NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga, Kansas drops, Duke, UNC rises in latest top 25 power ranking

5. Arizona Wildcats – 17-3 (6-3 Pac-12)

With three losses already in Pac-12 play, this was a must-win week for the Wildcats when it comes to still contending for a regular-season title. But before the important matchup versus UCLA, Arizona still had to get past a solid USC squad.

The Wildcats did a good job of not looking ahead of the marquee matchup, leading the Trojans by 15 points at the half and never making it a real game. They won with a final margin of 81-66, led by 15 points and 17 rebounds from Azuolas Tubelis. He was one of five players in double figures, including Pelle Larsson with 15 off the bench.

The highly anticipated with UCLA was huge for Arizona, as they needed a win to avoid being down four games in the conference standings. It was a low-scoring and quite frankly, boring event but the Wildcats found a way to win, 58-52. The frontcourt did all of the heavy lifting, with Oumar Ballo (16 points and 8 rebs) and Tubelis (14 pts and 10 rebs) leading the way.

Arizona now travels on the road to take on Washington and Washington State. The Huskies have played better as of late, while the Cougars beat the Wildcats already by 13 points at their place. They’ll need to win both to keep pace with the Bruins.