Dave Cooney invited me to be on Sunday’s 10 p.m. newscast to chat about Arizona Wildcats basketball … which was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

He used about 90 seconds of the interview for his sports segment, but we had taped for about six minutes earlier in the evening. Cooney has put that raw video in all its raw glory on the KOLD Channel 13 website. Good move. We certainly would hate for all of our wisdom to go to waste.

Here is a link to the video at kold.com. I’m the goofball on the left of the screen.

It’s never a bad idea to go with Derrick Williams as Arizona’s Pac-10 Player of the Week nominee, but school officials opted Sunday for sophomore point guard MoMo Jones.

Good idea.

Jones was chosen Monday as the winner of the Pac-10′s weekly honor after the Wildcats’ home sweep of UCLA and USC.

From the Pac-10 release:

ARIZONA’s Lamont Jones was named Pac-10 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 24-30, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today. The sophomore guard led the Wildcats to wins over UCLA and USC in Tucson.

The Harlem, N.Y., native opened the week by connecting on 6-of-11 field goals en route to 17 points in Arizona’s 85-74 win over the Bruins. Jones also recorded three assists and a career-high three steals. In the 82-73 victory over the Trojans, Jones knocked down all six attempts from the floor, including two from behind the arc, to finish with 17 points, three rebounds and two assists.

For the week, Jones averaged 17.0 points on 12-of-17 (.706) shooting from the field, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-10 (.700) from the free throw line, while averaging 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Jones has now scored in double figures in four-straight games, and has raised his scoring average to 8.7 points per game.

It is Jones’ first career Pac-10 Player of the Week honor and the 79th weekly recognition for Arizona all-time.

Dick Vitale liked Duke at No. 5 in this week's AP poll.
Photo by Andrew Synowiez-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona is 21st in today’s AP poll, the team’s first appearance in the media rankings since Dec. 31, 2007, although ESPN’s Dick Vitale was one of four voters to leave the Wildcats off the ballot.

In any case, it’s hard to believe it’s been more than three years since the Cats were ranked by the AP.

Arizona is 18-4 overall and is on a three-game winning streak against Washington State, UCLA and USC. The win at Washington State looks even better now that the Cougars knocked off visiting Washington on Sunday night.

Washington is No. 20 in the AP poll.

Arizona was listed on 61 of the 65 AP ballots. Vitale and author John Feinstein were among those not including the Cats.

On the flip side, Gary Laney of The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., seems to have gone overboard by ranking Arizona at No. 10. Arizona’s next-highest placing was at No. 15.

You can see where all the voters had the Wildcats at Pollspeak.com. (Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star put Arizona at No. 24.)

The Wildcats are 22nd in the coaches poll. Washington is 19th.

Before Saturday’s Arizona-USC game, I struck up a conversation in order to pick the brain of former Wildcat guard Matt Muehlebach, the radio analyst for 1290-AM.

I jokingly asked Muehlebach to tell me what was going to happen so I could start writing my story, and he replied that he suspected Derrick Williams was going to be somewhat limited because of an injury to his right pinky.

In terms of the story, he suggested getting started by leaving a blank space for a name followed by the words “stepped up with Derrick Williams limited …”

Muehlebach knew what he was talking about. What he said before the game works just fine for the analysis after Arizona’s 82-73 victory over USC at McKale Center.

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Kevin O'Neill went 1-1 against Arizona in his first season as USC's head coach.
Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Game over. Arizona beats USC 82-73. Derrick Williams finishes with 20 points. MoMo Jones has 17. Overall, it’s as fine a team effort as the Wildcats have had all season.

So, at the halfway point of the Pac-10 season, Arizona is 7-2 in the league and appears to be getting better. Not bad.

* * *

Derrick Williams back in. He makes another 3-pointer. He has his 20 points — 17 in the second half.

* * *

Two 3-pointers today by Jesse Perry. Yep, a whole bunch of players stepped up vs. USC.

* * *

USC has made only 3 of 15 3-pointers — 20 percent. Remarkably, that’s about average against Arizona. The Wildcats entered the game allowing eight Pac-10 teams to shoot 21.1 percent from behind the arc.

* * *

Derrick Williams leaves with 4:17 to go. That’s probably it for him after a 17-point performance. Arizona leads 74-55.

* * *

Derrick Williams hits another 3-pointer. He has 15 points, even with the bad hand and foul trouble. When he made the latest 3-pointer, USC coach Kevin O’Neill turned around with a look of “how do you defend that guy.” Or perhaps I was reading a little too much into that one look.

* * *

Arizona maintaining a reasonably comfortable advantage, leading 65-52 with 8:03 to go. The Wildcats already have surpassed what USC typically allows per game (62.4 points). And the Trojans have allowed teams to shoot just 40.3 percent this season; Arizona has made 24 of 40 shots — 60 percent.

This is what happens when all (or nearly all) of the team’s role players come to play.

* * *

Yes, Kevin O’Neill knows. When Alex Jacobson scores close to the basket, it’s time to call timeout. Arizona leads 61-44 with 11:13 to go.

* * *

Tweet from Arizona cornerback Robert Golden: I can only imagine what the fans be saying at the football games.. you gotta love em tho… lol

* * *

Derrick Williams four fouls with 12:44 to go. Other players have stepped up throughout the game and will have to continue to do so as Arizona protects its 56-41 lead.

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Arizona Wildcats sophomore forward Derrick Williams is having an All-American season, averaging 19.8 points and 7.9 rebounds, shooting 62.7 percent from the field, 67.7 percent from 3-point range and averaging a Dunk of the Year about every five games.

He has led Arizona to a 17-4 record and second place in the Pac-10 at 6-2.

Imagine if he had never gotten out of his letter-of-intent to USC.

Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com recounts Williams’ under-the-radar high school career at La Mirada (Calif.) High in a story for the website today.

Writes Goodman:

When USC assistant coach Bob Cantu caught his first glimpse of Derrick Williams, it was purely by accident.

He was there to watch Renardo Sidney.

Williams put up 42.

Cantu then went to scout talented forward Tyler Honeycutt against Williams’ La Mirada (CA) High team.

Williams put up 40.

Cantu concluded the trifecta by attending a playoff game in which Williams went for 29 in a half and finished with more than 40 against Jordan Hamilton.

“I know he wasn’t there to see me,” Williams laughs. “But it ended up working out for me.”

Read the rest of Goodman’s story at FoxSports.com

Brooks Reed excels moving forward to the quarterback; can he drop back, too?
Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Former Arizona Wildcats defensive end Brooks Reed earned good reviews at practice this week for Saturday’s Senior Bowl.

“I thought I knew him well, and I thought he performed about up to expectations,” Rob Rang, a senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com told me Thursday night.

“He was impressive as a pass rusher. He showed a variety of pass rush moves. He showed motor. He showed the ability to drop back against the pass. … I thought it was a strong week of practice.”

It’s the last thing Rang talked about — Reed’s ability to drop back against the pass — that will be critical to Reed’s draft status.

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The video pretty much speaks for itself. So enjoy.

(OK, one more thing … Williams wasn’t on the court late in Arizona’s victory Thursday night, and coach Sean Miller said Williams had injured his hand. The coach played it off as no big deal, but I guess we’ll see about that when Arizona plays USC at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.)

The Zona Zoo was in fine form, breaking out cutouts of Arizona players' faces, including Solomon Hill.
Photo by Monique Fimbres, 520-Sports.com

Arizona and UCLA have played some basketball classics. Thursday night’s game wasn’t one of them.

The teams combined for 36 turnovers, and the Bruins had trouble getting straight shooting from anyone other than sophomore forward Reeves Nelson.

Let’s face it, these days UCLA — which has more raw talent than Arizona if you went by all the recruiting rankings — is a rather small fish. This UCLA team, like last season’s UCLA team, does not play Ben Howland’s brand of defense.

Not that the Wildcats are throwing back an 85-74 victory at McKale Center.

A win over UCLA always feels good. The victory allowed Arizona to take over sole possession of second place in the Pac-10. Sean Miller’s Wildcats reached 17 victories — one more than last season — so that was something of a milestone.

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Arizona finishes off the victory, beating UCLA 85-74 to claim sole possession of second place in the Pac-10 behind 7-1 Washington. The Wildcats improve to 17-4 overall and 6-2 in the Pac-10.

Nice moment: The Zona Zoo serenades junior Kyle Fogg with “Happy Birthday” as he goes to the line with 46.2 seconds left.

Clearly, the Bruins aren’t the Bruins of a few years ago, but it’s still a nice victory and ESPN will love showing highlights of Derrick Williams’ first dunk … and his second dunk … and his third dunk … and his fourth dunk …

* * *

Inside the final media timeout. Arizona leads 78-63 with 3:58 left. The teams have combined for 32 turnovers — so, it hasn’t exactly been a clinic on ESPN2 — but the Wildcats have shot the ball well from distance. UCLA, meanwhile, is 2 of 14 from behind the arc.

* * *

Arizona in control at 69-56 with 7:59 left. The Ooh-Aah man makes his second appearance of the season.

* * *

Tweet from Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com: I never thought I would see a Ben Howland team play this soft on the defensive end. Arizona has 60 points with 14 minutes left.

* * *

Backup center Alex Jacobson in the game with 13:38 to play. He hasn’t seen game action since Dec. 5. On UA’s first possession with Jacobson, he hustles and leaps (as much as Tree leaps for anything), saving the ball to Kevin Parrom for two points.

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