CHRIS CODUTOArizona Daily Wildcat Freshman forward Kirk Walters (left) is expected to play a bigger role with Isaiah Fox unavailable due to injury.

When the Arizona men's basketball team takes the floor tomorrow morning beneath the Gateway Arch, the Wildcats could be facing a scenario they haven't seen in almost two years: losing back-to-back games.

For their first road game this young season, the No. 7 Wildcats (1-1) will travel to the Show Me State to take on St. Louis (3-1).

The Wildcats face the Billikens for the second time in as many years. The last time the two teams met was just over a year ago in Tucson, when Arizona handled St. Louis, 91-58 on Dec. 3, 2002.

In the matchup, the Billikens were able to control the tempo of the game for much of the first half before the Wildcats jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead.

Then-sophomore center Channing Frye, one of five Wildcats in double figures with 11 points, remembers the key to taking St. Louis off its game.

"We just got them out of their style of basketball," Frye said. "We just went on a run."

The Billikens will rely on a zone defense to slow the lightning-quick Wildcats, who rely on their speed to overcome teams. And in order for the UA to beat St. Louis this time, the team will likely have to shoot much more efficiently from the floor than its .383 mark in a one-point loss to Florida last week.

"We're not concerned," said sophomore point guard Chris Rodgers of the team's shooting woes versus the Gators. "We've got great shooters on our team. It just happened to be one of those games where our guys were off."

Rodgers added that the sentiment around the UA squad during this week is simple: Get back to playing Arizona basketball.

"We know they're going to try to slow things down," Rodgers said, giving a solution to countering a slower Billiken offense. "Just (play) Arizona defense. That's it."

Frye agreed with his teammate.

"One of the things we need to work on is playing Arizona basketball," he echoed.

Arizona will look to keep St. Louis seniors Chris Sloan and Josh Fisher in check. Sloan enters Saturday's contest averaging a team-high 15 points per game. During St. Louis' 33-point loss last December in Tucson, it was Fisher who tied former Arizona guard Jason Gardner with a game-high 16 points.

On defense, the Billikens are giving up an average of slightly under 50 points per game. Conversely, the Wildcat offense has averaged 92 points in its first two trips to the court.

To avoid its first losing streak in almost two seasons, head coach Lute Olson's squad will look to pay attention to all aspects of the game.

"(The key is) just the little things - screening out, making crisp passes and taking good shots," said junior guard Salim Stoudamire.

"We understand that we need to pay attention to details and stick with what's working," Frye said. "Everyone wants to step up and be leaders but there is a time and place for everything."

Arizona hasn't lost two games in a row since the Wildcats were felled by UCLA and Southern California in Los Angeles in February 2002.

It's been quite a week for Arizona, despite not playing since last Friday. On Monday, the Wildcats' worst fears were confirmed when junior forward/center Isaiah Fox was diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his knee, leaving an already thin Wildcat low post even thinner.

Yesterday, Arizona found someone to fill the 6-foot-9 forward's spot on the roster in Arizona quarterback Ryan O'Hara. The 6-foot-6 freshman lettered in high school in Southern California for four years on both the hardwood and gridiron before joining the UA football squad in 2002.

To add insult to injury on Monday, the Wildcats found themselves dropping three spots in the Associated Press poll - from fourth to seventh - as the result of last Friday's 78-77 loss to now-No. 2 Florida.

But a tumultuous week has not enough to get the Wildcats down - and, according to Frye, it may even inspire the team to perform better against the Billikens.

"I feel like we're the underdog," Frye said. "We're coming off a loss, we're coming off a short bench and I think we have that type of attitude that we have something to prove to the world."