Quick Hitters
For the third straight week, Gonzaga, Villanova and Kansas are the top three teams in The Associated Press college basketball poll.
It is the fourth week at No. 1 for Gonzaga (28-0), the only unbeaten team in Division I. The Zags received 59 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel on Monday.
Villanova (26-2) received five first-place votes and Kansas (24-3), which beat West Virginia and Baylor last week, got the other No. 1 vote.
The three teams from the Pac-12 — Arizona, UCLA and Oregon — are fourth through sixth. Louisville is seventh, followed by North Carolina, Baylor and Duke.
Baylor, which lost to Texas Tech and Kansas, dropped five places from fourth.
Wichita State makes its first Top 25 appearance since last season. The Shockers replace South Carolina, which fell out after a five-week run in the poll.
Coyotes score 3 in 1st period, hold on vs. Ducks
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Radim Vrbata capped Arizona’s three-goal first period and the Coyotes held on for 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
Christian Dvorak and Jakob Chychrun also scored for Arizona, and starting goalie Mike Smith had 27 saves before leaving about 4 1/2 minutes into the third period after a collision in the net. Marek Langhamer helped kill a power play after being pressed into action for his NHL debut and stopped six of the seven shots he faced.
The Coyotes have won four of their last six.
Langhamer gave up Ryan Getzlaf’s second goal of the night and 11th of the season with 26.8 seconds to play, but thwarted two quality shots in the final seconds.
Jonathan Bernier gave up three goals on six shots in the first period for the Ducks, who have lost six of nine. Starting goalie John Gibson, who played in the 1-0 win over Los Angeles on Sunday night, came on to start the second and stopped all 14 shots he faced.
Dvorak’s backhand off a pass from Shane Doan gave the Coyotes the lead 2:02 into the game. It was Dvorak’s sixth goal in the past nine games.
Ryan White delivered a pinpoint cross to Chychrun in the middle, and the young third-line defenseman beat Bernier at 4:46.
Vrbata’s 12th came courtesy of Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen’s skate. His shot caromed off Vatanen and into the goal, though officials originally ruled it a non-goal with Arizona’s Martin Hanzal also in the vicinity of the net.