After a four-week hiatus, Arizona returned to the top of the charts Monday. But don’t expect a wild party this week in Tucson — the Wildcats are hoping that will happen in late March.
“Frankly, we’re not even close to No. 1 yet in terms of how we’re playing,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson told the Daily Wildcat.
The top-ranked Wildcats (13-1 overall, 6-0 Pacific-10 Conference) received all but five first-place votes in the Associated Press poll this week, and all but one first-place vote in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll. Duke, previously ranked No. 1, lost its first game last week, giving way to Arizona.
Pittsburgh is No. 2, followed by Duke, Texas and Florida in the
top five.
Arizona was ranked No. 1 in the preseason, but fell to LSU, 66-65, on Dec. 21 and dropped from the top spot. With a healthy Luke Walton
in the lineup, though, the Wildcats are rolling.
After an 81-72 win at USC on Thursday, Arizona demolished UCLA, 87-52, on national television Saturday.
But the Wildcats are still
not content.
“We still have a lot of areas where we need to improve,” senior guard Jason Gardner said. “The guys know we could improve on the defensive end, and on the offensive end we could cut down on the turnovers and take better shots.”
Arizona could easily fall from the top spot after this week. The Wildcats host Arizona State (12-5, 4-2) Wednesday before traveling to No. 6 Kansas on Saturday (noon, CBS).

UCLA searching

for answers
It’s never been this bad at UCLA.
Engrossed in rumors about the possible firing or resignation of head coach Steve Lavin, the Bruins (4-9, 2-3) have the worst record in the Pac-10.
UCLA was swept by the Arizona schools last weekend, including a 35-point loss to the Wildcats, the Bruins’ worst-ever loss at Pauley Pavilion.
With six home games remaining, UCLA has already lost a school-record seven home games.
“I don’t know how to respond,” UCLA’s Jon Crispin told The Daily Bruin. “After you lose this many, it’s like, ‘What the heck.’”
Despite leading the Bruins to five Sweet 16 appearances in six years, Lavin is likely on his way out, though he has said he will not resign
“I blame the players,” Arizona freshman Hassan Adams said. “You could tell they didn’t want it. They have a talented team, and they need to want it.”
Against Arizona, Lavin tried to spark the Bruins by substituting his starters for four bench-warmers with 13 minutes left in the
second half.
“At first I was kind of shocked about going in,” said Janou Rubin, a walk-on. “He’s trying to find somebody to spark this team. That’s the biggest thing missing.”

Shipp’s sailing for Cal
California (12-2 overall) is 5-0 in conference play for the first time since 1957, thanks in large part to senior forward Joe Shipp.
In his last four games, Shipp, the Pac-10 Player of the Week, is averaging 27.3 points on 39-of-61 (.639) shooting. Shipp leads the league in scoring at 21.4 points per game and average minutes played at 35.4 per game.