A tight win over Washington State and a blowout over Washington helped power the Bruins to their highest ranking in months.
For the first time since before Thanksgiving, the Bruins are a top-10 team.
UCLA men’s basketball (13-2, 4-0 Pac-12) went from No. 11 up to No. 10 in the latest edition of the AP Poll on Monday. The Bruins earned 993 points – up from 906 points from a week ago – taking a step forward for the fifth week in a row.
The slight bump came following another perfect weekend for UCLA, even if one of their wins was a tight one. It started with a one-point win over Washington State in Pullman on Friday, and the Bruins closed out the Pac-12 road sweep with a 25-point victory at Washington on Sunday.
Following those two victories, UCLA is now riding a 10-game winning streak into the New Year.
UCLA currently ranks No. 6 in the NET Rankings, No. 4 in the KenPom and No. 2 in the BARTHAG.
There wasn’t a ton of movement towards the top of the poll, although UConn did drop from No. 2 to No. 4 after suffering its first loss of the season. That led to Houston and Kansas each climbing a spot higher into the top three, while Purdue was a near-unanimous pick at No. 1 with 60 of the 61 first-place votes.
New to the poll were Missouri, who debuted at No. 20 following wins over Illinois and Kentucky, and Charleston of the Colonial Athletic Association. Ohio State and Iowa State rounded out the top 25 at No. 24 and No. 25.
Arizona remained the top-ranked team in the Pac-12, staying put at No. 5. None of UCLA’s other conference foes made the top 25, nor did they finish in the receiving votes section.
After earning four points last week, USC once again fell off entirely following a 10-point road loss to Washington State. The Trojans are next up on the slate for the Bruins, with the two crosstown rivals set to face off at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday.
The next ranked team on the slate for UCLA is Arizona, with that contest scheduled to tip off in Tucson on Jan. 21.
The full AP Poll is listed below:
1. Purdue (13-0), 1524 points (60 first-place votes)
2. Houston (14-1), 1417
3. Kansas (12-1), 1351
4. UConn (14-1), 1342 (1)
5. Arizona (13-1), 1334
6. Texas (12-1), 1185
7. Alabama (11-2), 1132
8. Tennessee (11-2), 1114
9. Gonzaga (12-3), 1003
10. UCLA (13-2), 993
11. Virginia (10-2), 926
12. Miami (FL) (13-1), 814
13. Arkansas (11-2), 717
14. Wisconsin (10-1), 639
15. Indiana (10-3), 558
16. Duke (11-3), 554
17. TCU (12-1), 545
18. Xavier (12-3), 531
19. Baylor (10-3), 520
20. Missouri (12-1), 329
21. New Mexico (14-0), 290
22. Auburn (11-2), 287
23. Charleston (14-1), 116
24. Ohio State (10-3), 114
25. Iowa State (10-2), 94
Others Receiving Votes: LSU 83, San Diego State 72, Mississippi State 62, Kentucky 53, Kansas State 41, Illinois 21, Marquette 20, Providence 14, Virginia Tech 7, Memphis 6, West Virginia 5, Michigan State 5, Florida Atlantic 3, Creighton 1
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