Dayton third in latest AP poll

A string of losses to unranked opponents led to upheaval in the AP Top 25 this week.

Kansas kept winning, strengthening its grip on No. 1.

The Jayhawks were the unanimous choice for the top spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, receiving 64 votes from the panel.

Gonzaga was No. 2, with Dayton, Baylor and San Diego State rounding out the top five.

With Baylor’s loss to TCU, Kansas has a onegame lead in the Big 12 Conference with a week left in the regular season.

“That made us play a lot better,” Kansas coach Bill Self said with a smile. “It goes to show you that when teams are turned up and play with an edge, different things can happen.”

Gonzaga bounced back from its loss to BYU, rolling over rival Saint Mary’s 86-76 on Feb. 29 to win its eighth straight West Coast Conference regular-season title.

“I’ve never had a team surprise me as much as this one did,” Zags coach Mark Few said. “We don’t have lottery picks. But they worked and listened and were coachable. Our whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts.”

Dayton has its highest ranking since reaching No. 2 in 1955-56 after stretching its winning streak to 18 games with victories over George Mason and Davidson last week.

The Flyers wrapped up the Atlantic 10 Conference title with an impressive offensive display against Davidson, shooting 72.3% — their highest percentage in 34 years — while making 27 of 28 shots inside the 3-point arc.

“It feels like everybody was locked in today,” said Dayton’s Obi Toppin, who had 23 points in the 8267 win.

NHL

EMERGENCY GOALIE RULE UNLIKELY TO CHANGE » NHL general managers seem unlikely to suggest changes to the emergency backup goaltender policy, even after 42-year-old Zamboni driver David Ayres became one of the biggest stories of the season by winning a game for Carolina last month. The issue was among the discussion points March 2, the first of three days of GM meetings, but the apparent consensus was that emergency goaltenders are called upon so rarely that any reaction now would likely feel like an overreaction. “It’s such a rare occurrence,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “It’s only news because it recently happened.” Ayres became a sensation last month when he was called on by the Hurricanes in a game at Toronto after injuries to goalies Petr Mrazek and James Reimer. Ayres stopped eight shots.