No. 2 Arizona polishes resume with blowout win over No. 6 Iowa State

The Arizona Wildcats polished their resume on Monday. Following a resounding win over the Associated Press No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones, they're rivals to anyone else's in the country.

No. 2 Arizona (28-2, 15-2 in Big 12) notched its NCAA-leading 14th Quad 1 win of the season with the 73-57 victory over Iowa State (24-6,11-6 in Big 12), securing an outright Big 12 regular-season conference title in the process.

Senior guard Jaden Bradley led the team with 17 points while adding four rebounds, three steals and two assists, while talented freshman Koa Peat and Brayden Burries had quiet games, combining for 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting.

Arizona has resume that measures up to all others

While the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils (28-2, 16-1 in ACC) have positioned themselves well to earn the first overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Arizona showed it's deserving of consideration with the double-digit win over Iowa State, which was named the fourth 1-seed in the selection committee's February bracket preview.

This season, the Wildcats also have wins over the No. 5 Florida Gators (23-6. 14-2 in SEC), No. 4 Connecticut Huskies (27-3, 17-2 in Big East) and No. 16 Alabama Crimson Tide (22-7, 12-4 in SEC), as well as the UCLA Bruins (19-10, 11-7 in Big Ten) and San Diego State Aztecs (19-9, 13-5 in Mountain West) in non-conference play. In conference, they've also defeated the BYU Cougars (20-9, 8-8 in Big 12) twice, along with the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks (21-8, 11-5 in Big 12) and No. 7 Houston Cougars (24-5, 12-4 in Big 12).

Duke, which also has victories over Florida and Kansas, plus the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines (27-2, 17-1 in Big Ten and the No. 8 Michigan State Spartans (24-5, 14-4 in Big Ten), is the only team in Division I with as impressive a collection of wins as Arizona. 

As hot as the Blue Devils have been, they'll be hard to catch for the No. 1 overall seed. But if we're lucky, the two programs are headed for a collision course in the NCAA Tournament.

Both are among the country's top defensive teams. On Monday, Arizona held Iowa State to its second-lowest point total of the season. The Cyclones shot 29.2 percent, including 23.3 percent from the three-point line. They entered making 39 percent of their long-range attempts, the eighth-highest rate in the country. The Wildcats, meanwhile, have the top-ranked defense from beyond the arc in the Big 12, holding conference opponents to 30.3 percent shooting on threes.

Arizona has established itself as one of the country's best teams as the regular-season winds down, checking every box in vanquishing one of the country's most daunting schedules. By the time the NCAA Tournament begins, few teams in Division I will be as battle-tested.