For the first time ever Monday, the Arizona women’s basketball team ranked higher than the Wildcat men in the AP Top 25 polls.
The undefeated UA women’s team (11-0) remained at No. 18 after beating UC Santa Barbara on Saturday while the men’s team (10-3) dropped from No. 16 to No. 24 after losing to St. John’s in San Francisco.
The two programs were both ranked entirely throughout the 1997-98 and 1999-2000 seasons, but the men were ranked higher every week, sometimes by just one or two spots. In 1997-98, the women’s team rose as high as No. 7 three times, but the men were ranked No. 5, 6 and 2 during those weeks while coming off the 1997 national championship.
The women’s program also made AP Top 25 appearances during the 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons but were never rated as highly as the men. And while the UA men were not ranked at all throughout the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2018-19 seasons, the women’s program was not ranked from 2005-06 until it jumped in this season on Nov. 25.
The Pac-12 continued to dominate the women’s poll, with Oregon at No. 2, OSU at No. 3, Stanford at No. 5 and UCLA at No. 10 in addition to Arizona at 18.
On the men’s side, Oregon was No. 6, Washington No. 21 and Arizona 24. Colorado received the 27th highest voting point total.
Metrics still on men’s side
Despite having lost three of four games heading into Christmas break, the Arizona men’s team still has metrics on its side.
Not only did the human voters of the AP poll keep them in at No. 24 but the Wildcats are among the top 25 in the computerized results of Kenpom (14), Sagarin (24) and NCAA’s NET rating (19).
Befitting those numbers, ESPN’s “Bracketology” listed UA as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament in an updated projection Monday.
Stanford (11-1) has the highest NET rating at 12, followed by Oregon (13), Arizona (19), Colorado (27), Washington (33), ASU (53), Utah (65), USC (75), OSU (79), WSU (128), UCLA (160) and Cal (165).
Foul issues
The Arizona men finished nonconference play averaging 19.6 fouls per game and ranks just 282 nationally in opponent free-throw rate (free throws attempted divided by field goals attempted).
The Wildcats’ opponents overall take just 1.8 fewer free throws per game and a free-throw imbalance didn’t help UA in its past two losses: Gonzaga shot 30 free throws in its 84-80 win over Arizona, 17 more than the Wildcats took, while St. John’s went to the line twice more than did Arizona, 34 times, on Saturday.
Chase Jeter fouled out against St. John’s with 4:41 left, while Josh Green and Max Hazzard each had four fouls.
“If you look at the 13 nonconference games we played, we foul at an astronomical level,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “That has to change but some of our fouls are just a function of discipline. You have to be able to guard dribble penetration.”
Pac-12 honors Allen, Stewart
Utah’s Timmy Allen was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Week after leading the Utes to an upset win over Kentucky, while Washington’s Isaiah Stewart picked up Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors.
Allen had 25 points, including a jump shot with 1:21 left, in the Utes’ 69-66 win over Kentucky while averaging 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in two games that also included a loss to San Diego State.
Stewart averaged 23.0 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 73% in Washington’s wins over Seattle and Ball State, whom the Huskies beat in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu on Sunday night.
