The Arizona Wildcats defeated the Connecticut Huskies 71-67 in Storrs, Connecticut. UConn was without standout players Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed Jr., both out due to ankle injuries. The Wildcats were too physical, too strong on the boards and had the better guard play down the stretch.

Per Jeff Borzello, Arizona became just the third team in AP poll history to have multiple wins over top-three opponents in its first five games of the season. This is the first time a team has done that since 1989-90 when the Kansas Jayhawks did it. The Wildcats continue to build the nation’s best resumé with their physical brand of basketball.

A slight come-down for Arizona is incoming as they will face Denver and Norfolk State next.

Tommy Lloyd Sets The Tone

Head coach Tommy Lloyd is one of the winningest coaches within their first five seasons in D-I history. With his eighth win versus a top-five team, Lloyd now has the most wins over AP top-five teams of any coach in their first five career seasons. Lloyd seemingly made this season’s non-conference schedule as difficult as possible. Florida night one, UCLA night three and UConn in this most recent matchup, Arizona’s resumé as a result of Lloyd’s scheduling is undeniable early on.

Lloyd and his Wildcats were able to hang with it down the stretch in this game in a true road environment. Winning on the road is big in the non-conference and matters for seeding. This win could pay dividends for the Wildcats in the spring.

If Lloyd can manage to find success in the tournament, his resumé as a head coach is on pace to stand the test of time.

Jaden Bradley The Metronome

One of the nation’s most underrated talents is none other than Jaden Bradley. Bradley was the heart and soul of Arizona’s backcourt last season even with Caleb Love on the roster and this season with expanded responsibilities, Bradley has taken the ball and run with it. “The Metronome” poured in 21 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in this UConn matchup.

Bradley was left off of the majority of pre-season lists regarding the best players, best senior guards, best backcourt tandems and even best Big 12 guards. All of those prestigious lists and Bradley was nowhere to be seen.

They’re seeing Arizona’s leader now. Bradley has hit big buckets down the stretch in all three marquee wins so far this season. He leads the Wildcats in assists and steals. Bradley’s 15.8 points per game is good for second on Arizona’s roster behind future NBA lottery pick Koa Peat.

Senior guard play is huge come tournament time. Having a player like Bradley on the roster gives Arizona’s freshmen room to not only develop but produce without immense pressure on them. Bradley stays silent as everyone takes notice of his talents and hard work.

Arizona, The New Number One?!

The AP poll is loaded with elite teams at the top right now (Houston, Purdue, UConn, Duke, Alabama just to name a few) and Arizona has the best resumé of them all with a neutral site win over defending champions Florida, a semi-road win over UCLA in California and a true road win against UConn. No team in America possesses a resumé like the Wildcats right now.

Time will tell if Arizona can continue to build this snowball as it rolls through it’s brutal non-conference but for the moment, the Wildcats look like the country’s best basketball team in more ways than one.

Fans feel they should be number one come next week but Houston, Purdue and UConn are the three teams ahead of Arizona in the current poll. How do the Cats stack up?

Well, Arizona just defeated UConn in Gampel Pavilion, meaning that eliminates the Huskies from this conversation. Houston has wins over Lehigh, Towson, Oakland and Auburn. Purdue has wins over Evansville, Oakland, Alabama and Akron. While these resumés for mid-November are impressive, they do not equate or come close to equating Arizona’s current resumé.

Even if you take into account the fact that UConn was missing two prominent players when they played Arizona in Storrs, there is no team with as many relevant ranked wins away from home as the Wildcats.

Come next week, we should have a new number one ranked team in the AP poll.

Coming Back To Tucson

Arizona can breathe for a week or so as their next two games are a couple steps down in risk as they take on Denver and Norfolk State in the McKale Center on November 24th and 29th respectively.

Denver is currently 1-3 on the season and will face Colorado State before they play Arizona.

Norfolk State has dropped three straight games and sit at 2-3 in their non-conference. The Spartans will play three more games before taking on the Cats.

For more on what this win means to Arizona and for more coverage of Arizona athletics tune into the AZ Wildcats Podcast with Damon Fairall and Kevin Thomas.