Big home wins against Louisville and Miami helped Duke men’s basketball move up one spot in the latest AP poll to No. 9. The Blue Zone analyzes the movement around the nation:
Peaking at the right time?
After a loss at Wake Forest in an instant classic last week, Duke needed to respond in a big way if it wanted to stay in the mix for a top-2 seed in both the ACC and NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils did just that, thrashing Louisville and Virginia at home by 25-points apiece. Against the Cardinals, Duke had a well-rounded team effort, with all five starters scoring eight or more while being paced by 19 from senior captain Jeremy Roach. Saturday’s matchup against the Cavaliers may have been the best performance all year by head coach Jon Scheyer’s team, as the Blue Devils had little trouble scoring on the usually stout Virginia defense as they cruised to a victory. As a result, Duke lands at No. 9 in this week’s poll. The big story going forward will be the injury to freshman guard Caleb Foster, who looks to be out for an extended period, but if the rest of the team keeps playing at this level, the Blue Devils may continue to climb in the rankings.
Chalk rocked
When you think of Big 12 basketball, you likely think of Kansas, as head coach Bill Self’s team has been the pinnacle of success in the league for numerous years. But after conference realignment, the streak of dominance may be coming to an end this season. No team in the top 25 had a worse week than the Jayhawks, as they went 0-2 including suffering their first home loss of the season at the hands of BYU. Dallin Hall was excellent for the Cougars, going for 18 points and leading his team to a victory at Allen Fieldhouse. On Saturday, Kansas fell on the road at Baylor, as RayJ Dennis went for a double-double and helped the Bears pick up a monster win for their resume. This week, Kansas slides to No. 14 in the polls and Baylor moves to No. 11.
Top teams remain hot
Outside of Kansas, it was a good week for teams ranked in the top 10. Outside of Marquette and the Jayhawks, every other team escaped the week unscathed and proved why they are serious contenders to cut down the nets in April. Even the Golden Eagles’ loss doesn’t look too bad on their resume, as they fell to a good Creighton team and were missing star point guard Tyler Kolek. However, they do fall to No. 8 this week in the polls.
Full rankings:
1. Houston
2. UConn
3. Purdue
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Iowa State
7. North Carolina
8. Marquette
9. Duke
10. Creighton
11. Baylor
12. Illinois
13. Auburn
14. Kansas
15. Kentucky
16. Alabama
17. South Carolina
18. Washington State
19. Gonzaga
20. BYU
21. San Diego State
22. Utah State
23. Saint Mary's
24. South Florida
25. Dayton
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