Gary Parrish of CBS Sports and Jeff Borzello of ESPN both elevated Arizona to first in their power rankings on Thursday morning. Arizona earned its third win over a ranked team in its first five games with a 71-67 win at third-ranked Connecticut on Wednesday night.
Arizona previously defeated defending national champion and preseason number three Florida 93-87 in the season opener in Las Vegas, UCLA 69-65 in Inglewood, California, on Friday, in addition to victories over Utah Tech and Northern Arizona.
Parrish moved Arizona up four spots after the win at Connecticut. Arizona passed BYU, Connecticut and the only teams that have been ranked first in the national polls this season, Houston and Purdue, in Parrish's daily Top 25 And 1 rankings for CBS Sports.
Borzello and Parrish acknowledged it is difficult to move a team that doesn't lose. Purdue won 87-80 at then number eight Alabama on November 13. Alabama beat this week's number eight Illinois 90-86 in Chicago on Wednesday night. Houston beat number 22 Auburn in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday.
"Jaden Bradley developing into one of the best point guards in the country has been arguably the biggest game changer in Arizona's terrific start to the season. He took over late in the wins over Florida and UCLA, scoring 10 straight and 7 straight points...Against UConn, Bradley had a layup with 16 seconds left to put Arizona up 3."Jeff Borzello, ESPN
Bradley is averaging 16.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals while shooting 58.3 percent from the floor, 85.7 percent from the free throw line, has made four of eight three-point attempts and has a 62.5 eFG percentage.
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd told Matt Norlander of CBS Sports that Bradley has not been given enough credit for how he has improved and Borzello for his fearlessness to take big shots at the end of games. Bradley had a big field goal with 16 seconds remaining to extend the Arizona lead to three over Connecticut.
Bradley averaged 21.0 PPG in the three wins over Florida, UCLA and Connecticut. Having a senior point guard in his second season as a starter and third in the rotation with three freshmen starting for Arizona has been critical late in games. Bradley has been the steadying influence and clutch player Arizona has needed.