Dusan Ristic takes a shot over USC's Bennie Boatwright on Jan. 9, 2016.
Going into the college basketball season, the primary road trips that were expected to push No. 14 Arizona to its limits were the non-conference neutral site games and the matchup in Eugene with reigning Pac-12 Conference champions, the Oregon Ducks.
Instead, with Pac-12 play just getting started and the conference shaping up to be an all-out slugfest between four teams in Arizona, No. 11 Oregon, No. 3 UCLA and USC, this weekend in Los Angeles is the most crucial for the Wildcats moving forward if they want to get leverage as top dog.