Sizing up Arizona Wildcats' standing in Pac-12, AP poll after stumble at Oregon

Arizona dropped only two spots to No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday, but, all around them, the Wildcats have reason for concern.

After losing 87-68 at Oregon on Saturday, the Wildcats are still 15-3 overall but just 4-3 in the Pac-12. That puts them in a three-way loss-column tie for fourth place where, as of now, the Wildcats would only get the No. 6 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Then there’s all this:

Just to the north of the Wildcats, ASU has rattled off four straight wins since losing 69-60 to Arizona on Dec. 31, putting the Sun Devils also at 15-3 but alone in second place in the Pac-12 at 6-1.

Meanwhile, the Sun Devils picked up the 28th-most points in AP balloting Monday after doing the opposite of what Arizona did at Oregon — crushing the Ducks 90-73.

“That just takes it up a notch when you’re able to come in here and play the way we did,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said afterward. “I think it kind of sends a message about what we’re about.”

The leader of the Sun Devils’ road sweep, guard Desmond Cambridge, was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Week on Monday. Cambridge scored 21 points in each game and combined to shoot 53.3% (46.7 from 3) in ASU’s two wins.

Washington’s Koren Johnson was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, having averaged 15 points in the Huskies’ wins over Stanford and Cal, while Arizona did not nominate a player for either award.

To the west of the Wildcats, UCLA moved up to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 while continuing to ride what is now the third-longest winning streak in the country — 13 games.

The Bruins are alone at the top of the Pac-12 at 7-0, meaning they and/or ASU would still hold at least a one-game lead over the Wildcats even if Arizona beats UCLA on Saturday at McKale Center.

The Bruins have kept their streak alive in a number of ways, too, beating Colorado 68-54 on Saturday despite shooting just 38.1% — in large part because they held the Buffs to just 30.5% shooting on the other end.

“At a dance contest, you got to be able to dance to every song they play,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Some are slow, some are fast. It ain’t the tango every night. You got to be able to win in different ways against different styles. But when you defend, you always got a chance.”

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Finally, to the east of the Wildcats, there’s the sight of their former coach leapfrogging them into the top 10.

In his first year back with Xavier, Sean Miller has coached the Musketeers to a 15-3 record overall, a 5-2 mark in Quad 1 games and a 7-0 mark in the Big East. They moved up four spots to No. 8 in the AP Top 25 on Monday.

Miller was fired by Arizona in March 2021 for what UA said was both on- and off-the-court reasons, then rehired last spring by Xavier, where he was the head coach for five seasons before joining the Wildcats in 2009.

“We feel great,” Miller said after Xavier beat 25th-ranked Marquette on Saturday. “There’s no reason for us not to acknowledge that 7-0 is something to be proud of. I don’t care who we play or where we play it — the Big East Conference is one of America’s best conferences top to bottom.”

Miller and the Muskeeters also have found themselves blanketed with support. They announced an overcapacity crowd of 10,508 on hand Saturday against Marquette and are averaging 10,233 fans at their 10,250-seat arena.

Miller said fans have helped the Musketeers though a recent stretch in which three of their past four home wins have been decided by four or fewer points, including a 90-87 win over Creighton on Jan. 11 and the 80-76 win over Marquette.

“Our crowd is incredible,” Miller said. “A big reason why we’re 7-0 is just how difficult it is for our opponent to come into the Cintas Center and win.”