Duke still unanimous at No. 1
By John Marshall
Notre Dame won the Maui Invitational with an impressive comeback against Wichita State.
The Fighting Irish didn’t fare as well against another top 10 team, leading a shuffling at the top half of The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Duke (10-0) received all 65 first-place votes in the poll released Monday after a pair of easy victories, its second straight week as the unanimous No. 1. The next three spots also remained the same from last week: Kansas, Michigan State and Villanova.
Notre Dame was No. 5 last week, but dropped to No. 9 following its 81-63 loss to the Spartans.
“They come at you with fresh bodies, they just keep coming at you and it takes its toll,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said of Michigan State.
Florida moved up to No. 5 despite not playing last week, followed by Wichita State, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Miami at No. 10 behind the Irish.
Notre Dame (7-1) pulled off an impressive comeback in Maui to beat Wichita State for its first title in paradise.
The Irish were no match for Michigan State last week, taken out of rhythm by the Spartans while falling into an early hole. Notre Dame did make a push in the second half, but Michigan State pushed back to run away with it.
The Irish bounced back to beat St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday despite the ejections of preseason All-American Bonzie Colson (flagrant two foul) and Brey. The pair ended up in the locker room watching the rest of the game on Colson’s phone.
“That’s new territory for me,” Brey said. “That was very unusual.”