Scouting report: Arizona Wildcats vs. Oregon State Beavers

The Star's Bruce Pascoe previews game day essentials, from projected starting lineups to storylines and series history, ahead of the Arizona Wildcats' game against Oregon State on Thursday. 

Game info

Who: Arizona (9-3, 3-3) at Oregon State (5-4, 1-2)

Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Ore.

When: Thursday, 9 p.m.

TV: FS1

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Social media: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

Probable starters: Arizona

G James Akinjo (6-0 junior)

G Terrell Brown (6-1 senior)

F Bennedict Mathurin (6-6 freshman)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-10 freshman)

C Christian Koloko (7-0 sophomore)

Probable starters: Oregon State

G Ethan Thompson (6-5 senior)

G Zach Reichle (6-5 senior)

F Warith Alatishe (6-7 junior)

F Maurice Calloo (6-10 junior)

C Rodrigue Andela (6-8 junior)

How they match up

The series: Arizona leads Oregon State 51-34 all-time and has beaten the Beavers in 15 of their last 17 matchups. But OSU beat UA the last time they met in Corvallis, 82-65 on Jan. 20, 2020, when the Beavers had five scorers in double digits, led by Tres Tinkle (20). Arizona returned the favor on Feb. 20, beating OSU 89-63 at McKale Center, when Josh Green had 18 points and six assists.

This season: The Wildcats and Beavers are scheduled to meet again on Feb. 11 at McKale Center.

OSU overview: Coach Wayne Tinkle promised that the Beavers would not finish last in the Pac-12, their projected spot in the league’s official media poll, and he should be able to live up to that statement the way his team is playing so far. Even without his son, Tres, a three-time first-team All-Pac-12 pick who finished his OSU career last season, the Beavers have saddled a group of productive transfers around standout guard Ethan Thompson and 3-point threat Zach Reichle. They beat Cal twice, one of which was considered a nonconference game, and have been competitive in Pac-12 losses to Washington State and Stanford, before missing last week with COVID-19 issues.

Offensively, the Beavers are good 3-point shooters (36.6) and good ballhandlers who turn the ball over on only 16.0% of possessions and have the size to bother opponents. In the backcourt, the 6-foot-5, do-everything Thompson is joined by the 6-5 Reichle, who takes 86% of his shots from beyond the arc, while the versatile Gianni Hunt plays a backup point guard role and off guard Jarod Lucas has been the Beavers’ second-leading scorer off the bench (and leading in conference games with an average of 12.7 points).

The Beavers’ frontline is also big: Warith Alatishe leads the Pac-12 in rebounding (8.89) and ranked 36th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, collecting OSU’s misses 14.2% of the time when he’s on the floor. While Alatishe plays both forward spots, Oklahoma State transfer Maurice Calloo is a stretch-four while the physical Rodrigue Andela plays center, but is coming off a foot injury suffered on Jan. 4 against Stanford.

As always, the Beavers run an ever-switching defense that mostly features a 2-3 zone and man-to-man but can morph into many variants, including a 1-3-1.

The scout says

“Ethan Thompson is a leader, the veteran of the team. I think the biggest thing for me is he gets to the free throw line about (six) times a game so we’ve got to defend him without fouling. And we have to contain his penetration. They like to isolate him and use ball screens so that’s a point of emphasis for us. … The thing about (Reichle) is he’s more than just a 3-point shooter because they look for him — he’s always cutting, always moving, he plays well often off ball screens. Anytime they dribble penetrate, they’re looking for him on the kick out for spot ups.

“With Alatishe, it’s very important that we keep him off the glass, match his energy and really be aware of him because he can have a huge impact on this game. He’s super athletic, strong, always moving, always cutting. I think he just has a knack for the ball.

“Calloo loves to pick and pop. He can shoot the 3 very well and half his shots are from 3. He’s a three or four man who’s 6-10 — that’s always a problem for us. He doesn’t post up a lot, but he’s a skilled four man who always gives you problems. Andela’s a powerful player, doing a lot of screen and rolling but they’ll throw him post ups, and he’s effective in his post ups. He’s a very big rebounder and obviously we pride ourselves in rebounding. We lead the Pac-12 in rebounding so if we win the war on the boards, we’ll put ourselves in a position to win.” — UA assistant coach Jason Terry, who scouted the Beavers

Key player (Oregon State): Ethan Thompson

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Three seasons of experience playing with Tres Tinkle and his brother Stevie are obvious in Thompson’s game: He’s a savvy veteran who shoots 38.1% from 3-point range and picks up an average of 6.1 fouls per 40 minutes, hitting free throws at a 77.4% rate. He also records the assist on 28.1% of his teammates’ made field goals when he’s on the floor, the 131st best Kenpom assist rate in Division I.

Key player (Arizona): Terrell Brown

The Wildcats’ veteran grad transfer and steady ballhandler will effectively take the shooting guard spot vacated by the injured Jemarl Baker in the starting lineup. But that gives UA a backcourt of two 6-foot-1 guards just as Arizona will face a bigger backcourt that may try to post up guard Zach Reichle if either Brown or James Akinjo is guarding him.

Sidelines

Like godfather, like godson

To UA assistant coach Jason Terry, Arizona’s new starting backcourt of James Akinjo and Terrell Brown looks a little like one he was a part of en route to the Wildcats’ 1996-97 national championship.

Mike Bibby was the Wildcats’ point guard as a freshman that season but Terry had the second-most assists as a sophomore (4.4) while playing a combo guard role off the bench. Terry went on to average 4.3 assists as a junior in 1997-98 while again playing alongside Bibby and 5.5 as a senior in 1998-99, when he took over the point guard spot entirely after Bibby left to become the NBA’s No. 2 overall pick in 1998.

Brown, Terry’s godson, has played a combo guard role off the bench so far this season, averaging 3.3 assists per game with an eye-opening 6.5-1 assist-turnover ratio. Now he’ll start alongside Akinjo, the Wildcats’ leader in scoring (13.9) and assists (5.4).

“I think it gives you a great dynamic,” Terry said. “I kind of look at when myself and Mike Bibby were in the backcourt — facilitators, ballhandlers and passers. Guys who could create their own shot or get shots for others and can play off the ball as well. I think it really will give us an advantage. James has been primarily the primary ball handler for us throughout the year, but this gives him an opportunity benefit from a guy like Terrell as well.”

Perspective

Oregon State paused for a week because of COVID-19 issues before returning on Tuesday, giving it only two days of practice to prepare for Arizona while their Saturday opponent, ASU, has now had all week to prepare for them.

They’ve lost both players and coaches sidelined for positive tests and/or contact tracing, and the Beavers still may be missing guys on Thursday for COVID-related reasons, Tinkle said.

Oh well. It’s 2020-21.

“To be quite honest this season, we’re not going to look for any excuses or any explanations. Nobody’s going to be sympathetic,” OSU coach Wayne Tinkle said. “It’s let’s take what we have and if we go out there and play the way we’re supposed to play on both ends for as long as we can, we’ll have a chance to beat anybody that stands across from us.

“That’s how we’ve truly been. We didn’t freak out when we lost a player and we didn’t freak out when we lost our coaches. We just said ‘This is the time we’re in.’ ... We’ve also said we’re not the only one dealing with it. I think Stanford was on the road for a month straight when we played them, and they’ve had some injuries to key players. So you just gotta grind and if you’re tough enough, and you’re really bonded, then you’ll find a way.”

Hazzard joins sports agency

Former Arizona guard Max Hazzard has joined Klutch Sports Group to work as an executive assistant to NBA agent Omar Wilkes.

Formerly of Octagon, Wilkes became Klutch Sports’ head of basketball last June. He represents Trae Young now but at Octagon also represented former Wildcats T.J. McConnell and Solomon Hill.

Hazzard, who played for the Wildcats last season as a grad transfer from UC Irvine, had expressed a desire to work in the music business in Los Angeles. He says he’s wanted to work in basketball, but isn’t sure what direction yet.

Hazzard has an undergraduate degree in sociology from UCI and pursued a master’s in entrepreneurship at UA, saying that he wanted to someday run his own business.

Before college, Hazzard played at Los Angeles Loyola High School, where Wilkes played before going on to college careers at Cal and Kansas.

Numbers game

9.58

 – Arizona’s rebounding margin, highest in the Pac-12.

36.6

 – OSU’s 3-point percentage, tied with UCLA for best in the Pac-12

66.2

 – Percentage of Oregon State made field goals that result from assists in conference games, the highest ratio in the Pac-12 (OSU also leads the conference with 16.9 average assists per game)

35.8

 – Arizona’s offensive rebounding percentage in conference games, highest in the Pac-12.