NCAA Basketball: UConn, North Carolina, Wisconsin rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
11. Arizona (12-4)
There has been no shortage of drama in Arizona. The Wildcats won at Duke in the opening week and picked up a few more phenomenal wins but have started to stockpile losses in recent weeks. Losing to Purdue is understandable and Florida Atlantic is forgivable, but that 18-point loss to Stanford on New Year’s Eve was a head scratcher.
Unfortunately for these Wildcats, this past weekend produced another head scratcher. Arizona traveled to Washington State on Saturday and left Pullman with a 73-70 loss to the Cougars. Caleb Love had another fantastic performance, scoring 28 points, and Oumar Ballo had another double-double, but Washington State outshot the Wildcats and did enough down the stretch to claim this win at home.
Based on what we have seen to this point, Arizona is the best team in the Pac-12. There really shouldn’t be a debate to this, and yet the Wildcats have now lost two of their first three road games in conference play. These types of performances are not what this team is about, especially compared to some massive home wins in recent weeks. Luckily, they’re back at home against USC and UCLA next week, hoping to bounce back against two teams struggling even worse than them.