Ninth-ranked Arizona has got a new attitude. The Wildcats are playing like they like to play, dominating their opponent.
Arizona holds no shame in defeating a team by 30 or more points. The Wildcats have won three in a row after having dropped two in a row mid-season.
In a three-game span, Arizona is averaging more than 98 points a game. The Wildcats have had a margin of victory of more than 27 points in the past three contests.
It’s a vicious offense with vicious speed that is tough for any opponent to defend.
“We are definitely one of the best teams in the country, but we have to play that way and show it,” freshman point guard Mustafa Shakur said after Arizona’s 109-75 victory over Oregon State on Thursday. “We need to rip a team apart from beginning to end.”
Arizona’s 109-point total was its highest output this season. The Wildcats have topped the 100-point total three times this season, not including exhibition games.
And the players are loving every minute of it.
Junior Salim Stoudamire is relishing it.
“Salim is in a positive mode,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. “You can just see it out there. He’s happy for the team playing well. His New Year’s resolution of being positive is important to him, and it’s really important to us.”
While Stoudamire sparks the offense, 6-foot-4 Hassan Adams has been enjoying his role on defense. Adams’ vertical leap has amazed many and it helped the sophomore to earn four second-half blocks against the Beavers.
“A block is way more fun than a dunk,” Adams said. “It’s defense. If you get a big block it rolls after that. A dunk is all love, but once you get the block, it’s all defense.”

Conference bottoms out
Rather than contest a spot for the lead in the Pacific-10 Conference against undefeated Stanford, four conference teams are competing for the worst conference record.
Oregon State, Arizona State, Washington and Washington State have all collided in the pit of the conference with a combined 8-20 record. The four schools are tied for seventh place with 2-5 records.
On the weekend, the Sun Devils took a split in losing to Oregon and defeating the Beavers. Oregon State lost two straight to the Arizona schools and Washington took a 13-point win over the Cougars.
It’s been a bumpy conference ride so far as five teams have sub-.500 conference records. USC is at 3-5 in conference play and sits at sixth place.
At the top of the conference, below 8-0 Stanford, UCLA and Arizona sit in a tie for second with 5-3 records while Oregon and Cal are tied for fourth, both at 4-3 in the
conference.

In her memory
The California’s men’s basketball team played in memory of a fallen women’s basketball player in Saturday night’s 76-62 victory against UCLA.
Cal women’s basketball player Alisa Lewis died Jan. 19 from bacterial meningitis, an infection of the covering of the brain and spinal cord.
The Golden Bears’ men’s team wore small black patches on the front of their uniforms that read “AL 31” in memory of Lewis, who wore No. 31 on the basketball court.

Player of the Week
California freshman Leon Powe has been named the Pacific-10 Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for January 19-25.
The forward from Oakland, Calif., averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds in a home sweep of USC and UCLA this weekend.
Against the Trojans, Powe scored 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting with eight rebounds. Powe turned 20 on Thursday, the day of the game.
Against the Bruins, he posted his league-leading eighth double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. He also added a pair of steals and an assist.
Powe is averaging 15.5 points per game and a league-best 9.7 rebounds per game. It is the 20th time in league history that a freshman has received the honor.