Nine of the ten teams in the NCAAM AP Top 10 shifted this week. The only team that remained in their spot was #1 Kentucky, who even lost some ground and were not the unanimous #1 team. They received 63 of the 65 votes while Virginia picked up the remaining 2. Texas was the sole team that dropped out of the top ten and Kansas was the team that replaced them. Here are the top 10 from last week and this week.
January 5 January 12
- Kentucky 1. Kentucky
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Duke 2. Virginia
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Virginia 3. Gonzaga
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Wisconsin 4. Duke
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Louisville 5. Villanova
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Gonzaga 6. Louisville
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Arizona 7. Wisconsin
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Villanova 8. Utah
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Utah 9. Kansas
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Texas 10. Arizona
# 1 Kentucky (15-0)
Kentucky went 2-0 this past week to improve their record to 15-0. However, both of the wins did not come easy. In fact, both of them took overtime to earn the Ws. Their first win came on Tuesday night against Mississippi and their second came against Texas A&M on Saturday.
Against Mississippi: UK beat Mississippi (9-5) 89-86 in OT. Kentucky was led by Aaron Harrison who had 26 points. The trouble for them in this game is that only eight players played and three of them played 32, 39, and 40 minutes respectively. Thus, the shift from the “platoon” was dramatic.
Against Texas A&M: It took two OTs for the Wildcats to pull out the 70-64 win. The Wildcats won on the play of Devin Booker, who scored 18 points. Against Mississippi, Harrison had a good game and was the leader. Against Texas A&M, he looked lost, scoring 12 points on only 4-of-20 shooting from the floor. The Wildcats as a team were shooting inconsistently, finishing just 18-of-64 (28%).
This Week: Missouri (Tuesday) and Alabama (Saturday)
#2 Virgina (15-0)
Virginia also went 2-0 this week to push their record to 15-0. With their wins, they stole two first-place votes from Kentucky. For the week, they beat N.C. State 61-51 and then beat Notre Dame 62-56.
Against N.C. State: The Virginia defense was the key to the victory against N.C. State. They won 61-51, and held State to 37% shooting and forced 11 turnovers. From the offensive side, the Cavaliers relied on Kyle Washington‘s 13 points and 10 rebounds to extend their home winning streak to 19.
Against Notre Dame: The Cavaliers were able to secure the 62-56 victory by consistent play by three of their top players. Darion Atkins led the way with 14 points, Malcolm Brogdon had 13 points, and Justin Anderson had 11 points.
This Week: Clemson (Tuesday) and Boston College (Saturday)
#3 Gonzaga (16-1)
Gonzaga went 2-0 this week to improve their record to 16-1. The wins came against San Francisco (88-57) on Thursday and Santa Clara (79-57) on Saturday.
Against San Francisco: Gonzaga came home and their star player Kevin Pangos was excited to be back in front of the home crowd after a three-week hiatus. He scored 17 points on 5-8 from the 3-point line and he also recorded 5 assists.
Against Santa Clara: Gonzaga won their 34th straight home game on the backs of four of their players, all of them scoring in double figures. The leading scorer for them in the game was Przemek Karnowski, who was 8-of-10 from the floor. He finished the night with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Once again, Gonzaga won by slowing the game down and being patient.
This Week: Pepperdine on Thursday and Loyola Marymount on Saturday.
#4 Duke (14-1)
Duke played two games last week and they split them. On Wednesday, they played Wake Forest and won 73-65. They then played N.C. State on Sunday, who they struggled against and lost their first game of the season 75-87.
Against Wake Forest: We will allow the spotlight to rest on Justise Winslow. He scored 20 points and dished out 3 assists while grabbing 7 rebounds. The Blue Devils did fall behind in the second half of the game and counted on their senior Quinn Cook to lead them back to victory. Jahlil Okafor also helped by grabbing another double-double.
Against N.C. State: Duke loses despite another excellent statistical performance by Okafor, who scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. One of the trouble spots for Duke in the game was their 3-point shooting. They were only 7-of-27 from the 3. Cook was the bright spot from three, going 4-of-7.
Even though Duke lost and they were deflated, as the photo shows, the loss may have strengthened them as a team and in the end give them more focus to make sure that they come out as ACC Champs.
This Week: On Tuesday they host Miami and then travel to Louisville on Saturday.
#5 Villanova (15-1)
Villanova went 2-0 this past week to improve to 15-1. They cruised in both of their victories, beating St. John on Tuesday by 18 points (90-72) and then DePaul by 17 points (81-64) on Saturday.
Against St. John: Villanova struggled in their first half. They went into halftime down one point but they turned up the defense and hit their shots in the second half to take the game by 18 points. Daniel Ochefu was not the lead scorer but he had another balanced game, with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists.
Against DePaul: Darrun Hilliard II led the way with 21 points (8 of 12 shooting). Villanova had a season high 13 3-pointers and those threes helped open the floor and allowed the team to take charge. This game was never close as they had a 13-0 run early in the first half to take a quick 16-5 lead.
This Week: Xavier on Wednesday and Pennsylvania on Saturday.
#6 Louisville (15-2)
Louisville was 1-1 this week. Their win came against Clemson (58-52) on Wednesday and their loss came to UNC (71-72) on Saturday. The Cardinals look great at times but look average other times. Yet, they are still in the top-ten and still rest at number six. Some of the ranking has to be contributed to their recent history.
Against Clemson: Chris Jones had a bad shooting night but still led the Cards in scoring. He was 6-17 from the floor but still managed 22 points. So, do not celebrate too much. However, he can celebrate because he was not the worst shooter on his team. Wayne Blackshear was a woeful 3-13 from the floor. Terry Rozier did not want them to be alone, so he threw up many bricks as well, going 5-15 from the floor. The Cards won this game but they will not win big games if/when they shoot 16-52 (30%) from the floor and commit 14 turnovers.
Against UNC: Louisville took a big lead then lost their poise, going cold from the floor. When that happened, they became flustered and began shooting themselves in the foot. They began turning the ball over and that created the perfect storm for them to lose a game, one that they thought they had in the bag. Rozier bounced back with a decent shooting night (10-21) and scored 25 points, adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Cards may be in trouble and could be on the outside of the top ten next week.
This Week: They play Virginia Tech on Tuesday and Duke on Saturday.
#7 Wisconsin (15-2)
Wisconsin went 1-1 for the week and the one loss dropped them from #4 to #6. On Wednesday, they beat Purdue 62-55 and then they loss to Rutgers 62-67.
Against Purdue: This game was won at the free throw line. The disparity was huge. Purdue was 3-7 from the free throw line and Wisconsin was 25-31 from the free line. Frank Kaminsky led Wisconsin in points (21) and from the free throw line (11-14).
Against Rutgers:
Rutgers celebrated when they upset Wisconsin. Wisconsin may point to the fact that they did not have leading scorer Kaminsky for the game because of a concussion, and they also lost guard Traevon Jackson early in the second half with a leg injury. But many believe they should still have beat Rutgers who have losses against St. Peter’s and St. Francis, Pennsylvania. For Wisconsin, Nigel Hayes tried to lead the way 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
This Week: They have one game this week, against Nebraska on Thursday.
#8 Utah (13-2)
The Utah Running Utes played two games this past week and both games were complete domination games. They beat UCLA by 32 points by beating them 71-39. They then beat Colorado by 25 points by cruising to a 74-49 victory.
Against UCLA: They started fast and furious including a 32-15 halftime lead and did not look back. In the end, it was a blow-out. The Running Utes had eleven players that scored and it was a balance attack. The player of the game went to Delon Wright who had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Against Colorado: Once again, the Utah Running Utes had 10 players score and it was a balanced game from them. The team leader Brandon Taylor scored 14 points, dished out 5 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds. A key number in this game was the number 41 – the number of points the Running Utes scored off turnovers or second-chance baskets.
The take-away for Utah is is the following: they are 3-0 in the PAC-12 and their average margin of victory is 27.
This Week: They head to the state of Arizona. They play Arizona State on Thursday and then Arizona on Saturday.
#9 Kansas (14-2)
Kansas was 2-0 last week to improve their record to 14-2. They had one close game and one blow out. Their close came was against Baylor on Wednesday. They squeaked out a 56-55 victory. Then on Saturday, they blew out Texas Tech 86-54.
Against Baylor: Wayne Selden was having an off night as he was only 1-6 shooting 37 minutes into the game. He then scored seven straight points for Kansas as he made three quick baskets during a two minute stretch that began at the 2:59 mark and ended at the 1:19 mark. Selden stepping up was much needed as their leading scorer (13 points) for the game, Jamari Traylor, fouled out with 5:13 remaining.
Against Texas Tech: Kelly Oubre only played nineteen minutes in this game but he made the most of them. He scored 14 points on 5-7 shooting including 2-3 from the 3-point arch. Kansas had a great shooting night as a team as they shot 53% (32-61) from the field.
A player to watch is Frank Mason III. He is not a player whom many talk about, but he has scored in double figures for thirteen straight games.
This Week: Oklahoma State (Tuesday) and Iowa State (Saturday)
#10 Arizona (14-2)
Arizona went 2-0 this past week. Both of the games were fairly easy for them. On Sunday, they beat Arizona State 73-49 and then on Thursday, they beat Oregon 80-62.
Against Arizona State: Arizona went 16-19 from the free throw line and those helped them cruise. The Wildcats had a balanced attack and their leader once again was their leader. They need to have Stanley Jones be successful for them to win. In this game, he scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Against Oregon: The Wildcats once again in this game displayed a balance attack and it was shown by all five of their startes scoring in double figures. The leader of this night goes to a player who is not always in the spotlight and that is T.J. McConnell. He scored 21 points on 9-14 shooting. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.
This Week: They play Colorado on Thursday.
See you next week!