Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings: Arizona remains on top, USC slips below UCLA
By Mason Duhon
Top dogs
. Zona. . 15-5, 6-3 in Pac-12. 511. Last week: 1. No. 11 Arizona Wildcats. No. 11 Arizona Wildcats. 1. player
AP Poll weirdness aside, Arizona had a weekend that was a net positive despite the outcome of the Oregon State game on Thursday. Arizona jumped out to a 12-point lead, but it dwindled to 8 points by the half before Oregon State rallied. A last-second three-ball from 22 feet out sealed the win for Oregon State as the Corvallis crowd stormed the court to celebrate the 83-80 win.
The Wildcats were facing a must-win game against Oregon in Eugene on Saturday to follow it up. The Wildcats had a much better showing and Caleb Love had himself a day with a career-high 36 points, which was also the most ever scored in Matthew Knight Arena. Arizona finally snapped a streak of losing in Eugene dating back to 2015 with the 87-78 win.
Next week: The Bay Area schools are coming to Tucson for rematches. Cal will take their shot first on Thursday before Arizona will try to get its revenge on Stanford on Sunday.
. 515. 14-6, 6-3 in Pac-12. Last week: 2. 2. team. . . O.
Oregon played host to the desert teams last weekend, starting with Arizona State on Thursday. The Ducks fell into as much as a 10-point hole in the second half before rallying and nailing 13 consecutive field goals. With the 80-61 win, the Ducks moved to 10-0 at home on the season.
Arizona came to Eugene on Saturday and muddled Oregon's unblemished home record. 20 points from Jermaine Couisnard and another 19 from N'Faly Dante couldn't hold off the Wildcats, who needed the win. Oregon fell to 10-1 at home on the season with the 87-78 loss.
Next week: Oregon will take to the road and the Ducks will be Los Angeles-bound. The road trip starts with USC on Thursday and concludes with UCLA on Saturday.