Arizona men’s basketball slips in Associated Press poll after home loss to Washington State

When it lost for the first time this season, in the Pac-12 opener at Utah, Arizona dropped six spots in the Associated Press poll.

The second time the Wildcats were defeated, this time at home against Washington State, the fall wasn’t quite as steep.

Arizona sits at No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25, down fiour places from where it had been the previous three polls.

The Wildcats are no longer the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the country. That distinction belongs to UCLA, which climbed from 10^th to 7th after beating USC at home last week for its 11^th straight victory. The Bruins (14-2, 5-0) come to McKale Center on Jan. 21.

Arizona is actually ranked behind a team it beat in Tennessee, which moved up to No. 5, while Xavier—coached by Sean Miller—is not far behind at No. 12.

Even with the loss, the UA is in the Top 25 for the 27^th consecutive poll, which is the ninth-longest streak in the country and fourth-best in school history. The program has four streaks of 80 or more straight rankings, with the best being 141 consecutive polls between 1988-95.

Arizona (14-2, 3-2 Pac-12) is on the road this week, visiting Oregon State (7-9, 1-4) on Thursday night and Oregon (9-7, 3-2) on Saturday.