After another two-win week for Duke, the newest AP Poll was published Monday afternoon. The Blue Zone breaks down all the new developments:
Duke on the rise
It was another two-win week for the Blue Devils, who opened with a road victory against Boston College and finished out with a win against Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In its first game of the week, Duke showed its defensive dominance, holding the Eagles to the second-lowest amount of points scored in ACC history at 27 and never allowing more than nine points in a quarter. Against the Hurricanes, the Blue Devils were once again defensively dominant, allowing just 13 points in the first half. Because of two solid wins this week, the Blue Devils stay inside the top 10 at No. 9.
The demise of Iowa State
It has been a difficult few weeks for the Cyclones, who now find themselves on a three-game losing streak. This week they only played one game, against unranked West Virginia, and they lost. Iowa State played a very weak second half, scoring just 25 points against the Mountaineers and ultimately fell 73-60. The Cyclones will have a chance to prove themselves against No. 17 Texas Monday night, but in the meantime Iowa State fell to No. 22.
Tar Heels slip
Although it beat Boston College in its latter game, North Carolina had a slow start to the week. Despite a 32-point night from guard Deja Kelly, the Tar Heels fell 75-67 to Syracuse Thursday night. While they started strong in the first half, the third quarter saw the Orange shooting an astonishing 80% from the floor and opening up a double-digit lead. The loss to an unranked team cost North Carolina, which dropped to No. 19 this week.
N.C. State struggles
Despite a 51-42 win against Wake Forest to start the week, the Wolfpack stumbled in its second game of this week's slate. It dropped a road game to unranked Virginia 71-59, and it hurt its spot in the rankings. The Wolfpack fell out of the poll this week.
Full rankings
1. South Carolina
2. Indiana
3. Stanford
4. Utah
5. LSU
6. UConn
7. Iowa
8. Maryland
9. Duke
10. Notre Dame
11. Virginia Tech
12. Michigan
13. Ohio State
14. Villanova
15. Oklahoma
16. UCLA
17. Texas
18. Arizona
19. North Carolina
20. Gonzaga
21. Colorado
22. Iowa State
23. UNLV
24. Florida State
25. USC
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