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AP men’s basketball Top 25: Arizona overtakes Purdue at No. 1 after Northwestern’s latest upset

Ryan Young
Staff writer
·6 min read
17
Ty Berry and Northwestern knocked off No. 1 Purdue on Friday night.
Ty Berry and Northwestern knocked off No. 1 Purdue on Friday night. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Purdue's run atop the country was once again short-lived.

Here’s everything you missed in Week 4 of the season, and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.

Purdue upset, again, as Arizona grabs No. 1 ranking

It’s never a good thing when Purdue hits No. 1 in the polls and Northwestern comes around.

The Boilermakers, just days after hitting No. 1 in the country, fell to unranked Northwestern 92-88 on Friday. The Wildcats have now knocked off Purdue two years in a row when the Boilermakers were ranked No. 1.

The loss dropped Purdue, now 7-1 on the season, down three spots in this week’s poll to No. 4. That led to Arizona, which is still undefeated at 7-0, to take the No. 1 spot in this week’s poll. It marks the program's first No. 1 ranking since 2014.

The Wildcats, who knocked off Duke on the road earlier this season and beat Michigan State over Thanksgiving, will take on Wisconsin next on Saturday before a matchup against Purdue next week.

Kansas made a big jump back up in the poll this week, too, after it started the year out at No. 1. The Jayhawks, who fell to Marquette at the Maui Invitational last month, beat out UConn on Friday in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Kevin McCullar dropped 21 points in the win and hit back-to-back 3-pointers late to seal the victory, which snapped UConn’s non-conference win streak. As a result, Kansas moved up to No. 2. UConn went down a spot to No. 5.

Marquette, Kentucky, Duke all fall in upset weekend

It wasn’t just Purdue who fell this weekend. Through Saturday night, five of the top 18 teams in the country had lost to unranked teams.

Wisconsin flew past Marquette by 11 points in their matchup, which gave the Badgers their third straight win over the Golden Eagles. It marked the first such streak of the in-state series since 2001, and jumped Wisconsin into the polls this week at No. 23.

The loss marked Marquette’s second of the season, following its loss to Purdue in the Maui Invitational championship game. The Golden Eagles — who will host Texas, Shaka Smart’s former team, this week — fell to No. 8 in the poll.

Duke lost its ACC opener to Georgia Tech on Saturday night in Atlanta. The Blue Devils, who fell 72-68, have now lost two straight after Arkansas knocked them off in a wild night in Fayetteville earlier in the week. The Razorbacks were without leading scorer Tramon Mark for that win, too, after he injured his back in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

As a result, Duke has dropped 15 spots to No. 22 this week in the poll. Georgia Tech, which also beat Mississippi State on Tuesday, received two votes.

UNC Wilmington stunned Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Saturday, too. The Dragons, thanks to 27 points and 10 rebounds from Trazarien White, beat the Wildcats, 80-73. Kentucky led for less than five minutes in the first ever meeting between the programs. Kentucky, despite a dominant 22-point win over Miami on Tuesday, fell to No. 16.

Drexel then rounded out the busy weekend with its 57-55 win over Villanova. Those Wildcats fell out of the poll completely.

Georgetown's Dontrez Styles was left stunned after TCU hit a buzzer-beater that technically shouldn't have counted on Saturday.

TCU’s wild buzzer-beater that shouldn’t have counted

There’s no changing it now, but TCU should have lost last weekend.

The Horned Frogs got past Georgetown 84-83 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle on Saturday after Emanuel Miller hit a wild, ridiculous buzzer-beater at Capital One Arena.

Miller threw up an off-balanced running 3-pointer that went off the glass and in as time expired on Saturday, which sparked a massive celebration at the arena in Washington. The buzzer-beater was as good as any that we’ll see this season.

But it shouldn’t have counted. Officials reviewed the play after to make sure that Miller got the shot off in time, which he did. But replay showed that Miller’s right foot had stepped out of bounds, which should have negated the shot. But as that’s not a reviewable call, the Horned Frogs got the win.

“We had three of the best officials in America on our game today,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said, via The Washington Post. “The game is not defined by one play. And that’s all everybody’s going to talk about. We had opportunities throughout the game … Everybody’s always going to think about the last play, what could’ve, should’ve. Give [the Horned Frogs] credit. They had to throw the pass. The kid caught it, and he made the shot.”

With the win, the Horned Frogs are now 7-0 on the season. They’ll take on Clemson next at the Hall of Fame Series in Toronto on Saturday. Georgetown, now 5-3 this season, will host Syracuse on Saturday.

Games to watch this week

*Neutral Site Game

Tuesday, Dec. 5

No. 11 FAU at No. 20 Illinois | 6:30 p.m. ET | ESPN *

No. 9 North Carolina at No. 5 UConn | 9 p.m. ET | ESPN *

Wednesday, Dec. 6

No. 12 Texas at No. 8 Marquette | 8 p.m. ET | FS1

Saturday, Dec. 9

No. 20 Illinois at No. 17 Tennessee | 12 p.m. ET | CBS

Alabama at No. 4 Purdue | 1:30 p.m. ET | Fox *

AP Top 25

The full AP Top 25 poll from December 4, 2023

1. Arizona (7-0)

2. Kansas (7-1)

3. Houston (8-0)

4. Purdue (7-1)

5. UConn (7-1)

6. Baylor (8-0)

7. Gonzaga (6-1)

8. Marquette (6-2)

9. North Carolina (7-1)

10. Creighton (7-1)

11. FAU (7-1)

12. Texas (6-1)

13. Colorado State (8-0)

14. BYU (7-0)

15. Miami (6-1)

16. Kentucky (6-2)

17. Tennessee (4-3)

18. JMU (8-0)

19. Oklahoma (7-0)

20. Illinois (6-1)

21. Texas A&M (6-2)

22. Duke (5-3)

23. Wisconsin (6-2)

24. Clemson (7-0)

25. SDSU (7-1)

Others Receiving Votes: Virginia 148, Ohio State 122, TCU 87, Northwestern 77, Alabama 50, Michigan State 46, Princeton 35, UCLA 23, Cincinnati 21, Mississippi 15, Arkansas 14, Providence 13, South Carolina 9, Villanova 8, Colorado 5, Memphis 5, Nevada 4, Georgia Tech 2