STORYLINE: Oregon State (12-13, 2-11 in Pac-10) hosts the No. 3 Arizona Wildcats (22-3, 12-0) and Arizona State Sun Devils (16-9, 6-6) this week. The OSU-Arizona game will tip at 7:05 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 19 and the OSU-ASU game is at 5:05 p.m., Sat., Feb. 21. Both games are at Ralph Miller Court in Gill Coliseum. Fox Sports Northwest will televise Saturday's game live.

THE TENTATIVE STARTING LINEUPS

OREGON STATE
F--35 Sonny Benjamin, 6-6, Sr., 2.8 pts, 2.2 reb
C--00 Terrill Woods, 6-6, Sr., 5.5 pts, 4.0 reb
G--32 John-Blair Bickerstaff, 6-6, So., 8.8 pts, 4.3 reb
G--25 Corey Benjamin, 6-6, So., 19.8 pts, 5.0 reb
G--4 Deaundra Tanner, 6-1, Fr., 7.4 pts, 3.1 ast

ARIZONA
F--21 Bennett Davison, 6-8, Sr., 8.0 pts, 6.8 reb
F--23 Michael Dickerson, 6-5, Sr., 18.6 pts, 4.6 reb
C--42 A.J. Bramlett, 6-11, Jr., 10.6 pts, 7.4 reb
G--10 Mike Bibby, 6-1, So., 17.4 pts, 6.2 ast
G--34 Miles Simon, 6-5, Sr., 17.5 pts, 4.5 ast

ARIZONA STATE
F--24 Mike Batiste, 6-8, Jr., 16.0 pts, 7.9 reb
F--4 Bobby Lazor, 6-8, Jr., 17.3 pts, 8.0 reb
G--21 Jeremy Veal, 6-3, Sr., 20.5 pts, 4.2 reb
G--5 Eddie House, 6-1, So., 11.5 pts, 3.1 ast
G--11 Ahlon Lewis, 6-0, Sr., 7.4 pts, 9.2 ast

INJURY REPORT: Starting guard Ron Grady is out for the season with a lacerated kidney and bruised ribs -- suffered in a collison with Patrick Femerling of Washington. Sophomore forward Iyan Walker is available after missing nine games with a sprained ankle and one game with the flu. Sophomore forward Nick Greene is questionable this week after suffering a knee injury at Oregon, which required arthroscopic surgery. Sophomore guard Corey Benjamin has an abdominal strain, and is day-to-day.

OSU VS. ARIZONA: Arizona has won 27 of the last 28 games, including 16 straight, and has pushed to a 30-13 advantage in the series. Arizona posted a 93-80 win at McKale Center earlier this season (Jan. 28) in a ABC televised game. Four `Cats scored in double figures led by Miles Simon's 23 points. The Beavers received a game-high 24 points from Corey Benjamin. Oregon State shot .536 from the field for the game, while Arizona hit .507. Oregon State's last win in the series was 84-61 in Gill Coliseum Dec. 2, 1989. In last season's game at Gill, won by the `Cats, 74-64, Michael Dickerson scored 29 points for Arizona, while Corey Benjamin scored 28 points for OSU. Arizona's win streak in Corvallis is seven games.

OSU VS. ARIZONA STATE: Oregon State holds a 31-18 lead in the series and has won two straight -- the only such streak for the Beavers vs. a Pac-10 opponent. The Beavers snapped a 20-game Pac-10 Conference road losing streak when it won at the University Activity Center earlier this season (Jan. 22) 70-61. Corey Benjamin scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the victory. ASU was led by Jeremy Veal's 18 points. OSU held a 43-27 advantage in rebounding for the game. OSU won last season over ASU in Gill Coliseum, 71-67, behind the 22 points of Corey Benjamin. Over the last three games vs. ASU, the Beavers have averaged 46.7 rebounds, while ASU has averaged 33.3.

STREAKS: Oregon State has lost three consecutive games overall.

WHERE'S THE DEFENSE! During last week's two-game road trip to Washington, Oregon State gave up an average of 52.5 points in the second half, compared to an average of 29.5 in the first half.

WE LIKE YOUR BASKETS BETTER: Anyway, it appears that way from the free throw line. Oregon State enters Thursday's game shooting .609 from the free throw line for the season, last in the Pac-10, but in the last four games on the road it has shot .724. The Beavers have shot 60 percent or lower from the free throw line at home in three of the last five games.

SLOWLY GETTING BETTER: Oregon State is showing signs of improving within the Pac-10 Conference, even though it has only two victories. Heading into this week's action the Beavers rank 10th in only one team statistical category (FT Pct.), as compared to finishing the year 10th in five categories last season and seven in 1995-96. Another way at looking at the improvement, in the two previous seasons combined, Oregon State finished fifth or better in one category only once, while it appears in the top five seven times to this point in the season.

RARE DOUBLE DIGITS: Oregon State has hit double figures for victories for the season for the first time since the 1992-93 season. Since the `93 season, OSU has posted records of 6-21 (1994), 9-18 (1995), 6-21 (1996), and 7-20 (1997). The Beavers are also looking for their first winning season since All-American and Player of the Year Gary Payton left the program at the end of the 1990 season.

STARTING LINEUP FOUND: After using 11 different starting lineups, Eddie Payne has appeared to find one he likes. The lineup of Corey Benjamin, Sonny Benjamin, Terrill Woods, Deaundra Tanner and John-Blair Bickerstaff has been used the last seven games.

FREE THROW FESTIVAL: Oregon State has been involved in some