CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman Andre Igudoala and No. 2 Arizona could jump back up top with a sweep in Washington this week since No. 7 Kentucky beat top-ranked Florida 70-55 last night.

The Pacific 10 Conference is two years removed from having three teams ÷ Arizona, USC, and UCLA ÷ in the Elite Eight.

Year in and year out, the Pac-10 is among the nation's top men's basketball conferences, but this year, its reputation has diminished in the eyes of many, due to an average season by the Trojans and the demise of the once-powerful Bruins.

UCLA (4-13 overall, 2-7 Pac10) is in the midst of its worse season in school history, but UA head coach Lute Olson said the troubles that the Bruins have had should not deter everyone from the talent that is in the Pac-10.

"UCLA has not been the top dog in our conference for a few years now," Olson said. "We aren't having a down year. Cal has been good all year, and Stanford shocked a lot of people early in the year when they beat a few high ranked teams. Three teams from our conference played Kansas, and we are 2-1. That is impressive."

With the second half of the Pac-10 season set to begin this week, Arizona (16-2, 8-1 Pac-10) holds the top spot, one game ahead of California and No. 25 Stanford.

Arizona State and Oregon round out the top five, three games behind the Wildcats.

"I am proud that we are No. 2 in the country and first in the Pac-10," said Arizona senior point guard Jason Gardner. "It is a race in the Pac-10, and we want to distance ourselves from everyone else. At the end of the year, we don't want the conference to come down to the wire."

With only nine games remaining until the postseason, Olson said the Wildcats have three main areas in which they have to improve.

The first area that Olson has stressed to UA is its effort on the boards. The Wildcats have only been out-rebounded by three opponents this season, but Olson said freshmen Hassan Adams and Andre Iguodala have to improve on the offensive glass.

"We still need Andre and Hassan to be more active on the offensive boards," Olson said. "It makes a big difference if we can get rebounds from the wings."

Another area of focus is UA's inconsistencies at the free-throw line.

The Wildcats were 22-26 from the line at Kansas, but they shot 14-26 against Stanford, which led to their first home loss of the season.

Besides being out-rebounded against the Cardinal and shooting horribly from the line, Arizona also committed 19 turnovers.

Olson's last area of concern centers with the amount of turnovers that UA commits, but Olson said that they improved in all three areas against California.

The Wildcats out-rebounded the Golden Bears by eight and only committed eight turnovers.

Gardner played a game-high 36 minutes while not turning the ball over once.

Arizona also bounced back from the line as they shot 74.3 percent for the game.

Olson has continued to give sophomore guard Salim Stoudamire a chance to play point guard behind Gardner. Olson said that Stoudamire has played very well when given a chance to play the point.

"Salim likes playing the point," Olson said. "He has done a great job. He actually does the best job of getting the ball up the court and setting up the offense."

Gardner said that Stoudamire has flourished at the point and that the added rest will improve his game as well.

"Salim practices hard at the point," Gardner said. "He is getting better each week. When he is in there, it gives me a chance to rest so I can have my legs at the end of the game and finish strong."