TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Wildcats are poised to become the top-ranked basketball team in the nation, and they can thank T.J. McConnell for the opportunity. The transfer point guard from Duquesne had 13 points, six assists and seven rebounds, making critical plays down the stretch, and No. 2 Arizona escaped with a 63-58 victory over UNLV on Saturday. Brandon Ashley also had 13 points, and Nick Johnson and Kaleb Tarczewski added 12 apiece for the Wildcats. However, Johnson shot just 4 for 15. With No. 1 ranked Michigan State falling to North Carolina, Arizona (9-0) seems a safe bet to move to No 1. "I think its something we feel like weve earned," Wildcats coach Sean Miller said. "We know that being ranked No. 1 doesnt mean that we won the championship or the seasons now over, but Im not going to play the negative card at all. ... To be ranked No. 1 is maybe the greatest compliment you can have." Bryce DeJean-Jones scored 16 points, Khem Birch had 12 and Roscoe Smith 10 for the Rebels (3-4) in their first road game of the season. Smith entered the game as the top rebounder in the country at 16 per game. He finished this one with six rebounds, just one on offence as Arizona outrebounded UNLV 41-29, 18-5 on the offensive boards. "There were times I felt that I was boxing out three guys," Smith said. "Arizona is ranked No. 2 and now will be No. 1, so they didnt just get there with no one." There were 18 lead changes and neither team led by more than six points. McConnell sank a 15-footer with 3:10 to play to put Arizona up for good, 58-57. After Dejean-Jones missed a 3-pointer, McConnells pretty bounce pass to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for a dunk made it 60-57 with 2:20 to play. UNLV managed one field goal in the final six minutes, Birchs rebound basket that gave the Rebels their last lead at 57-56 with 3:30 to play. Birch made one of two free throws with 1:52 to go to cut Arizonas lead to 60-58, but McConnell found Ashley for a basket with 27 seconds to go to make it 62-58. McConnell made one of two free throws with 15.3 seconds to go to wrap up the scoring. "Hes in many ways the heart and soul of what we do," Miller said, "and I think you saw that in many ways in the second half." McConnell said he "just tried to slow the game down, let it come to me." "I kind of live for those moments," he said, "and I know we all do." There were 30 turnovers in the game, 16 by UNLV and 14 by Arizona. The Rebels shot 64 per cent in the first half (16 for 25) to Arizonas 52 per cent (17 of 33) and led 42-39 at the break. The scoring dropped drastically in the second half, with Arizona outscoring UNLV 24-16. The Rebels shot 28 per cent (7 for 25) in the second half while Arizona was at 32 per cent (11 of 34). Miller said that was the emphasis at halftime, to get back to his teams identity -- defence and rebounding. He praised the UNLV effort, saying he saw a bunch of talented players playing together as a team. Thats the way Rebels coach Dave Rice saw it, too. "We were a confident group coming in here and we felt we had a great week of practice," Rice said. "We spent most of this season getting to know one another and we have made major strides." There were 19 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, 10 by UNLV and nine by the Wildcats. Every one of the seven Arizona players who played in the first half had at least one turnover. The Wildcats led 37-31 on McConnells reverse layup on a pass from Hollis-Jefferson with 3:35 to play. Arizona was up 39-35 on Hollis-Jeffersons spin move inside with just under two minutes to go, but Roscoe Smith sank a 17-footer, Kevin Olekaibe hit a 3 and Kendall Smith scored on a reverse layup to give UNLV its three-point halftime cushion. Arizona scored the first six points of the second half to go up 45-42, but the Rebels scored the next six to lead 48-45 on Dejean-Jones 16-footer with 15:36 to play. A 5-0 spurt regained the lead for Arizona, Aaron Gordons emphatic dunk on a pass from Ashley made it 52-49 with 12:05 to go. Again, the Rebels responded, scoring the next six and the back-and-forth battle persisted. The capacity crowd at McKale Center was decked out in white for the teams annual "white out" promotion. Arizona had lost its previous two white outs, and this one was shaky. Nike Air Vapormax Navy+Multi-Color . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. Cheap Vapormax Flyknit . - Aroldis Chapman, with two black eyes, has returned to the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse four days after being hit in the face by a line drive. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/. Beckham says "nothing has been confirmed yet, but its something I am very excited about." He adds that "Miami is something that really excites me because there is a great energy down there. Nike Air VaporMax Flyknit Black Anthracite . Judging by his performance Saturday night, Cotto has plenty left in the tank. Cotto became the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world championships in four weight divisions, stopping Sergio Martinez in their WBC world middleweight title fight Saturday night. Cheap Vapormax 97 . -- The Minnesota Vikings released reserve cornerback A.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Capitals hope to bounce back from consecutive losses when they visit the rival Carolina Hurricanes for Thursdays Metropolitan Division battle at PNC Arena. The Capitals have lost their last two tests and surrendered a total of 10 goals in the process. Washington was dealt a 6-2 rout Saturday in Toronto before dropping Tuesdays 4-3 regulation decision against Vancouver. Washington tied the Canucks 3-3 on a Brooks Laich goal at 4:39 of the third period, but Daniel Sedin recorded the game-winner for Vancouver just five minutes later. John Carlson had two goals and an assist in the setback and Braden Holtby stopped 28 shots for the Caps, who have lost four of their last five outings. We just have to be more ready for teams that we dont see that often, said Carlson. We played a good game, but we just didnt give ourselves a chance to win it. Washington allowed the Canucks to score three times on four power-play opportunities and the Caps are ranked 29th in the league in penalty killing. The Capitals hope to rebound tonight with their third straight win in the Carolina series. Washington notched a 4-3 overtime win over the visiting Hurricanes on Nov. 8, with Nicklas Backstrom providing the OT game-winner for the Caps. Washington has claimed three of four and six of the past nine overall meetings in this series, and has won four in a row and eight of 10 in Raleigh.dddddddddddd Holtby is 5-3-0 with a 2.23 goals against average in his career against Carolina. He is expected to start tonight. The Hurricanes have won two of their last three games, splitting a home-and- home series with Pittsburgh before beating visiting Nashville 2-1 on Tuesday. Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist and Cam Ward made 32 saves to help Carolina pick up the win and halt Nashvilles four-game winning streak. Skinners first-period goal gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead, and he assisted on Victor Rasks goal in the third period that proved to be the game-winner. Ward, meanwhile, did his best work came in the third period when he turned away 14 of 15 shots. The victory came in the second portion of a five-game homestand and improved Carolina to 5-4-1 as the host. Weve got a lot of home games coming up, and we want to try and get on a bit of a roll, said Skinner. The Hurricanes welcome Detroit on Sunday before capping the stay at PNC the following night against New Jersey. Anton Khudobin will get the start in net tonight for Carolina and is 3-1-1 with a lifetime 2.94 GAA against Washington. Ward will not be able to suit up for tonights game due to a lower-body injury. Carolina recalled goaltender Drew MacIntyre from Charlotte of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. ' ' '