JUST WHAT ZAGS NEEDED AFTER A LOSS
Braden Huff scored 17 points, Graham Ike added 13 points and eight rebounds, and No. 10 Gonzaga cruised to a 7840 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Monday night.
Gonzaga 78, Mississippi Valley State 40
The Bulldogs (8-2) earned their 11th straight home win and bounced back from a 78-73 loss on the road to Washington last Saturday.
Ben Gregg added 11 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs. Anton Watson had eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
Mississippi Valley State (010) was led by Rayquan Brown, who finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Brown was the only Delta Devils player who scored more than five.
The Bulldogs opened the game on a 14-2 run, making six of their first nine shots. Gonzaga went on another spree midway through the first half, scoring 11 straight points to expand its lead to 18, and led 3818 at halftime.
Huff and Gregg had nine points each in the second half to help the Bulldogs go on several more scoring runs, including an 11-0 stretch to go up by 31 with 13 minutes left. Gonzaga led by as many as 41.
No. 1 vs. No. 3 showdown
Arizona strengthened its place atop The Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday, setting up a showdown this weekend against Purdue, the former No. 1 team in the nation.
The Wildcats earned all but one first-place vote from a panel of 63 voters, no doubt impressing them with their 98-73 win over the No. 23 Badgers. They picked up three firstplace votes to remain atop the poll for the second straight week, while Kansas remained at No. 2 and Purdue — which Arizona had supplanted at No. 1 — moved up one spot to third
after wins over Iowa and Alabama.
The Wildcats (8-0) play the Boilermakers (9-1) on Saturday in Indianapolis.
“We spend a lot of time talking about Arizona basketball legacy,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said over the weekend, “and this group right now, we’re in the sun. The sun is shining on us right now.”
Houston received the only No. 1 vote that didn’t go to the Wildcats but still dropped one spot to fourth. UConn remained at No. 5 after beating ninth-ranked North Carolina and Arkansas-Pine Bluff last week.
Baylor again gave the Big 12 half of the top six teams in the country. The Bears were followed at No. 6 by Marquette, Creighton, the Tar Heels and Gonzaga, which fell three spots to No. 10 after its 78-73 loss to Washington.
Rising and falling
The No. 11 Sooners play Green Bay this week before a high-profile matchup with the ninth-ranked Tar Heels next week. No. 13 Clemson also will have a chance to keep climbing when it visits Memphis — which is receiving votes — on Saturday.
Miami fell nine spots to No. 24 after its 90-63 loss to Colorado, which was almost enough to get the Buffalos ranked; they were the first team outside the Top 25. Texas fell seven spots after losing to Marquette and beating Houston Christian.
In and out
Virginia returned to the poll at No. 22 after being ranked for a week last month. Northwestern made its Top 25 season debut.
Texas A&M dropped out of the poll after losing to Memphis on Sunday. San Diego State also fell out after losing to Grand Canyon, which has never been ranked but received one vote for No. 25 this week.