Two top-10 teams fell to unranked opponents and Duke got back on track in a tumultuous week in the top-25.
Unlucky No. 7
West Virginia and Creighton shared the No. 7 spot in last week’s AP Poll, but both fell in the latest rankings after being upset by unranked teams.
The Mountaineers lost 89-87 in overtime at home against an 8-10 Oklahoma team Wednesday and fell to Kansas State 79-75 Saturday, tumbling to No. 18 in the rankings. The Wildcats improved to 15-4 with all five starters scoring at least 13 points but remain on the outside looking in at the rankings.
Creighton beat then-No. 22 Xavier 72-67 on the road Monday, but a 30-point effort from Marcus Foster couldn’t save the Bluejays from falling to Marquette in a 102-94 shootout. This was Creighton’s first game without star point guard Maurice Watson Jr., who tore his ACL to end his college career in the win against Xavier, and the Bluejays fell all the way to No. 16.
Trier's return shakes up Pac-12 race
The Bruins’ 19-1 start surprised many college basketball pundits, as point guard Lonzo Ball and company have proven to be among the nation's elite teams midway through this year’s campaign.
But a convincing 96-85 win by then-No. 14 Arizona on the road in Los Angeles dropped UCLA to No. 8 in a game that saw the return of Wildcat star Allonzo Trier, who had been suspended since the beginning of the year for testing positive for a banned substance. Arizona is now 7-0 in conference play and beat USC 73-66 earlier in the week before doing the same to the nation’s then-third-ranked team, shooting up to No. 7 in this week's rankings.
A top-15 battle
The marquee top-25 matchup of the past week featured then-No. 10 Florida State hosting then-No. 12 Louisville in what turned out to be a 73-68 Seminoles victory.
Dwayne Bacon’s 16 points and a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double by Jonathan Isaac helped Florida State hold off the Cardinals, who trimmed a 14-point deficit to just 69-68 with 2:04 remaining but never took the lead. The Seminoles emerged 5-1 from a stretch of six straight games against ranked opponents and rose to No. 6, and Louisville fell one spot to No. 13.
Matt Jones brings Duke alive
Coming off two straight losses, a home game against unranked Miami was a must-win for then-No. 18 Duke. But the Blue Devils seemed to be dead in the water Saturday, heading into the locker room at halftime down 36-25.
Senior captain Matt Jones came out strong to start the second period, though, scoring all 13 of his points in the second half while hitting three 3-pointers during a 20-0 Duke run en route to a 70-58 victory. The Blue Devils rose one spot to No. 17 this week.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.