Wildcats try to get back on track

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona forward Bennett Davison (21) will try and help the Wildcats rebound from two losses in a row when UA takes on Oregon State tonight at McKale Center. Tip-off is set for 6:37.

"UCLA was tough for us and I think we know that we need a good game against Oregon State," UA junior forward Bennett Davison said. "We need to get back to concentrating more on defense and keeping guys off the boards."

The 11th-ranked Wildcats (10-4 overall, 3-2 in the Pac-10) will look to return to their winning ways when they face an improving Oregon State team (5-9, 1-4) tonight at 6:37 in the McKale Center. With no starter over 6-foot-6, the Beavers rely on tough defensive pressure and transition baskets.

The Beavers, who stunned the conference last weekend with an 86-77 win over then-No. 15 Stanford, have been led by the surprising play of freshmen Carson Cunningham, Ron Grady and Corey Benjamin.

Cunningham has taken the reigns as team leader on the floor. He leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points a game (sixth in the Pac-10) and is the first true freshman to start at the point for OSU since Gary Payton (1986-87), now of the Seattle Supersonics. He also has shown his composure by shooting a team-high 82.5 percent from the free-throw line.

"We were watching the tape and one thing we have to do is stop Cunningham's penetration in the lane," UA sophomore guard Jason Terry said. "He's a very quick player who gets his team involved."

Both Grady and Benjamin have made a name for themselves in the last week of conference play. Grady had a career-high 24 points against Stanford and has been the team's top three-point shooter (22 of 63 this season). Benjamin got himself on the highlight reel scoring 31 points and grabbing eight rebounds against California on Thursday. Yet Benjamin was not done, as he added 26 points the next night against Stanford.

"I think this is the best group of OSU freshmen that I've seen since I've been at Arizona," UA coach Lute Olson said. "Grady is a tough competitor and Corey Benjamin is one of the most talented freshmen in the conference."

With the potential loss of junior guard Miles Simon and his 18 points per game to illness, the Wildcats will be hoping that junior Michael Dickerson can rediscover the scoring touch that helped him lead the conference in scoring earlier this season. After a 32 point performance against Arizona State, Dickerson has averaged just 9.5 points per game and is 0-7 from the three-point line.

"With Michael, we know he will get back to scoring as well as he can," Olson said. "I think against UCLA, he did a good job of getting to the rim, but he just missed the shot. The one thing I noticed was that he had a lot of one-foot take-offs instead of getting both feet under him for elevation."

Dickerson's play has been indicative of the entire team over the last couple of games. They have taken good shots, but none of them have fallen. While this is obviously frustrating, at least the team has still been showing some effort.

"I think our shooting against USC hurt our confidence level going into UCLA," Olson said. "So right now our biggest single concern is finishing plays."

As for Arizona's job on the defensive glass, Olson is not quite as worried as he originally appeared to be.

"We didn't do a very good job in defensive rebounding, but neither did UCLA," Olson said. "They only had two more offensive boards than we did, so I think a lot of teams are going to have trouble in that regard."