The Pac-12 tournament moves into the semifinal rounds on Friday evening and the Arizona Wildcats are looking at a golden opportunity. Sean Miller and his team will face off against the surprise of the tournament, that being Craig Robinson and the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers are coming off an upset win over top seeded Washington and will look to extend their season a little bit more when they take on the Arizona Wildcats during the first game of the evening.
For Arizona the matchup against Oregon State means that they won't have to face a Washington team that beat them twice during the regular season. Instead they get the eighth seeded Beavers and what feels like a much more manageable path to the Pac-12 conference championship game.
Once they reach that point, Arizona will be on the verge of locking down an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That would obviously prove to be an important step for Arizona who was considered a very iffy bubble team at best following a season ending loss to rival Arizona State.
Here's what you need to know:
Game 1 Teams: #4 Arizona Wildcats (22-10, 12-6 Pac-12) vs #9 Oregon State Beavers (19-13, 7-11 Pac-12)
Date, Game Time: Friday March 9th, 6:00 PM PST
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
TV: FSN
Series this season: Arizona won the one and only matchup between these two teams this year. Due to the unbalanced schedule in the Pac-12 the Beavers made the trip to Tuscon but never had the favor returned. While Oregon State couldn't pull out the victory, they did push the Wildcats to overtime losing 81-73. For Arizona the near miss and Oregon State's upset over Washington should be enough to keep them from overlooking a lower seeded opponent.
To discuss the Pac-12 tournament, head on over to Pacific Takes. To talk about the game with Arizona fans, check out Arizona Desert Swarm. To examine the game with Oregon State fans, hit up Building the Dam.