Arizona named Co-NCAA National Team of the Week after going 2-0

Arizona and Duke were named the NCAA Co-Teams of the Week on Monday after big victories on Saturday. Andy Katz of NCAA.Com named Arizona as his Co-Team of the Week after the Wildcats beat number 23/22 BYU on Wednesday and won at second-ranked Houston on Saturday.

Duke beat Syracuse last Monday and upset number one Michigan 68-63 in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. The Blue Devils are expected to ascend to number one when the new rankings are released on Monday. Duke was third in both polls last week and Arizona was fourth.

Arizona beat BYU 75-68 and Houston 73-66. The Wildcats earned both wins without starting forward Koa Peat and reserve Dwayne Aristode. Aristode has missed the last three games with an illness and Peat has been out for the last 2.5 games with a lower-body injury.

Arizona rebounded last week after losses at Kansas on February 9 and to Texas Tech on February 14. With the wins over BYU and Houston, Arizona improved to 25 victories and two defeats. Arizona has regular-season games remaining at Baylor on Tuesday, versus Kansas on Saturday, Iowa State on March 2 and at Colorado on March 7.

Anthony Dell'Orso and Ivan Kharchenkov lead wins

Anthony Dell'Orso scored an Arizona career high with 22 points against BYU and matched it in the win at Houston. Kharchenkov averaged 17.0 points per game, 8.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting 52.2 percent from the field last week.

Dell'Orso and Kharvchenkov provided Arizona with a huge lift while guard Brayden Burries struggled with an illness last week and Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas were in foul trouble against Houston. Arizona was able to lean on the back half of its eight-man rotation to get two significant wins.

Aristode did not make the trip with Arizona to Texas. Peat is expected to miss the game against Baylor on Tuesday. Arizona could get Aristode and Peat back on Saturday against Kansas, according to head coach Tommy Lloyd.