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AP men’s basketball Top 25: Kansas, Duke stumble with bad losses as UConn holds at No. 1

UConn and Purdue held strong atop the national poll this week

Ryan Young
Staff writer
·5 min read
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West Virginia stunned No. 3 Kansas in Morgantown on Saturday.

Though things settled down quite a bit this past week, there were still several notable upsets across college basketball — especially in the Big 12.

Here’s everything you missed in Week 11 of the season, and the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.

Kansas, Duke drop bad losses

Both Kansas and Duke stumbled badly on Saturday.

Kansas struggled and fell 91-85 at West Virginia, which is one of the worst teams in the Big 12 conference, on Saturday afternoon. The Jayhawks, despite shooting 53% from the field, just could not pull away from the Mountaineers. West Virginia ended the game on a 6-2 burst to grab the six-point win, and it held the Jayhawks to just a single field goal in the final three minutes of the contest.

The win was huge for the Mountaineers, who are still recovering from Bob Huggins’ tumultuous exit last season, multiple major injuries, a suspension and even a transfer battle with the NCAA. They now hold a 7-11 record, which is the worst in the Big 12.

As a result, Kansas dropped four spots to No. 7 this week. The Jayhawks, who will host Cincinnati on Monday night before traveling to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday, have now lost two of their last four games.

In the ACC, Pittsburgh stunned Duke on Saturday night in a rare win against the program for the Panthers. Blake Hinson dropped 24 points and shot a perfect 7-of-7 from behind the arc to lead Pittsburgh to an 80-76 win over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium — which is something Pittsburgh hasn’t done since 1979. It snapped an eight-game win streak for Duke, and sent the Blue Devils down five spots in this week’s poll to No. 12. The win for Pittsburgh, which now holds an 11-7 record, was its first against a top-10 team since 2011.

Outside of Memphis, Baylor was the only other team in the top 10 to drop a game last week. The Bears fell to both Kansas State and Texas, which snapped a five-game win streak and dropped them to No. 15 this week.

Memphis drops back-to-back games

Now for Memphis, which had an equally bad week.

The Tigers entered last week on a 10-game win streak, which included a trio of wins over ranked opponents. But on Thursday night, South Florida rallied from a 20-point hole to stun the Tigers and grab a one-point win in Memphis. It marked the second-largest comeback win in USF history, and the Bulls’ first win over a ranked team since 2012.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, Tulane survived a heated battle with the Tigers in New Orleans to grab an 81-79 upset win.

“It just seems like when it rains, it pours,” Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway said Sunday, via The Associated Press. “We blew a 20-point lead against South Florida and then come to a hostile environment, have a chance to win the game and do everything possible to give the game away.”

The Tigers slipped nine spots in the poll this week to No. 19. While they are still the favorites to win the American this season, and can turn it around with a game against UAB next on Sunday, Hardaway’s group has some work to do now that conference play is underway.

Games to watch this week

Tuesday, Jan. 23

No. 13 Wisconsin at Minnesota | 7 p.m. ET | BTN

Texas at No. 11 Oklahoma | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN

No. 4 Houston at No. 21 BYU | 9 p.m. ET | Big 12

Wednesday, Jan. 24

No. 8 Auburn at Alabama | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN

Friday, Jan. 26

Michigan State at No. 13 Wisconsin | 8 p.m. ET | FS1

Saturday, Jan. 27

No. 7 Kansas at No. 23 Iowa State | 1:30 p.m. ET | CBS

No. 20 Texas Tech at No. 11 Oklahoma | 2 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Texas at No. 21 BYU | 2 p.m. ET | ESPN2

TCU at No. 15 Baylor | 4 p.m. ET | ESPN2

No. 6 Kentucky at Arkansas | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN

UCLA at USC | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN2

AP Top 25

The full AP Top 25 poll from Jan. 22, 2024

1. UConn (17-2)

2. Purdue (17-2)

3. North Carolina (15-3)

4. Houston (16-2)

5. Tennessee (14-4)

6. Kentucky (14-3)

7. Kansas (15-3)

8. Auburn (16-2)

9. Arizona (14-4)

10. Illinois (14-4)

11. Oklahoma (15-3)

12. Duke (13-4)

13. Wisconsin (14-4)

14. Marquette (13-5)

15. Baylor (14-4)

16. Dayton (15-2)

17. Creighton (14-5)

18. Utah State (17-2)

19. Memphis (15-4)

20. Texas Tech (15-3)

21. BYU (14-4)

22. FAU (15-4)

23. Iowa State (14-4)

24. Colorado State (15-3)

25. New Mexico (16-3)

Others Receiving Votes: Seton Hall 84, San Diego St. 64, Kansas St 39, Alabama 30, TCU 27, Mississippi 25, Princeton 21, Utah 20, Texas 16, Boise St. 9, Florida 6, Gonzaga 6, Grand Canyon 5, Michigan St. 3, Saint Mary's 2, NC State 1, San Francisco 1, Indiana St 1, Samford 1, McNeese St. 1, Colorado 1.