The Big Mo.

Politicians, especially this time of year, want it. The Oregon Ducks have it. Arizona's job is to stop it.

The Ducks are playing with that momentum and confidence after winning four of their last five games and moving themselves back into the hunt for a postseason bid.

That streak followed a midseason slump that saw them drop six straight games, but last weekend's surprising sweep of Cal (60-58) and No. 20 Stanford (64-62) in Eugene has Oregon two games above .500 for the first time in over a month.

Put those performances together with a tough 55-52 win at Washington and just a seven-point loss at UCLA in the last three weeks, and it's not hard to see why UA head coach Lute Olson is more than a little concerned about tonight's game.

"They are playing as well as anyone in the league right now, as you can see from their last half-dozen games," Olson said. "With their games last weekend, they seem to have momentum."

Olson attributed the Ducks' success to finally learning how to play as a team. Oregon lost four starters and nine players overall from last year's 19-9 squad - OU's first NCAA Tournament team in 34 years.

"The biggest thing was they are a team that lost a number of seniors a year ago," Olson said. "They are really jelling now."

The one starter that remains, however, is Kenya Wilkins. While just 5-foot-10, 154 pounds, the junior point guard is a big piece of the puzzle for the Ducks.

He leads the team in scoring (14.1 points), assists and steals. His 5.9 assists a game is good for third-best in the league while is 2.1 steals puts him in a second-place tie in the Pac-10.

He carried the Ducks to victory against Stanford with a 30-point effort, including an 18-footer at the buzzer that was the game winner. The points tied a career-high he set against Nebraska earlier this season.

"Kenya did a good job sticking it to Brevin (Knight, Stanford's point guard), but hopefully I can use my size against him," the 6-2, 187-pound Reggie Geary said. "If he comes in here with that same kind of effort, it could be a long night."

When the two teams met in Eugene Jan. 27 in a 70-65 UA win, OU forward Jamal Lawrence made it a very long night for Wildcat defenders, draining a career-high 34 points, including a 6-for-8 performance from 3-point range. The junior is second on the team with 13.5 points a game.

While UA had trouble containing Lawrence, they put the clamps on 6-8, 230-pound Kyle Milling, who averages 13 points and 7.7 rebounds a game.

With Ben Davis defending him, Milling was forced into an 0-for-4 shooting performance, and scored just one point from the foul line.

"I had a lot to do with it, but Reggie Geary had a lot of big stops on him too, it was a team effort," Davis said.

UA was outrebounded 36-33 by the Ducks. UA has been outrebounded in seven games this season - five of those in the 10 games since center Joseph Blair was put on academic probation.