The UA men's basketball team (17-4, 7-2 Pacific 10 Conference) fell three spots in this week's Associated Press poll in a tie with Oklahoma for the No. 14 spot. Arizona's 70-63 loss at the hands of an unranked Washington State team caused the Wildcats' fall in the rankings.
Washington dropped as well after losing to 91-82 to the Wildcats Thursday, but still remain one spot ahead of the UA at No. 13. The Huskies and the Wildcats were No. 10 and No. 11, respectively, last week.
"We know now that we can lose to any team in the country on any given night if we don't come out focused," senior guard Salim Stoudamire said of Saturday's loss to the Cougars. "That was definitely a wake-up call."
Stoudamire, Frye lead players only meeting
It was that loss to Washington State - the team's first loss to the Cougars since 1986 - that brought about a players-only meeting last night in an effort to regroup before they face California (11-8, 4-5) Thursday and Stanford (12-7, 6-3) Saturday. Stanford is right behind Washington and Arizona in the conference standings.
"I think what needs to be said needs to be kept inside the locker room and needs to be confidential. Whatever is said stays inside the locker room," said UA senior center Channing Frye .
Rodgers back at practice after sitting vs. Cougars
Junior guard Chris Rodgers returned to practice this week after head coach Lute Olson didn't allow him to practice Friday before the WSU game and benched him for the entirety of the game against the Cougars. The benching was as a result of a disciplinary problem that occurred after the Washington game on Thursday. The coaches have yet to decide if he will play against Cal and Stanford this weekend.
Cats putting on clinic from charity stripe
Arizona's 38-of-40 clinic from the free-throw line against Washington set a new school record for free-throw percentage in a single game at 95 percent (minimum of 30 attempts).
The Wildcats lead the conference in free-throw percentage at 77.8 percent, a number that trails only Michigan State (79.7 percent) and Duquesne (78 percent) nationally. Stoudamire's 90.3 percent from the charity stripe is the best on the team and is No. 17 in the country.
Frye's 208 blocks 2nd all-time in Pac-10
With two blocks in the game against the Huskies, Frye moved into second place on the Pac-10 career blocked shot list with 208. Frye has a considerable workload ahead of him if he wants to get to the top of that list before his eligibility is up at the end of this season: the top shot-blocker all-time in the conference and for the school is former Wildcat Anthony Cook with 278 blocks. Cook played for the Wildcats from 1985 to 1989.
Brett Fera contributed to this report.