NCAA Basketball: Duke, Memphis, Michigan State rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
8. Arizona (12-3)
This has been quite the season for Arizona, who beat Duke, Michigan State, and Wisconsin during an 8-0 start to the season. They then fell to Purdue, lost a classic to Florida Atlantic, and fell again in conference play this past week. This is a strong team with high potential for this season, though it’s also far from perfect.
That third imperfection came on Sunday night in bizarre fashion, with the Wildcats falling 100-82 at Stanford. Caleb Love scored 23 points in what was certainly an abysmal defensive performance for the team. Arizona got back on track in a major way on Thursday, delivering on both sides of the ball in an impressive 97-50 blowout against Colorado, led by 18 points and 7 rebounds from Pelle Larsson. A second win came on Saturday, with Arizona victorious 92-73 over a Utah team that’s played well this season, with 23 points from Love and 20 from Keshad Johnson in the win.
When they’re on their game, Arizona can hang with any team in the country. That performance against Stanford is a significant outlier on the season. The key is for the Wildcats not to repeat that mistake, as they certainly stand as heavy favorites to win this Pac-12 in its final season. Whether they can continue their momentum or not, they’ll be back on the road against Washington State next week, currently sitting 3-1 in the league.