After sweeping Cal and Stanford at McKale Center over the weekend, Arizona jumped from No. 11 to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
UConn, Purdue and North Carolina remained 1-2-3 at the top of the poll, while Kansas rose four spots to the No. 4 ranking after beating Houston, which dropped to No. 5.
Among teams Arizona has faced this season, Wisconsin dropped from No. 6 to No. 11, Duke dropped from No. 7 to No. 9 after losing to North Carolina, Florida Atlantic stayed at No. 20 and SEC leader Alabama rose from No. 24 to No. 16.
No other Pac-12 teams were ranked in the poll. Arizona (17-5, 6-3) holds a one-game lead in first place in the Pac-12, but the Wildcats next have to travel to face Utah (15-7, 6-5) on Thursday and Colorado (15-7, 6-5) on Saturday.Β
FWIW, here was my AP Top 25 ballot.
In the computers, Arizona is No. 4 in KenpomΒ andΒ NET, and No. 5 in Torvik rankings. The Wildcats continue to be projected as a No. 2 seed in the West region by ESPN and CBS.
UCLA's Dylan Andrews was named Pac-12 Player of the Week, after averagingΒ 19.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals in the Bruins' wins over Oregon State and Oregon.
Arizona had nominated Oumar Ballo after he had double-doubles in UA's wins over Cal and Stanford while shooting 80.0% from the field but 53.3% from the free-throw line.
WSU's Myles Rice picked up the Freshman of the Week award, after collecting 18 points, five rebounds and five assists while hitting a game-winning 3-pointer in overtime of the Cougars' win at Washington.
Arizona had nominated KJ Lewis, who averaged 13.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in UA's two games, while playing a key defensive role in limiting Stanford to just 28.1% shooting in the second half Sunday.
