Streaking Gaels ranked 16th in AP poll
Nearly two months after falling out of the Associated Press Top 25, Randy Bennett’s St. Mary’s team returned to the rankings Monday at No. 16.
Following losses to Washington State and Georgia in the Wooden Legacy tournament over Thanksgiving weekend, the Gaels (19-2, 8-0 WCC) remained unranked until Monday. They’ve also remained unbeaten. The Gaels will try to tie the school record of 15 consecutive wins when they host BYU (17-4, 6-2) on Thursday night.
Last Thursday night, St. Mary’s prevailed 74-71 at Gonzaga (17-4, 7-1). One item that probably sticks in the craw of St. Mary’s fans: Even though the Gaels’ RPI (40) on Monday was better than the Zags’ (56), Gonzaga was ranked No. 15 by the AP, one spot ahead of St. Mary’s.
Also on Monday, St. Mary’s center Jock Landale was named the WCC Player of the Week. In the Gaels’ three-point road wins over Gonzaga and Pacific, Landale had a combined 58 points (on 24-for-35 shooting) and 19 rebounds.
It’s the 6-foot-11 senior’s fourth such honor in seven weeks. He leads the conference in points per game (22.4) and rebounds per game (10.2).
— Steve Kroner Nationally, Kentucky fell out of the Top 25 for the first time in nearly four years, and another bunch of Wildcats — Villanova — maintained their hold on No. 1.
Kentucky slid out of the poll from No. 18 after losses to South Carolina and Florida, snapping a 30-game home winning streak in SEC play. That dropped the Wildcats out for the first time since March 2014 and snapped a 68-week stretch in the poll.
The top three of Villanova, Virginia and Purdue stayed the same, with the Wildcats (18-1) remaining firmly in place by collecting 63 of 65 first-place votes. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers (18-1) and the Boilermakers (19-2) have combined to win 25 straight games, 19 by doubledigit margins, and split the remaining first-place votes.
Duke inched up a spot to No. 4. Kansas jumped five spots to No. 5.
Michigan State, West Virginia, Xavier, Cincinnati and reigning national champion North Carolina rounded out the top 10.
Cal’s women dropped two spots to No. 23, and Stanford remained unranked. UConn remained the unanimous No. 1 choice in the poll from the 32-member panel.
MONDAY’S TOP 25 MEN’S GAMES
#6 Michigan State 87, Illinois 74: Miles Bridges scored 31 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points and 11 rebounds and the visiting Spartans (18-3, 6-2 Big Ten) got a harder-thanexpected win over the Illini (10-11, 0-8). Michigan State shot 68.2 percent, a record at State Farm Center for opponent shooting percentage. Illinois shot 43.1 percent.
TCU 82, #7 West Virginia 73: Desmond Bane scored eight of his 15 points in just more than a minute early in the second half, and the host Horned Frogs (15-5, 3-5 Big 12) beat the Mountaineers (16-4, 5-3). TCU got its first home win over a top-10 team in nearly five years on the same day it dropped out of the AP Top 25 to end an eight-week run as a ranked team.
Virginia Tech 80, #10 North Carolina 69: Justin Robinson scored 19 points and the host Hokies took control in the second half to beat the Tar Heels. Ahmed Hill added 18 points for Virginia Tech (14-6, 3-4 ACC). Hill scored seven in a row to start the decisive 13-3 burst. Joel Berry and Luke Maye scored 23 points each for North Carolina (16-5, 5-3).
#13 Ohio State 64, Nebraska 59: Keita Bates-Diop scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and the Buckeyes (18-4, 9-0 Big Ten) beat the visiting Cornhuskers (14-8, 5-4), the fourth victory for Ohio State in the past eight days. The back-and-forth game had seven lead changes in the second half.