No. 4 Arizona, riding a seven-game winning streak that has coincided with a lineup change, will try to keep the momentum going when the Wildcats visit Stanford in Pac-12 play on Saturday.

It will be the only meeting of the season between Arizona (22-3, 11-3 Pac-12) and the Cardinal (10-14, 4-9).

While the Wildcats continue to surge, Stanford will be trying to pick itself up after Thursday night’s tough home loss to Arizona State. The Sun Devils finished on a 14-2 run and held the Cardinal scoreless in the final 4:05 as they prevailed 69-65. Stanford has lost two consecutive games after winning five in a row.

Arizona is coming off an 85-62 victory at California on Thursday in which Azuolas Tubelis resumed his All-America pace with 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Pelle Larsson continued to shine off the bench. He scored 16 points, including a 3-of-3 shooting effort from 3-point range.

Larsson started the first 18 games of the season at the wing, but Lloyd switched things up after a loss at Oregon on Jan. 14. Larsson is averaging 10.3 points and shooting 52.3 percent (23 of 44) in the past seven games, reprising his high-energy role from last season, when he earned Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year honors.

“Pelle is a good basketball player,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after the Cal game. “I was telling everybody maybe he is one of these slow starters and strong finishers, and the way he’s starting to shoot the ball now and get to the basket. He’s a really good player.”

Larsson’s long-range shooting has been a missing piece to his arsenal since he hit 46.3 percent of his 3-point attempts at Utah as a freshman. He dropped to 36.3 percent last season at Arizona and is only at 31 percent (22 of 71) this season.

Stanford’s loss to Arizona State was especially a bitter pill, not only because embattled coach Jerod Haase could use all the victories he can get, but because the Cardinal now begins a brutal three-game stretch – Arizona, followed by a road trip to UCLA and Southern California.

“Our team has been phenomenal this year in terms of being steady, coming to practice prepared,” Haase said. “We’ve had very few highs and lows in terms of not being mentally locked in. Certainly, I think they will be excited for Arizona to come in. If history tells me anything, our guys will be ready to battle.”

Stanford is led in scoring by Spencer Jones (13.5 points per game). Michael Jones and Harrison Ingram are each at 9.6.

Arizona’s inside combination of Tubelis (20.9 points, 9.7 rebounds per game) and Oumar Ballo (15.0, 9.0) have been difficult for most opponents to handle. Point guard Kerr Kriisa, who is third in scoring at 10.6 points per game, went scoreless against Cal, missing seven shots but dishing eight assists.

Lloyd said Kriisa had been “pretty sick” for three or four days before the game. “For him to come out and give us the minutes he did was awesome,” Lloyd said.

Arizona ripped off a 19-game winning streak against Stanford from March 2009 to February 2020. Stanford then won two in a row, although the Wildcats have won the past three meetings – all last season, including in the Pac-12 tournament, in Lloyd’s first year.

–Field Level Media

No. 19 Miami will be going for a 14th consecutive victory at home and stay in the hunt for the program’s second Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title when it hosts struggling Louisville Saturday night in Coral Gables, Fla.

The Hurricanes (19-5, 10-4 ACC) have never finished a season with a spotless home record since the program was revived in the 1985-86 season. They came close in 2015-16 with a 15-1 mark at the Watsco Center (then called BankUnited Center) but a loss to Northeastern in November marred the 16-game card.

Miami was 10-5 at home last year and lost their home finale to Virginia Tech.

Their 13th consecutive home win was a monstrous 81-59 rout of Duke Monday night before a capacity crowd of over 7,000 that impressed Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga.

“Everybody that came to tonight’s game is invited back,” Larranaga said. “That’s the kind of environment we’d love to have every night. The white-out, noise in the arena before the game even began, the students were packed back in the end zone, really that’s what ACC basketball has always been about — tremendous fan support.”

Another sellout is a possibility, of course, but expecting the Hurricanes to duplicate their performance against the Blue Devils may be a bit much. They shot only 47.8 percent from the field, forced the Blue Devils into 21 turnovers and won the rebounding by a 38-31 margin in leading wire-to-wire and by double digits over the last 27-plus minutes.

“Can we play like that again?” Larranaga said. “Well, yeah, we can, but the likelihood that you’re going to play at that level every single game is not realistic.”

Norchad Omier led the way with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 46th career double-double. It was the fifth double-double for the third-year sophomore transfer from Arkansas State in the last nine games.

“The elevation of his game, the advancement of his game offensively and defensively, is tremendous.” Larranaga said. “And he’s just scratching the surface. He has such a high ceiling because when you have his kind of athletic ability the sky’s the limit.”

Louisville, meanwhile, was at the other end of the spectrum the next night in a 91-57 blowout loss at Pitt. The Cardinals (3-21, 1-12) already have hit a program high in losses with seven games remaining in the regular season and are winless (0-7) on the road.

Leading scorer El Ellis (16.8 average) scored only seven points in the loss at Pitt, which is the same total he managed in an 80-53 loss to Miami in December in the two teams’ first meeting. He also had six turnovers in the loss to the Hurricanes.

First-year Cardinals coach Kenny Payne maintains confidence in the 6-foot-3 senior.

“I’m not worried about El bouncing back,” Payne said. “He will bounce back. He’s a competitor, He wants to be well, he wants to play well, he wants to do the right things. He’s a competitor. Probably right now like me he’s embarrassed.”

–Field Level Media

UT Arlington relieved men’s basketball coach Greg Young of his duties on Friday.

Assistant Royce “Snoop” Johnson was named the interim coach.

The Mavericks are 9-16 with a 4-8 league record in their first season in the new-look WAC. They had a six-game losing streak earlier in the season and have lost three of their last five.

Young took over the program ahead of the 2021-22 season. They were 11-18 (7-10 Sun Belt) last season.

Young rose the ranks from assistant to associate to head coach at UTA over 14 years.

“Following a holistic evaluation of our program, the determination was made that now is the most advantageous time for us to make this move,” athletic director Jon Fagg said in a statement. “Change is rarely easy, and this decision was no different, but we need to inject a new, impactful, results-driven energy into the program.

“We are thankful for the many student-athletes (Young) has mentored, and on behalf of the entire department I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

–Field Level Media

Southern California seeks to avoid its first Pacific-12 road sweep of the season when it tackles Oregon State on Saturday afternoon in Corvallis, Ore.

The Trojans (17-7, 9-4 Pac-12) saw a four-game winning streak come to an end when they fell 78-60 at Oregon on Thursday night, a game in which USC didn’t play up to its standards at either end of the floor.

The visitors watched as Oregon piled up 42 first-half points en route to a 15-point lead, then could do no better than finish with 60 in the game, just two higher than their season-low.

USC’s Boogie Ellis had 19 points in the loss. But as far as teammate Kobe Johnson is concerned, getting at least four assists for the fifth consecutive game was more important to the long-term health of the team.

“He’s being a point guard,” Johnson said of Ellis, who has totaled just seven turnovers in the past five games. “Last year, not to cut on him, but he wasn’t as good of a passer as he is now. He’s definitely advanced his game in that aspect and he took that personal. He’s learning to get everybody involved and he’s learning to be a true point guard.”

Johnson was the big scorer with 17 points when USC barely got by Oregon State 63-62 at Los Angeles in December. Dexter Akanno matched that total for the Beavers.

Oregon State (9-16, 3-11) has rarely been that close in 12 games since then, defeating Cal and Colorado, while losing the other 10 by a total of 163 points.

The Beavers are coming off a 62-47 home loss to UCLA on Thursday, one game after getting drubbed 84-52 by another top-10 team, Arizona.

Jordan Pope continued an impressive freshman season with 17 of Oregon State’s 47 points in the UCLA defeat. The Beavers started three freshmen and a sophomore as they point toward a rosier future.

“I believe in the team,” Pope said. “We’ve got the players, the coaching staff. I believe we can do something really great here. Whether that’s this year or the years coming, we have something special, and I want to be a part of it.”

The Beavers had just four assists against UCLA, two coming in the final two minutes.

–Field Level Media

Arkansas has righted the direction of its season and looks for a sixth win in seven games against visiting Mississippi State in Southeastern Conference play at Fayetteville, Ark.

The Razorbacks (17-7, 6-5 SEC) have won three straight games and seemingly wiped away the memories of going 4-5 in a January, including a four-game losing streak.

The Razorbacks’ defense – particularly that of guards Anthony Black and Davonte Davis – has paved the way for success, which was evident in Tuesday’s 88-73 victory at Kentucky.

The 6-foot-7 Black was all over the stat sheet, posting 19 points, five steals, five assists and four rebounds. Davis added 15 points, seven assists and two steals.

Just over a minute into the second half, Black, a freshman, managed a pair of steals and breakaway dunks that turned a one-point lead into a quick five-point advantage.

With Arkansas up by 16 points with four minutes left, some Kentucky fans started filing toward the exits.

“Defensively, we got much better in the second half,” said Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman, who recorded his 200th collegiate win. “Our guard play to start the second half, with Anthony Black’s steals, (was) extremely important. We’ve not been turning people over as much as we would like, but tonight that changed.”

Winners of four straight contests, Mississippi State (16-8, 4-7) has recently recorded double-digit victories over South Carolina, Missouri and LSU.

With an offensively challenged group at times, coach Chris Jans turned to his bench and found instant offense from guard Shakeel Moore.

A left-handed sharpshooter who started at North Carolina State, Moore has provided a spark since Jans made him a starter on Jan. 25 at then-No. 2 Alabama. He has averaged 13.5 points in the four wins.

“I’ve been telling him to shoot more,” Jans said. “He’s turned down too many shots. He’s a guard, and he’s a scorer. He’s got to have that confidence internally. He’s got a wonderful shot fake. It’s a heck of a weapon.

“But it’s almost been to the point where he relies on it too much and he turns shots down we think he should take. And I hear his teammates tell him the same thing.”

–Field Level Media

Wake Forest appears to have built some momentum following a long losing streak, and Georgia Tech hopes to do the same Saturday when the Atlantic Coast Conference foes meet in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Demon Deacons (16-9, 8-6 ACC) ended January with a four-game slide that included two-point defeats to Pitt, NC State and Duke. They bounced back with a 17-point triumph over Notre Dame last weekend and followed it up Tuesday with a solid 92-85 home win over North Carolina.

Tyree Appleby led the way against the Tar Heels with a season-high 35 points, including an ACC-record 23 points at the free-throw line on 28 attempts. He also scored his 2,000th career point.

“Obviously, Ty Appleby had an incredible night,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “He’s an incredible competitor. The one time I took him out, they went on a 6-0 run and I had to call timeout just to get him back in.”

Damari Monsanto chipped in 16 points for the Demon Deacons, who had only five turnovers, with no more than one from any individual player.

“Tonight we had five turnovers and they only got four points off turnovers,” Forbes said. “I would say that was a big reason why we won.”

The Yellow Jackets (9-15, 2-12) also enter on a high note after snapping a nine-game losing streak in dramatic fashion. Lance Terry put back an offensive rebound at the buzzer for a 70-68 win over Notre Dame.

“I’m really proud of our young men. The guys left it all on the floor,” Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said. “We’ve continued to fight and scrap and obviously things haven’t always gone our way, but it’s been good to break through the barrier and get this win.”

Terry led the team with 19 points, while Ja’von Franklin pitched in with 16 points and nine rebounds. Miles Kelly, who averages a team-high 12.9 points on the season, was held to four in 21 quiet minutes.

Wake Forest won last season’s meeting 80-64 after losing the previous five matchups in the series.

–Field Level Media

Florida will attempt to break a two-game losing streak and keep its fading NCAA Tournament hopes alive when it hosts Vanderbilt on Saturday in Southeastern Conference play in Gainesville, Fla.

The Gators (13-11, 6-5 SEC) have seen their stout defense slip during the two-game skid. Florida allowed a season-high 97 points and 15 3-pointers in a 97-69 loss at No. 3 Alabama on Wednesday. In the back-to-back losses to Kentucky and the Crimson Tide, both on the road, Florida allowed an average of 84.5 points and 44.4 percent shooting (20 of 45) from 3-point range.

“Don’t anticipate it being a trend,” Gators coach Todd Golden said of the defensive slippage. “We’ll get back to being ourselves that way. Hopefully being on our home floor we will be a little more comfortable in that regard. I wouldn’t say I’m worried about it but we’re definitely focusing on it moving forward.”

Vanderbilt (12-12, 5-6) has won two straight and is coming off a 66-65 upset of No. 6 Tennessee at home on Wednesday, decided by a corner 3-pointer from guard Tyrin Lawrence at the buzzer.

“A win like this could spur us on,” Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse said. “Now we got to validate it. We got to go on the road into a hostile environment and try to bring this same type of energy.”

The game will pit two of the top shot-blockers in the SEC in Florida center Colin Castleton and Vanderbilt center Liam Robbins, with both averaging 3.0 rejections per game.

Castleton is averaging 24.7 points and 9.0 rebounds over his last three games and is one block away from passing Al Horford (189 career blocks) for third on Florida’s all-time leaderboard.

Castleton’s 73 blocks on the season are 23 shy of the Gators’ single-season record set by Dwayne Schintzius (96) in 1986-87.

“Hopefully we can make a run in the postseason because that will help it a lot, obviously,” Castleton said. “If we can win games, that will figure itself out. But I’m not too focused on it. I just want to win.”

Florida has won nine straight against Vanderbilt in the series. The Commodores last beat the Gators on Feb. 17, 2018, winning 71-68 at home.

–Field Level Media

After Clemson lost a pair of games last week, it’s had a full seven days to assess the situation, although compared to North Carolina, the Tigers remain in good shape.

The teams meet Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C., each trying to get on track with less than a month to play in the regular season.

North Carolina (15-9, 7-6 ACC) will try to avoid its second four-game losing streak of the season.

“We’re better than this,” Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said. “What I want is for every kid on this team and for this team to reach its full potential. That’s what I want. And that’s the only thing that I want. And at the end of the day, wherever that lies, we can check the box of us reaching our full potential.”

North Carolina has absorbed a home loss to Pitt and road defeats to Duke and Wake Forest in the losing run, with the Wake Forest loss coming after a miserable opening 30 minutes when they trailed by as many as 26 points.

“We have to find a way to fix, to get better, to regroup, to get stronger, to continue for the rest of the season,” Davis said.

Clemson (18-6, 10-3) enters the weekend in a first-place tie atop the ACC standings with Virginia and Pitt.

Losses to Boston College and Miami stalled what had been an impressive opening to ACC play.

“Never a feeling you want to have,” Clemson forward Hunter Tyson said. “We’ve got to get back to work. We’ve got to be better defensively.”

Clemson coach Brad Brownell said the layoff over the past week should benefit his team in terms of healing ailments and extra practice time.

“The only thing I’m disappointed in my team about a little bit this year is our guys are not aggressive enough offensive rebounding,” Brownell said. “We need a little bit more toughness sometimes.”

The Tigers have been a surprise team atop the ACC standings. As the country’s preseason No. 1, North Carolina was expected to be there as well.

“We’ve got that talent to do it,” Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot said, pointing out that he along with Caleb Love, RJ Davis and Leaky Black need to be the catalysts for a turnaround.

This will be Clemson’s first visit to Chapel Hill since its only road victory in the series. The Tigers ended an 0-59 all-time string on UNC’s home floor by claiming a 79-76 overtime triumph Jan. 11, 2020.

The ACC’s top two players in double-doubles will be in action. Bacot has 15 this season and 64 for his career, while Tyson has 12 this season. Tyson is one point away from reaching 1,000 career points.

–Field Level Media

No. 12 Kansas State has hit some bumpy terrain of late and now enters a location where victories are hard to come by.

The Wildcats look to end a string of eight consecutive losses in Lubbock, Texas, when they visit Texas Tech in Big 12 play on Saturday night.

Kansas State (19-5, 7-4 Big 12) hasn’t prevailed in West Texas since posting a 60-56 win over the Red Raiders on Feb. 25, 2014.

The Wildcats, who have split their past eight games after a 15-1 start, are coming off a stellar 82-61 home win over No. 17 TCU on Tuesday.

In addition to the comfortable winning margin, Kansas State saw point guard Markquis Nowell record his 187th assist to break the single-season mark held by school legend Steve Henson (186 in 1987-88).

“It’s a blessing to be mentioned with those guys and passing him, Steve Henson, is a blessing,” Nowell said after having 18 points and seven assists against TCU. “It just shows how unselfish I am, and he was, at K-State.

“When you have a group of guys like we have here it’s easy to get assists and it’s easy to make plays for others. I give credit to my teammates for finishing … and helping me break that record. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Nowell is second on the Wildcats in scoring at 16.9 points per game and leads the squad in assists (7.8 average), three-point baskets (55) and steals (54).

First-year Kansas State coach Jerome Tang is impressed with Nowell’s performance.

“Anytime you (set) an all-time record, like the most in the history, that’s a really big deal,” Tang said. “And Steve Henson is a really big deal around here and the guys that Steve Henson played with were really good players, right?

“And so, it says two things. First of all, ‘Quis was blessed with vision, and he has a willingness to pass the ball. And secondly, he has some really good players around him too, because they’re putting it in the hole. So, it says a lot about him and a lot about our team.”

Nowell recorded 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists when Kansas State produced a 68-58 home win over Texas Tech on Jan. 21.

De’Vion Harmon and Pop Isaacs each scored 13 points for the Red Raiders (12-12, 1-10). Isaacs (ankle) isn’t expected to be available for the rematch. He has missed the past four games.

Big man Fardaws Aimaq (foot) will miss his sixth straight game. The former Utah Valley star has been limited to three games this season due to foot issues.

Texas Tech has lost two consecutive contests and 10 of its past 12 after falling 71-68 at Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

The Red Raiders rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to knot the score at 68 before the Cowboys won on a three-point play off a putback by John-Michael Wright with 0.8 seconds to go.

“I was proud of the way our guys played,” Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. “The last shot is usually not the one that is going to beat you. It’s the rebound. That was our message the entire game. They are a very good rebounding team, especially on the offensive boards. When they get those, they put them back. We have to get better at blocking out and not turning the ball over.”

Kevin Obanor (15.3) leads the Red Raiders in scoring.

Keyontae Johnson leads the Wildcats with averages of 18.0 points and 7.6 rebounds.

–Field Level Media

Notre Dame and visiting Virginia Tech are both looking to gain momentum for the home stretch when they meet in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

Notre Dame (10-14, 2-11 ACC) has dropped six of its past seven games, including a 70-68 setback at Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

Virginia Tech (14-10, 4-9) is coming off an 82-76 loss to visiting Boston College on Wednesday, the Hokies’ second loss in their past three games.

The Fighting Irish absorbed a heartbreaking loss against the Yellow Jackets, as Lance Terry’s tip-in as time expired lifted Georgia Tech to the win.

Notre Dame had overcome a four-point deficit in the final 2:58 to tie the game at 68-68 on Cormac Ryan’s two free throws with 1:55 left.

However, the Fighting Irish missed their next three shots, including two contested layups, before Terry tipped in Kyle Sturdivant’s missed baseline jumper.

“I thought we had some pretty good looks,” Notre Dame assistant coach Hamlet Tibbs said. “(Cormac) had a nice drive to the rim there … the next possession Nate (Laszewski) kind of bore his way into the paint. I thought he had a pretty good look over a smaller defender and it just didn’t drop.”

Notre Dame was led by Laszewski, who had 16 points, while Dane Goodwin added 14 points and seven rebounds. Ven-Allen Lubin chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds and Ryan had 13 points.

Meantime, Virginia Tech’s loss to Boston College wasn’t nearly as close.

The Eagles ended the first half on a 22-7 run to take a 39-27 advantage at halftime before leading by 15 with 6:34 left in the game.

“We’re 25 games into this thing now and we are not reinventing the wheel,” Virginia Tech Mike Young said. “We got good players and guys that can really shoot the basketball. Just have to do it better moving forward.”

Grant Basile scored a career-high 33 points and Justyn Mutts added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists against the Eagles.

Virginia Tech has lost all seven true road games so far this season but is 3-0 in neutral-court games.

–Field Level Media