Arizona is the new No. 6 team in the country after the updated Associated Press Top 25 poll was released Monday. The Wildcats (3-0) swept the Los Angeles schools over the weekend to open up Pac-12 play but neither game came without a challenge as both USC and UCLA had the Wildcats in an 11-point hole before UA managed to pull out two victories.

The No. 6 ranking is the highest ever for the program in the AP Top 25 poll. UA tied its previous high leading into the season when the Wildcats were placed seventh. That marked the first time in program history that Arizona would start the season inside the top 10.

So far Arizona has relied on a mix of its veteran players and newcomers to achieve a 3-0 mark, but each of the team's three games has come with its challenges in the unique 2020-21 season.

UA struggled to shoot 3-pointers through the first few games with the Wildcats currently sitting at 22% from deep on the year. That will have to improve as UA continues to build on its impressive 2019-20 season with several new key pieces joining the Wildcats this season.

Despite the three victories to begin the year, head coach Adia Barnes is not as concerned with where the Wildcats are ranked as much as how they are playing in the early stages. So far she has not been thrilled with the early comeback victories because of how much she still wants to see her group improve.

"If we move up that will be great because we're leaving our legacy" Barnes said after Sunday's 78-77 win over USC. "But, it's doesn't mean anything. It just means that teams are going to bring more of their A game and be more excited to play against us, which means we're gonna play harder games. I told them we're gonna have a lot of close games, so when we work on special situations in practice and we work on those little things it's important to pay attention to detail because we need them in the games.

"That's why we have to be humble and not pay attention to the rankings and worry about ourselves. It's not that I'm negative when we win, but I'm constructive because we won today but we didn't win playing good basketball. ... We didn't win playing our best game, so for us it's not about winning. We want to have a championship mentality, we're trying to get better and take care of what we need to do. So, we're not satisfied right now and we have to work on specific glaring things."

The sixth-ranked Wildcats are set to host Arizona State this Thursday at McKale Center with tip off set for 4 p.m. MST.

WATCH: Head coach Adia Barnes discuss Sunday's win over USC

WATCH: UA players Aari McDonald and Lauren Ware recap the win over USC

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