Arizona is expected to return a key player from injury when the No. 7 Wildcats open Pac-12 Conference play Sunday at Arizona State. Kaleb Tarczewski has missed the last eight games with a stress reaction and strained muscle in his left foot, but the 7-foot starting center will appear in a limited role off the bench against the Sun Devils, according to Arizona coach Sean Miller.

USC and Washington, two schools projected to end up closer to the cellar than the penthouse in the Pac-12 this year, will attempt to open league play with a 2-0 record when they meet on Sunday afternoon in Seattle. The Trojans, picked to finish 10th in the conference preseason media poll, opened Pac-12 play with a convincing 90-77 victory at Washington State on Friday while the Huskies, projected for 11th place, shocked UCLA 96-93 in double overtime.

After a rocky start to its season, Ohio State stepped up its defense in recent weeks and the result has been a five-game winning streak that included a victory over Minnesota in its Big Ten Conference opener. The Buckeyes look to make it six straight on Sunday when they host Illinois, which had its five-game winning streak snapped in its conference opener against Michigan.

Oregon State, which hasn't played in the NCAA Tournament since 1990 when future Naismith Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton was a senior, will be out to end that streak as it begins Pac-12 play against Civil War rival Oregon on Sunday at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers, led by Payton's son, Gary Payton II, and a strong freshman class that was ranked in the Top 20 by several scouting services, could equal the school's best 12-game start since the 1984-85 team began 11-1 with a victory.

California looks to build on its impressive Pac-12 debut on Sunday as the Golden Bears host 22nd-ranked Utah, whose Bay Area trip began on a down note Friday after the Utes shot 46 percent from the foul line and fell 70-68 in overtime at Stanford. The Golden Bears remained unbeaten in 10 home games this season with Friday’s convincing 79-65 win over Colorado.

Louisville was picked seventh in the ACC preseason media poll after losing 83 percent of its scoring from last season while Wake Forest was tabbed to finish 11th following a 13-19 campaign last year under first-year coach Danny Manning. Both teams have played well above those prognostications during the non-conference portion of their schedules and look to carry that into conference play Sunday when the 18th-ranked Cardinals host the Demon Deacons.

UCLA will try to avoid starting 0-2 in Pac-12 play for the second straight year when the Bruins visit Washington State on Sunday. UCLA lost in double-overtime at Washington on Friday night in a tough-to-watch game in which the teams combined for 42 turnovers, 64 fouls and 90 free throws and neither shot better than 38 percent from the floor.

Stanford, which continues to battle injuries and low expectations, made a strong bid to serve as the Pac-12’s surprise team by opening league play Friday with an upset win over No. 22 Utah. The Cardinal look to build on the 70-68 overtime victory Sunday against visiting Colorado, which shot a season-low 32 percent in Friday’s 79-65 loss at California.