Malcom Armstead scored the go-ahead points in overtime last season at Beasley in a controversial finish.AP
Tipoff: 7 tonight, Beasley Coliseum, Pullman
TV: Fox Sports Northwest
Records: Oregon 7-8 overall, 0-3 Pac-10 Conference; Washington State 11-4, 1-2 Pac-10 Conference
Players: New-look Oregon, coached by first-year and former Creighton coach Dana Altman (who took over for the fired Ernie Kent), is led by senior forward Joevan Catron’s 16.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward E.J. Singler, the brother of Duke star Kyle Singler, is putting up 11.7 points and 6.2 rebounds an outting. Malcom Armstead (3.6 assists, 2.1 steals a night) is another returner from the Kent era at guard.
Klay Thompson leads Washington State at a clip of 22.7 points (10th in the nation) and four assists and Faisal Aden is averaging 15.4 points a game. DeAngelo Casto is averaging 9.6 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Game themes: A New Year’s Eve home loss to Oregon last season is still irrirating the Cougars, and with good reason. DeAngelo Casto’s bucket with 0.3 seconds left looked as if it was the game-winner, but a technical foul was called on WSU’s bench for celebration and Oregon tied to send it to overtime. WSU, which snapped a three-game losing skid on Thursday to Oregon State, is ready to turn the tables on a struggling and undersized Oregon club adjusting to Altman’s system.
Links: Be sure to look at Vince Grippi of the Spokesman-Review’s advance and Howie Stalwick’s capsulated preview. Bob Clark of the Eugene Register-Guard says Armstead (see photo) probably won’t play against the Cougars, which a leaves quite the void in Oregon’s backcourt.
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