PRESEASON NO. 1 KO’D FROM TOP 25
Houston and Texas remain firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while preseason No. 1 North Carolina has dropped out entirely after a fourth straight loss.
The Cougars earned 37 of 62 first-place votes in Monday’s poll, extending the program’s first stay at No. 1 since the “Phi Slama Jama” days in the 1980s for another week. Houston (8-0) beat Norfolk State and Saint Mary’s in its first week at the top.
“I don’t dwell on it,” coach Kelvin Sampson said last week about the No. 1 ranking. “We’re not running around here pushing our chest out, thinking we’re something we’re not.”
The Longhorns received 14 first-place votes. No. 3 Virginia got three votes and No. 4 Purdue got the remaining eight.
Connecticut (9-0) climbed to No. 5, the program’s highest ranking since early in the 2011-12 season. Other than the top five, there are three other teams in the AP Top 25 that entered Monday undefeated (No. 11 Auburn, No. 13 Maryland and No. 23 Mississippi State).
North Carolina is only the sixth team to go from preseason No. 1 to unranked since at least the 1961-62 season, most recently with Michigan State during the 2019-20 season.
Of that group, the Tar Heels had the swiftest exit from the poll to start the season (four weeks) except for UCLA in 1965-66. The Bruins fell out of the poll after just three weeks back when only 10 teams were ranked.
Ranked No. 18 last week, the Tar Heels (5-4) l ost their fourth straight game over the weekend at Virginia Tech while playing without banged-up big man Armando Bacot. They appeared on a single ballot this week from the 62-member panel that votes on the AP
Top 25.
“I told them also that I’m not panicked, I’m not any of that,” coach Hubert Davis said afterward. “I’m convinced we’re going to be a great basketball team by the end of the season.”
Last year’s Tar Heels were on the bubble to even make the NCAA Tournament well into February in Davis’ debut season. They went on a final-month tear all the way to the NCAA championship game before falling to Kansas.
Men’s Top 25 result
No. 18 Gonzaga 73, Kent State 66: Drew Timme scored 29 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and host Gonzaga closed the game on an 11-0 run to rally past Kent State (6-3).
The nation’s longest home win streak was extended to 69 games but not without a major scare by the Golden Flashes. Kent State led 66-62 with 3:38 left after Miryne Thomas’ 3-pointer, but the Bulldogs tightened on the defensive end and got a handful of big plays offensively to hold off the Flashes.
Julian Strawther added
14 points, including a 3pointer with 3:19 left that started Gonzaga’s decisive run. Timme’s spinning basket in the lane with 2:29 left gave Gonzaga (6-3) the lead, and he added a key defensive play blocking Sincere Carry’s layup attempt at the other end.
Timme was fouled and split free throws with 1:55 left, but Malachi Smith grabbed the offensive rebound and his three-point play gave the Bulldogs a 71-66 lead. It was Smith’s first basket of the game.
Notable
Houston is No. 1 in the NCAA’s initial NET rankings, mirroring the AP Top 25. The Cougars were the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 for the second straight week and took the top spot in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, the primary sorting tool for determining NCAA Tournament teams. Connecticut, No. 5 in the AP poll, was second in the NET rankings, followed by Purdue, Tennessee and Mississippi State. Sam Houston of the Western Athletic Conference was No. 7 behind Maryland.