Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings: Arizona firmly at No. 1, ASU and Oregon State slide
By Mason Duhon
Conference heavyweights
511. . No. 8 Arizona Wildcats. 17-5, 8-3 in Pac-12. . Last week: 1. 1. player. 1. No. 8 Arizona Wildcats
On what should have been a tame week, Arizona struggled a bit more than it should have in game two but ultimately walked away with two extra wins in the back pocket. The Wildcats laid a 26-point beatdown on Cal on the back of an Oumar Ballo double-double (22 points, 13 rebounds) and led for the vast majority of the contest in what ended as a 91-65 decision.
Stanford came out the gate hot and caught Arizona on its heels, but the Wildcats recovered immensely in the second half. Arizona forced 11 turnovers in large part due to some serious hustle from Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis off the bench en route to an 82-71 win.
Next week: Arizona will take to the road and look to replicate the last results against Utah on Thursday and Colorado on Saturday.
2. 522. . 16-6, 7-4 in Pac-12. Last week: 3. . . 2. .
This piece isn't meant to mirror the standings directly (they can be deceiving), but Washington State has earned this. I called the Cougs "paper tigers" two weeks into conference play because of an easy non-conference slate and a poor showing in the first four games. Now, Washington State has won six of its last seven, including a home win over Arizona.
I was wrong. This is a good team.
This last week was the first rivalry week, and records can be tossed out the window for these types of games. The Cougars had to play Washington on the road in Seattle. Isaac Jones led the way with 20 points, but Jaylen Wells (19) and Myles Rice (18) were just behind him. They took the game to overtime and managed to pull off the 90-87 win.
Next week: Washington State will be heading southwest to play Oregon State on Thursday and Oregon on Saturday.