In the first game of the evening Oregon State knocked off top seeded Washington and now the Arizona Wildcats are up next for the upstart Beavers. At this point in the season both teams appear to likely need a Pac 12 tournament championship and subsequent automatic bid if they hope to play in the NCAA tournament.
The two programs played just once during the regular season in a Tuscon and it took the Wildcats overtime to dispose of Oregon State at home. The final score in that game was 81 to 73 with both teams playing ugly offensively early on. with top seeded Washington out of the way, Arizona would appear poised to take advantage of a pretty big opportunity.
It's been widely reported that the Pac 12 was looking at somewhere between one to three teams in terms of NCAA tournament bids. After losing to Arizona State in the regular season finale Arizona was viewed as someone on the outside looking in. With Washington now firmly on the bubble once again and now out of the tournament, Arizona needs to beat eighth seeded Oregon State and they will find themselves playing for the automatic bid on Saturday.
The two teams will tip off tomorrow night at the Staples Center at 6 p.m. Pacific time. The game will again be televised on Fox Sports Net.
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.