NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Baylor, and BYU rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
18. Washington State (23-7)
A fascinating season for the Cougars just keeps rolling along. This team has played great basketball over the last two months, including a season sweep of Arizona. A dreadful effort at Arizona State really dulled last week but Washington State was back in action this week and made up for that defeat.
On Thursday night, the Cougars got back on track in a 75-72 home win against USC. Both Andrej Jakimovski and Isaiah Watts scored 18 points as the Cougars survived a solid effort from the Trojans. Things went slightly smoother on Saturday, with Washington State victorious 77-65 over UCLA. Jaylen Wells led the team with 27 points while Myles Rice scored 18 of his own.
No matter how you slice it, Washington State has now won 13 of their last 15 games including that sweep over an Arizona team that might be a top-seed in the NCAA Tournament. In a year where the Pac-12 teams seem to be falling apart at every corner, these Cougars are the ones who have taken advantage and will soar into the Big Dance. Their final regular season test is at home against rival Washington.