Duke basketball climbs to No. 1 in AP Top 25 ranks
Duke is back at No. 1, moving up a spot following a pair of victories last week.
The Blue Devils can thank Evansville for the jump.
Duke moved to No. 1 for the first time this season, receiving 52 first-place votes from a 65-member media panel in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday.
The Blue Devils climbed a spot after unranked Evansville pulled off the 2019-20 season’s biggest surprise so far by knocking off previous No. 1 Kentucky.
Duke (4- 0) crushed Central Arkansas 105- 54 last Tuesday and beat Georgia State 74- 63 Friday behind Tre Jones’ career-high 31 points.
No. 2 Louisville received eight first-place votes and No. 3 Michigan State, the preseason No. 1, had four.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame’s 12-year run in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll is over.
The Fighting Irish fell out of the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time since the end of the 2006- 07 season, stopping a streak of 234 consecutive weeks being ranked. It was the second longest active streak behind UConn’s (492).
While the Irish dropped out of the rankings, Oregon remained No. 1. The Ducks received 27 of the 29 firstplace votes.
NBA
NETS’ IRVING OUT AGAIN
WITH RIGHT SHOULDER INJURY >> Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving will miss his second straight game because of a right shoulder injury.
The Nets announced several hours before tipoff that the All- Star point guard wouldn’t play Monday night against the Indiana Pacers because of an impingement.
Irving sat out for the first time this season Saturday at Chicago. Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points in his place to lead the Nets to a 117-111 victory.
Tennis
VANDEWEGHE, GIRON EARN
USTA WILD CARDS FOR AUSTRALIAN
OPEN >> Two-time Grand Slam semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe and Marcos Giron, the 2014 NCAA singles champion for UCLA, have earned main- draw berths at next year’s Australian Open via the U. S. Tennis Association’s wild- card challenge.
The USTA announced the results Monday.
Vandeweghe missed the 2019 Australian Open, part of about a 10-month absence from competition because of an injured right ankle.
Vandeweghe, who turns 28 in December, has been ranked as high as No. 10 and is currently 235th. She returned to the tour in
July. She was a semifinalist at the Australian Open and U. S. Open in 2017.
Horse racing
OWNERS OF DISQUALIFIED
KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER PLAN APPEAL >> The owners of Maximum Security say they will appeal a federal judge’s dismissal of their lawsuit that seeks to challenge the decision to disqualify their horse as winner of the Kentucky Derby.
Gary West said in a statement Monday that he has authorized his attorneys to file an appeal. West and his wife, Mary, who live in Southern California, own the horse.