Wednesday, March 12th, 11:30 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Staples Center (18,997) -- Los Angeles, California. Television: FSN. Home Record: OSU 3-12, Arizona 11-6. Away Record: OSU 2-11, Arizona 6-7. Neutral Record: OSU 1-1, Arizona 1-0. Conference Record: OSU 0-18, Arizona 8-10. Series Record: Arizona leads, 48-17.

GAME NOTES: The seventh-seeded Arizona Wildcats will try to avoid a monumental upset against the 10th-seeded Oregon State Beavers tonight, as the teams clash in the opening round of the Pac-10 Tournament at the Staples Center. The victor of this matchup will earn the right to face second-seeded Stanford in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Wildcats are in serious jeopardy of having their string of 23 straight NCAA Tournament appearances snapped, as they head into the postseason with a modest 18-13 record and a sub par 8-10 mark in league play. The sub .500 finish in conference play was a big surprise for Arizona, which had won at least 11 league games in every season since going 8-10 in 1983-84. Arizona, though, has had great success in this event, capturing the most wins (16) and titles (four) of any member. As for OSU, it didn't win a single conference game during the regular season, becoming the first team to go 0-18 in Pac-10 history. If that wasn't bad enough, the Beavers enter the tourney riding a school-record 20 game losing streak that dates back to the middle of December. The program hasn't had much success this event either, logging only a 5-8 ledger. As far as the all-time series concerned, Arizona holds a 48-17 advantage over OSU and that includes a perfect 3-0 mark in the Pac-10 Tournament.

The Beavers have struggled in so many areas, but mostly with their shooting, as they are hitting on a dismal 37.5 percent from the floor and an equally as poor 29.3 percent from beyond the arc. The team hasn't made the most of its free points either, converting only 65.1 percent of the time at the charity stripe. Despite making good on just 35.9 percent of his attempts from the field, Marcel Jones leads the squad in scoring with 10.5 ppg. He is also grabbing 5.4 rpg, although that has been overshadowed by his lackluster 57.9 percent shooting at the charity stripe. Seth Tarver is on the verge of breaking into double figures with 9.8 ppg and he is also collecting 4.7 rpg for the punchless offense of the Beavers.

Unlike OSU, Arizona has had success making buckets on a consistent basis, knocking down 48.0 percent of its attempts from the floor, 38.5 percent from three-point range and 74.0 percent at the charity line. Freshman Jerryd Bayless leads this solid attack with 20.3 ppg and that average is good enough to rank third in the conference. The second-team All-Pac-10 selection is also handing out 4.2 apg and shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range. Chase Budinger, a third-team all-league choice, has formed a solid tandem with Bayless, as he contributes 17.2 ppg and 5.4 rpg. Jordan Hill has provided the club with a legitimate big man down low and he turns in 13.0 ppg and a team- high 7.9 rpg.

The Wildcats are simply the better team from top to bottom and they should be offered very little resistance from an OSU club that probably would rather just forget this season ever happened.

Predicted Outcome

Arizona 74, Oregon State 54