I had a little e-mail Q&A with Jake from buildingthedam via e-mail yesterday. Looks like Arizona is going to probably be matching up with a 1-3-1 defense tomorrow night. 

Arizona has been on fire the the last 49 minutes of play since Chase Budinger got his head smashed by Aubrey Coleman. Is there anything that can stop them? 

How about, Oregon State's 1-3-1 defense? The Beaver defense didn't look too convincing against Arizona when the two teams met up for the first time earlier this season in Tuscon, but a lot has changed since then. Arizona may be on a roll, but the Beavers are also on a roll after beating four Pac-10 teams-- USC, Cal, Stanford, and Oregon-- in the first half of the Pac-10 season. The Beavers have won four straight, and it's amazing what some confidence can to do a team like Oregon State. The Wildcats have a good outside presence as well as a strong inside presence with Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger. 

Y'all (Yes I am from Texas and this is appropriate) barely beat Oregon last week. Any cause for concern? 

No. It's a rivalry game, so a close score is expected no matter what the records are of the teams coming in. Yes, we could have sealed the game earlier had we made more free throws (six were missed in the final 1:20), but the Beavers will take the close win over the Ducks any day of the week. Heck, for a team who has been on the losing end of too many Civil Wars as of late, we'll take any win. 

Home court advantage in the Pac 10 is underrated big time by outsiders. Can you give us a little preview of what it's like on game day in Corvallis? We know USC has problems playing football there.

At this point in the turnaround of Oregon State basketball, it's hard to correlate football with basketball. But the students and the rest of the fans were out in full force last Saturday, as they packed Gill for one of the largest crowds the Coliseum has seen in several years. They'll likely be a large contingent of fans on hand for Thursday's game as well, as the Beavers failed to disappoint in Saturday's Civil War game. Expect a noisy bunch of fans at Gill no matter if it's packed to the rafters or not.

Calvin Haynes is a baller and a half. How many points is he going to put up on Arizona? 

Hard to say. He's been averaging about 17 per game,  but he's had is off nights as well. He only scored nine when the Beavers and Wildcats played the first time around, so that gives me reason to think that he'll break out of his shell and have a better game this week. 15 points, maybe 20? Hard to say. 

Who is going to match up on Jordan Hill? 

My assumption is that the Beavers will deploy a 1-3-1 or similar zone defense against the Wildcats, so it will likely be a combination of Roeland Schaftenaar, Daniel Deane, or Omari Johnson. Hill will likely see a litany of guys in his face on Thursday night. 

Will y'all please take care of ASU on Saturday? We'll do our best to beat Oregon. 

Sounds like a deal. We would be overjoyed with a split this weekend, no matter how we get it. If beating ASU is the way it happens, we'll take it. But a sweep would be even better!