Arizona Oregon Basketball | Jan. 27, 2024

Arizona guard Caleb Love drives to the basket against Oregon guard Kario Oquendo during the second half of the Wildcats’ 87-78 win over the Ducks on Saturday. Love scored a career-high 36 points while playing 39 minutes in the win.

Arizona dropped from No. 9 to No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after splitting its final Pac-12 trip through Oregon over the weekend.

The Wildcats (15-5 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-12) lost 83-80 at Oregon State on Thursday before beating Oregon 87-78 on Saturday. They remain highly regarded in the computer metrics: fourth in NCAA NET ratings, fifth in Kenpom and sixth in Torvik.

In NCAA Tournament bracket projections that were both posted before Arizona beat Oregon on Saturday,Β ESPNΒ had Arizona as a No. 2 seed in the West Region while CBS had the Wildcats as a No. 3 in the West.

UConn (18-2) remained in the top spot after beating Xavier, while Purdue (19-2) stayed at No. 2 after beating Michigan and Rutgers.

Among other UA opponents this season, Duke (15-4) moved up from No. 12 to No. 7 after beating Louisville and Clemson, Wisconsin (16-4) moved from No. 13 to No. 6 6 after beating Minnesota and Michigan State while Florida Atlantic rose from No. 22 to No. 20 after beating Rice and North Texas.

FWIW, this was my AP ballot.


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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe