bigger wings who might be able to bother him so Coleman will have to use quickness and experience to his advantage.

His story is a mouthful

Even though the nation’s leading shot-blocker finished high school only about an hour away from Corvallis, the Beavers couldn’t suit up Kelley until he first went through two other colleges … and a few teeth.

Hailing from Gervais, Oregon, a small town of about 2,500 outside of Salem, Kelley played for a Class 3A school that didn’t make the state tournament, and didn’t have either the exposure or grades necessary to make a jump straight into Division I. He told the Eugene Register-Guard he was “more of a C-plus, B-minus student, which didn’t really help me in the long run coming out of high school.”

Kelley found a home at Eugene’s Northwest Christian University, coached by former Oregon star Luke Jackson, but wound up sitting out as a freshman when a hit to his mouth uncovered dental issues that required him to miss time.

“He had some really serious infections,” Benjie Hedgecock, coach of Kelley’s travel team, told the Register-Guard. “He did not take care of his teeth growing up. It all came to fruition his first couple years in college.

“Eventually he just said, ‘Man, I’m going to have to get dentures.’ It’s true.”

Kelley averaged 5.6 blocks as a redshirt freshman in 2016-17, setting the school’s single-game record with 10 blocks against Southern Oregon, but academics kept him from taking an OSU scholarship offer right away.

He spent last season at Lane Community College in Eugene, before moving to Corvallis, and is now is making a name for himself in his first of two remaining seasons of college eligibility.

“I’m just really happy for him, really excited for him,” Jackson told the Register-Guard. “I knew the potential was always there.”

Redemption opportunity

If there’s one good thing about the Pac-12’s short Thursday-Saturday turnarounds, is that mistakes can be quickly put behind a team or an individual.

That means that with a big win Saturday, the Wildcats can quickly get some distance from their 59-54 loss to Oregon.

And guys like Chase Jeter (5-for-12 shooting) and Brandon Randolph (2 for 9) get a chance for redemption.

“I felt like I took good shots but they weren’t able to fall and that obviously is a little bit frustrating,” Jeter said Thursday. “But we’ve got Oregon State on Saturday so that’s a new game, a chance for everybody to bounce back and I think we’re gonna do a good job responding.”

Surprise X-factor

Oregon was opaque all week about forward Kenny Wooten, with Ducks coach Dana Altman telling reporters Tuesday he doubted Wooten would be able to play this weekend and the school saying his status was still to be determined even after he met with a doctor later on Tuesday.

It turned out the doctor cleared Wooten, and he played 24 minutes Thursday. Wooten had five points, seven rebounds and one block, while throwing some tough defense at Jeter inside, so his presence alone might have made for the five-point difference the Ducks won by.

“Kenny made a tremendous difference with rim protection,” Altman said. “They were looking for him. That’s a big change and it gave us a big lift. I thought he made a big difference for the 24 minutes he played.”

Numbers game

0

Times UA has been swept during a two-game Pac-12 home weekend under Sean Miller (since 2009-10).

11.3

Percent of Arizona’s shots that have been blocked over five conference games, the third-highest rate in the Pac-12.

18.5

Percent of opponent shots that Kelley blocks when he’s on the floor.

50

Straight games Tinkle has scored in double figures, tied with Gary Payton (the first) for the longest such streak in school history.