Purdue men ranked No. 1 for first time

Purdue is No. 1 in the Associated Press men’s poll for the first time.

The Boilermakers were a unanimous No. 1 in the poll released Monday to move up from No. 2 last week. Reigning national champion Baylor moved up to No. 2, with Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga rounding out the top five.

Purdue (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten) reached No. 2 in consecutive seasons from 1986 through ’88 and matched its previous high last week, receiving nine firstplace votes from a 61-person media panel.

The Boilermakers opened Big Ten play with a 77-70 win over Iowa on Friday, sliding into the top spot after previous No. 1 Duke lost to an unranked Ohio State squad that is now No. 21. Until this week, Purdue had the second-most appearances in the AP poll — 379 weeks — for a school that had not been ranked No. 1 (Maryland, 434 weeks).

Pepperdine 82, San Jose State 69: In Malibu, Keith Fisher III had a seasonhigh 21 points as the Waves (3-8) ended their skid at six games by downing the Spartans (4-4).

#14 Houston 77, Alcorn State 45: Jamal Shead had 11 assists and no turnovers as the host Cougars (8-1) cruised past the Braves (1-7).

Texas Southern 69, #20 Florida 54: The Tigers (1-7) stunned the host Gators (6-2) as PJ Henry scored 16 points and Joirdon Karl Nicholas finished with 14 on 7-for-7 shooting.

Women

South Carolina remained No. 1 in the AP poll, receiving all 30 votes from a national media panel. N.C. State was second, breaking a tie with UConn, which fell to third. Stanford and Baylor rounded out the top five. Oregon (4-3), which lost at home to UC Davis on Wednesday, dropped out of the poll, ending a streak of 80 weeks ranked dating to the preseason poll in 2017.

#10 Indiana 70, Penn State 40: Nicole Cardano-Hillary’s 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals led the host Hoosiers (6-2) to a rout of the Nittany Lions (4-5) in the Big Ten opener for both teams.