Arizona is back in the Associated Press Top 25 poll's top 10 for the first time since 2018. The Wildcats (9-0) moved into the top 10 after sitting at No. 11 previously thanks to a convincing home win over Wyoming followed by an impressive road victory over Illinois Saturday in Champaign. UA was last ranked inside the top 10 nearly four years ago during the 2017-18 season when it reached as high as second in the polls.
Arizona was last rated inside the top 10 back on Jan. 29, 2018 when UA moved to No. 9 in the polls.
The Wildcats were picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the Pac-12 Conference this season, but a refreshed style of play under new head coach Tommy Lloyd has propelled the team forward to an unbeaten season so far.
The toughest stretch of the year is coming up for the Wildcats when they head on the road for four straight games at the end of the month beginning with a road matchup against current No. 18 Tennessee. Then UA will visit Los Angeles to play current No. 4 UCLA and current No. 10 USC.
That will be followed by a trip to Tempe to face Arizona State before finally returning home Jan. 13 to play Colorado. UA has home games against Northern Colorado (6-5) and California Baptist (8-2) this week to close out the home portion of its nonconference schedule.
Arizona's impressive 83-79 road win over Illinois on Saturday was highlighted as one of the biggest matchups of the weekend, and it did not fail to disappoint as the two teams went toe to toe throughout the day. UA had to work out of a 13-point deficit during one stretch after a 19-0 run by the Illini.
"To take some haymakers from them and hang in there in the first half, and I think we only ended up down four at half," Lloyd said of the battle in Champaign. "I just told our guys, 'We didn't play a good half of basketball.' We gotta give Illinois credit, but we hung in there. In the second half, we were kinda able to do just enough to come out on top."
That win came on the heels of a dominant victory over Wyoming, which had been undefeated heading into its game against the Wildcats. UA was able to take down the Cowboys, 94-65, sending another message about the type of team Lloyd has on his hands in his first season.
Arizona has become a consistent part of the AP Top 25 this season, but it has been quite some time since the Wildcats could say that. UA was not ranked at all last season and the same could be said for the 2018-19 campaign when the Wildcats were only able to receive votes in some polls throughout the season.
UA was a mainstay in the top 25 through the early portion of the 2019-20 season but topped out at No. 12 on the list in early December before finishing the season unranked.
Arizona's Wednesday matchup against Northern Colorado is set to begin at 7 p.m. MST at McKale Center.
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* Video courtesy of Arizona Athletics
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